PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Regis College men's and women's swimming and diving teams had a strong day one at the ECAC Championships held at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Friday afternoon.

On the women's side, the 400 yard medley relay team of Jessica Higgins (Peabody, Mass.), Haley Bowen (Litchfield, N.H.), Ali Butcher (Natick, Mass.), and Ashlyn DeRoche (North Reading, Mass.) finished in the top eight and qualified for the finals of the event with a time of 4:14.21. This marks the first time since the mid-90's that a relay team has qualified for an ECAC Final. Haley Bowen also added a strong swim in the 200 yard individual medley.

The men's 200 yard freestyle relay team of Alex Graf (Newton, Mass.), Kiet Luong (Malden, Mass.), Nick Rainville (Reading, Mass.), and Cassidy Bastinelli (Newton, Mass.) re-broke a record they set a week ago at the NEISDA Championships with a time of 1:26.08. Graf and Bastinelli also had strong swims in the 50 yard freestyle.

Coach Sweeney said, "We had a tremendous first day. Both relays made finals with the men stepping up to re-break their school record from just two weeks ago and having the women score top eight was an amazing accomplishment. We have great swims tomorrow that I'm really looking forward to."

Both teams return to the pool tomorrow afternoon for day two of the ECAC Championships.