WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. – The Regis College Pride swimming and diving teams had a strong first day at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association Championships in Vermont on Friday night. Many swimmers scored in the top-16 in relays and individual events during the first part of the meet.

For the men, the men's 200 free relay team of Nick Yerzyk (West Hills, Calif.), Alex Graf (Newton, Mass.), Djordje Mandic (Portland, Maine), and Andy LaForest (Roslindale, Mass.) finished third with a time of 1:27.86. Nick Yerzyk established a new school record in the 100 fly (54.37) and also qualified for the ECAC championship in the 100 fly and 50 free (22.67) ECAC championship time standard. Alex Graf also reached the 50 free (21.59) ECAC Championship time standard.

On the women's side, Brenna Melanson (Reading, Mass.) qualified for the ECAC Championship with a standard time of 24.79.

Coach Sweeney said, "This morning we were a little off in getting our races to the wall and finishing strong. We were aggressive which I was really happy with, but overall fell a little short at the end of our races from what I expected this morning. Tonight at finals we really stepped up, and I was extremely happy how we swam.

"Everyone put in great races and really stepped up, swimming faster and moving up places. Both our 200 free relays at the beginning of finals really set the tone for the rest of tonight, and our first individual swimmer, Megan Pratt (Rockland, Mass.), put up an incredible time in the 100 fly dropping almost 3 seconds to make finals, and dropped almost another second at finals," added Sweeney.

"From there all of swimmers continued with much better performances. I am really looking forward to see how we carry this over tomorrow morning for prelims.'

The NEISDA Championships continue tomorrow morning.