WESTON, Mass. – Six different members of the Regis College women's swimming and diving team won individual events, plus the Pride finished first in both relays on their way to the title of the Regis Invitational Sunday at the Regis Aquatics Center.
The foursome of Jessica Zernitsky (Newton, Mass.), Kyleigh Boatwright (Roseville, Calif.), Alexa Lancisi (Milford, Mass.), and Sarah Leonard (Brockton, Mass.) began the meet in the morning with a one-second victory in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:46.73. The afternoon session started the same way, as Leonard, Julia Burke (North Andover, Mass.), Lancisi, and Zernitsky won the 200 medley relay by 5.63 seconds with a mark of 1:57.87.
Individually, Leonard led the Pride with four event victories, starting with the 100 individual medley in 1:04.70, just ahead of Boatwright in second place in 1:06.04. Leonard capped off the morning session with a victory in the 200 individual medley in 2:25.03. During the afternoon, Leonard touched the wall first in the 100 backstroke in 1:03.54 and the 100 freestyle in 57.82 seconds, with Boatwright ending up second in both events, completing the 100 backstroke in 1:04.33 and the 100 freestyle in 58.18 seconds.
Burke collected three individual event victories, beginning in the 50 breaststroke in 33.60 seconds with teammate Lindsey Bone (Rosenberg, Texas) finishing second in 36.15 seconds. Burke also cruised to a win in the 200 breaststroke by almost 16 full seconds with a time of 2:40.63 before finishing over seven seconds in front in the 100 breaststroke by posting a time of 1:14.30.
Thalia Bowie (Lexington, Mass.) controlled the distance events, picking up three victories of her own along the way. She finished first in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:52.84, ahead of Gloria Sutton (Suffield, Conn.) in second place in 5:56.19. In the afternoon, Bowie won the 400 individual medley with a time of 5:13.69, and then she capped the meet with a win in the 1650 freestyle in 20:13.93, followed by Sutton in 20:41.31 and Ryan Moran (Arlington, Mass.) in 21:19.72.
Zernitsky was Regis' fourth multiple-event winner, touching the wall first in the 50 freestyle in 26.42 seconds and in the 50 butterfly in 28.97 seconds. Cecelia Adelfio (Gloucester, Mass.) earned her first career collegiate event victory in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:20.69, plus she finished second in the 50 backstroke in 31.41 seconds.
Elisabeth McQuaid (Marlborough, Mass.) made progress in her attempt to return to the NCAA Diving Regionals, winning the one-meter diving competition with an 11-dive score of 419.15. She will need to earn a score of at least 395 in another meet in order to qualify for the second consecutive year.
Lancisi nearly picked up another event victory for the Pride, finishing second in the 100 butterfly by just 3/100ths of a second with a time of 1:05.93. She also finished third in the 50 butterfly in 29.62 seconds, involving herself in another tight ending as she was 6/100ths of a second behind second place.
As a team, the Pride won the overall invitational with 221 points, followed by Husson University with 147 points and Elms College with 60 points.
The Regis College women's swim and dive team hosts Albertus Magnus Saturday, Jan. 4, starting at 11 a.m. It will be the final home meet for seniors Caoilinn Bassignani (Franklin, Mass.), Leonard, McQuaid, Moran, Sutton, and Zernitsky.