The Pride Swimming and Diving teams competed in the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving (NEISDA) Championships February 16-19, 2017 at the University of Rhode Island. The meet consisted of a Thursday night relay followed by three days of prelims in the morning and finals in the evening.
The women finished 6th out of 21 teams overall, the best finish in program history. The women's previous highest finish was last season's 8th place. In 35 years the women's team have finished in the top ten 6 times, with two being this year and last year. The men also finished in 6th place out of 12 teams, it's 3rd highest placing in team history.
The Pride broke 6 school records and amassed 39 ECAC qualifying times over the weekend. In Coach James Sweeney's 5 year tenure at Regis, the Pride have broken 97 school records.
The Men's 800yd Freestyle team comprised of Kiet Luong, Nicholas Rainville, Bryan Johnson and Cassidy Bastianelli placed 2nd with a final time of 7:03.63 while breaking the school record.
After Friday morning prelims, returning for finals were Men's 200yd Medley Relay (Kiet Luong, Bryan Johnson, Nick Rainville, Cassidy Bastianelli, Women's 50yd Fly: Jessica Zernitsky, Katherine Mariano, Men's 50yd Fly: Nick Rainville, Men's 200yd Free: Rob Ekberg, Paul Brennan, Women's 100yd Back: Jessica Higgins, Amanda Graf, Sarah Leonard, Men's 100yd Back: Kiet Luong, Men's 100yd Breaststroke: Bryan Johnson, Josh Unas.* Men's 200yd Free: Rob Ekberg, Paul Brennan
* Women's 100yd Back: Jessica Higgins, Amanda Graf, Sarah Leonard
* Men's 100yd Back: Kiet Luong
* Men's 100yd Breaststroke: Bryan Johnson, Josh Unas
#GOPRIDE* Men's 200yd Free: Rob Ekberg, Paul Brennan
* Women's 100yd Back: Jessica Higgins, Amanda Graf, Sarah Leonard
* Men's 100yd Back: Kiet Luong
* Men's 100yd Breaststroke: Bryan Johnson, Josh Unas
* Men's 200yd Free: Rob Ekberg, Paul Brennan
* Women's 100yd Back: Jessica Higgins, Amanda Graf, Sarah Leonard
* Men's 100yd Back: Kiet Luong
* Men's 100yd Breaststroke: Bryan Johnson, Josh Unas
* Men's 200yd Free: Rob Ekberg, Paul Brennan
* Women's 100yd Back: Jessica Higgins, Amanda Graf, Sarah Leonard
* Men's 100yd Back: Kiet Luong
* Men's 100yd Breaststroke: Bryan Johnson, Josh UnasThe relay team of Jessica Higgins (Peabody, Mass.), Sarah Leonard (Brockton, Mass.), Ashlyn DeRoche (North Reading, Mass.) and Jessica Zernitsky (Newton, Mass.) placed fifth in the finals of the 200 yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:42.05 to open up the day and served as the first Pride ECAC qualifier of the day and a new school record. The previous record was from 1995.
Neither Higgins nor Zernitsky were done for the day however, as both went on to qualify for more ECAC events later in the afternoon. Higgins broke her own school record en route to qualifying in the 200 yard back stroke in prelims 2:09.01, and she placed fifth in the final with a time of 2:11.97. Zernitsky's 10th place finish 25.63 in the 50 yard freestyle qualified her to compete in the ECACs.
On the men's side, the 100 yard butterfly belonged to the Pride, as two Regis swimmers found the podium in the event. Senior Kiet Luong (Malden, Mass.) was crowned the New England champion after recording a time of 50.49 in the final, winning the event by nearly two seconds. Teammate Nick Rainville (Reading, Mass.) placed third in the event, finishing with a time of 52.66
On Saturday, the Regis (Mass.) men's and women's swimming & diving teams continued to impress on Saturday at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Championships at the University of Rhode Island. Five Pride swimmers as well as the men's 200 yard medley relay team all qualified for the ECAC championships on the day.
Returning for Saturday night finals were: Men's 200yd Medley Relay team (Kiet Luong, Bryan Johnson, Nick Rainville, Cassidy Bastinelli, Women's 50yd Fly: Jessica Zernitsky, Katherine Mariano, Men's 50yd Fly: Nicholas Rainville, Men's 200yd Free: Robert Ekberg, Paul Brennan, Women's 100yd Back: Jessica Higgins, Amanda Graf, Sarah Leonard, Men's 100yd Breaststroke: Bryan Johnson, Joshua Unas.
The 1,000yd Freestyle Finals resulted in Gloria Sutton taking 8th place with a time of 11:26.75. Cassidy Bastianelli took 3rd place for the men with a time of 9:59.46. Michael Bruno placed 15th with a 10:45.80.
The Pride men's relay team of Kiet Luong (Malden, Mass.), Bryan Johnson (Sudbury, Mass.), Nick Rainville (Reading, Mass.) and Cassidy Bastianelli (Newton, Mass.) opened up the day by finishing second in the final of the 200 yard medley relay with a time of 1:34.97.
Luong, Johnson and Bastianelli would go on to qualify for ECACs individually later in the day as well. Luong reached the championships in the 100 yard back stroke after a second place finish and a time of 51.55. Johnson qualified in the 100 yard breast stroke after a time of 1:00.63 landed him a third place finish, while Bastianelli reached the ECACs in the 1000 yard freestyle.
On the women's side, Amanda Graf (Newton, Mass.) and Jessica Higgins (Peabody, Mass.) each reached the ECAC championships in the 100 yard backstroke, as the pair finished third and fourth respectively in the final. Graf recorded a time of 1:00.06, while Higgins followed directly behind her at 1:00.15.
On the last day of competition, both the men's and women's 400 yard freestyle relay teams set school records on the day, with the men qualifying for the ECACs with their finish. The women broke the school record from 1994. The men finished the race second with a time of 3:08.81, missing out on taking home the first place finish by just under half a second. The women finished sixth in the event, recording a time of 3:43.80.
Returning for Sunday night finals were: 100yd Freestyle: Jessica Higgins, Katherine Mariano, Men's 100yd Freestyle: Nicholas Rainville, Cassidy Bastianelli, Robert Ekberg, Women's 50yd Backstroke: Sarah Leonard, Amanda Graf, Men's 200yd Breaststroke: Bryan Johnson, Men's 200yd Fly: Kiet Luong, Joshua Unas, Women's 400 Free Relay (Higgins, Graf, Leonard, Zernitsky) and the Men's 300yd Free Relay team (Bastianelli, Rainville, Johnson, Luong).
Senior Cassidy Bastianelli (Newton, Mass.) of the men's team was the lone Pride swimmer to qualify for two events at the ECAC Championships individually on Sunday. Bastianelli first qualified after a 49.48 finish in the 100 yard freestyle, good for seventh place in the final, and would go on to shatter a school record in the 1650 yard freestyle. The senior completed the event with a time of 16:35.97, good for a second place finish, and besting the previous Regis school record by over 40 seconds.
Bastianelli was not the only one to qualify for ECACs in the 100 yard freestyle, as juniors Nick Rainville (Reading, Mass.) and Jessica Higgins (Peabody, Mass.) also accomplished the feat on Sunday. Rainville finished third in a tightly-contested men's final with a time of 47.57, while Higgins also took the bronze, completing the race in 55.55.
Senior Kiet Luong (Malden, Mass.) and Bryan Johnson (Sudbury, Mass.) also qualified for ECACs on the final day of the NEISDA Championships on Sunday. In the 200 yard butterfly, Luong took home a third place finish with a time of 1:56.69, and Johnson's final qualification of the weekend came in the 200 yard breast stroke. The senior finished sixth, 2:13.32 in the finals of the event.
Those who qualified will compete at the ECAC Championships slated to take place from March 3 through March 5 at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
THURSDAY: (Note the women's team was unable to compete in the 800 FR since we added the ECAC Championships to our schedule a few weeks ago and thus made us have more than 16 days of competition so we had to delete one day)
Men 800yd Freestyle Relay Finals (7:03.63) (ECAC cut, and School Record)
2: Kiet Luong (1:47.07) (ECAC cut)
Nicholas Rainville (1:45.35)
Bryan Johnson (1:47.59)
Cassidy Bastianelli (1:43.62)
FRIDAY:
Women 200yd Freestyle Relay Prelims: (1:40.81) (ECAC cut, and School Record)
3: Jessica Higgins (25.16) (ECAC cut)
Sarah Leonard (25.24)
Ashlyn DeRoche (26.09)
Jessica Zernitisky (24.32)
Women 200yd Freestyle Relay Finals: (1:42.05) (ECAC cut)
5: Jessica Higgins (25.50) (ECAC cut)
Sarah Leonard (25.31)
Ashlyn DeRoche (26.16)
Jessica Zernitsky (25.08)
Men 200yd Freestyle Relay Prelims: (1:33.58)
Lawrence Reynolds (23.70)
Paul Brennan (24.29)
Joshua Unas (22.81)
Robert Ekberg (22.78)
Women 500yd Freestyle Prelims:
10. Gloria Sutton (5:31.01)
Women 500yd Freestyle Finals:
11. Gloria Sutton (5:31.77)
Men 500yd Freestyle Prelims:
17. Michael Bruno (5:11.88)
19. Paul Brennan (5:19.69)
Women 100yd Butterfly Prelims:
14. Katherine Mariano (1:04.25)
Women 100yd Butterfly Finals:
15. Katherine Mariano (1:04.65)
Men 100yd Butterfly Prelims:
3. Kiet Luong (52.74) (ECAC cut)
7. Nicholas Rainville (55:19) (ECAC cut)
10. Joshua Unas (56.31)
Men 100yd Butterfly Finals:
1. Kiet Luong (50.49) (ECAC cut)
3. Nicholas Rainville (52.66) (ECAC cut)
10. Joshua Unas (55.55)
Men 50yd Breaststroke Prelims:
6. Bryan Johnson (28.22)
15. Lawrence Reynolds (32.36)
Men 50yd Breaststroke Finals:
5. Bryan Johnson (28.30)
16. Lawrence Reynolds (32.29)
Women 200yd Backstroke Prelims:
1. Jessica Higgins (2:09.01) (ECAC cut and School Record)
Women 200yd Backstroke Finals:
5. Jessica Higgins (2:11.97) (ECAC cut)
Women 50yd Freestyle Prelims:
10. Jessica Zernitsky (25.76)
14. Sarah Leonard (26.22)
22. Ashlyn DeRoche (26.57)
Women 50yd Freestyle Finals:
10. Jessica Zernitsky (25.63) (ECAC cut)
15. Sarah Leonard (26.27)
Men 50yd Freestyle Prelims:
14. Robert Ekberg (23.71)
16. Lawrence Reynolds (23.98)
Men 50yd Freestyle Finals:
14. Robert Ekberg (23.54)
15. Lawrence Reynolds (23.60)
Women 200yd IM Prelims:
7. Amanda Graf (2:18.06)
Women 200yd IM Finals:
7. Amanda Graf (2:19.37)
Women 400yd Medley Relay Prelims: (4:16.52)
7. Amanda Graf (1:00.99) (ECAC cut)
Sarah Leonard (1:17.93)
Jessica Higgins (1:00.34)
Jessica Zernitsky (57.26)
Women 400yd Medley Relay Finals: (4:16.19)
7. Amanda Graf (1:01.06) (ECAC cut)
Sarah Leonard (1:17.70)
Jessica Higgins (1:00.51)
Jessica Zernitsky (56.92)
Women 1 Meter Diving Prelims:
3. Elisabeth McQuaid (333.60)
Women 1 Meter Diving Finals:
3. Elisabeth McQuaid (344.85)
SATURDAY:
Women 200yd Medley Relay Prelims: (1:57.89)
9. Sarah Leonard (28.42)
Ashlyn DeRoche (36.72)
Jessica Zernitsky (27.65)
Jessica Higgins (25.10)
Women 200yd Medley Relay Finals: (1:57.96)
9. Sarah Leonard (28.56)
Ashlyn DeRoche (36.97)
Jessica Zernitsky (27.46)
Jessica Higgins (24.97)
Men 200yd Medley Relay Prelims (A-1:37.97 – ECAC Cut) (B-1:49.77)
4. A- Kiet Luong (24.40)
Bryan Johnson (27.77)
Nicholas Rainville (24.27)
Cassidy Bastianelli (21.53)
EXH. B-Paul Brennan (29.99)
Joshua Unas (30.23)
Michael Bruno (26.45)
Robert Ekberg (23.10)
Men 200yd Medley Relay Finals (A-1:34.97) (ECAC Cut)
2. - Kiet Luong (23.56)
Bryan Johnson (26.95)
Nicholas Rainville (23.34)
Cassidy Bastianelli (21.12)
Women 50yd Butterfly Prelims:
10. Jessica Zernitsky (28.13)
14. Katherine Mariano (28.66)
Women 50yd Butterfly Finals:
9. Jessica Zernitsky (28.04)
16. Katherine Mariano (28.82)
Men 50yd Butterfly Prelims:
7. Nicholas Rainville (24.56)
23. Lawrence Reynolds (27.25)
26. Ryan Tinney (28.46)
Men 50yd Butterfly Finals:
4. Nicholas Rainville (23.87)
Women 200yd Freestyle Prelims:
21. Ashlyn DeRoche (2:12.28)
Men 200yd Freestyle Prelims:
13. Robert Ekberg (1:55.18)
14. Paul Brennan (1:56.00)
Men 200yd Freestyle Finals:
13. Robert Ekberg (1:53.55)
14. Paul Brennan (1:56.15)
Women 100yd Backstroke Prelims:
3. Jessica Higgins (1:00.80) (ECAC cut)
4. Amanda Graf (1:01.05) (ECAC cut)
12. Sarah Leonard (1:02.96)
Women 100yd Backstroke Finals:
3. Amanda Graf (1:00.06) (ECAC cut)
4. Jessica Higgins (1:00.15) (ECAC cut)
13. Sarah Leonard (1:02.76) (ECAC cut)
Men 100yd Backstroke Prelims:
3. Kiet Luong (52.74) (ECAC cut)
Men 100yd Backstroke Finals:
2. Kiet Luong (51.55) (ECAC cut)
Men 100yd Breaststroke Prelims:
6. Bryan Johnson (1:01.74) (ECAC cut)
13. Joshua Unas (1:04.88)
Men 100yd Breaststroke Finals:
3. Bryan Johnson (1:00.63) (ECAC cut)
12. Joshua Unas (1:04.69)
Women 1,000yd Freestyle Finals:
8. Gloria Sutton (11:26.75)
Men 1,000yd Freestyle Finals:
3. Cassidy Bastianelli (9:59.46) (ECAC cut)
15. Michael Bruno (10:45.80)
SUNDAY:
Women 1,650yd Freestyle Finals:
5. Gloria Sutton (19:00.50)
Men 1,650yd Freestyle Finals:
2. Cassidy Bastianelli 16:35.97 (ECAC cut and Regis record)
Women 100yd Freestyle Prelims:
3. Jessica Higgins (55.55) (ECAC cut)
11. Ashlyn DeRoche (57.42)
14. Katherine Mariano (57.66)
Women 100yd Freestyle Finals:
4. Jessica Higgins (54.93) (ECAC cut)
13. Ashlyn DeRoche (57.55)
14. Katherine Mariano (57.69)
Men 100yd Freestyle Prelims:
5. Cassidy Bastianelli (48.67) (ECAC cut)
7. Nicholas Rainville (49.39)
15. Robert Ekberg (51.61)
18. Paul Brennan (52.35)
Men 100yd Freestyle Finals:
3. Nicholas Rainville (47.57) (ECAC cut)
7. Cassidy Bastianelli (49.48) (ECAC cut)
14. Robert Ekberg (51.17)
Women 50yd Backstroke Prelims:
3. Sarah Leonard (28.42)
4. Amanda Graf (28.63)
Women 50yd Backstroke Finals:
3. Sarah Leonard (28.39)
4. Amanda Graf (28.47)
Men 200yd Breaststroke Prelims:
6. Bryan Johnson (2:16.12) (ECAC cut)
Men 200yd Breaststroke Finals:
6. Bryan Johnson (2:13.32) (ECAC cut)
Men 200yd Butterfly Prelims:
5. Kiet Luong (1:59.34) (ECAC cut)
10. Joshua Unas (2:10.99)
Men 200yd Butterfly Finals:
3. Kiet Luong (1:56.69) (ECAC cut)
11. Joshua Unas (2:14.16)
Women 400yd Freestyle Relay Prelims: (3:44.80)
5. Jessica Higgins (55.73)
Sarah Leonard (57.16)
Amanda Graf (55.86)
Jessica Zernitsky (56.05)
Women 400yd Freestyle Relay Finals: (3:43.80) (Regis Record)
6. Jessica Higgins (55.70)
Amanda Graf (55.64)
Sarah Leonard (56.84)
Jessica Zernitsky (55.62)
Men 400yd Freestyle Relay Prelims: (3:15.17) (ECAC cut)
4. Cassidy Bastianelli (48.53) (ECAC cut)
Nicholas Rainville (49.40)
Bryan Johnson (49.02)
Kiet Luong (48.22)
Men 400yd Freestyle Relay Finals: (3:08.81) (ECAC cut and Regis Record)
4. Cassidy Bastianelli (47.72) (ECAC cut)
Nicholas Rainville (46.62)
Bryan Johnson (47.41)
Kiet Luong (47.06)
#RegisSWIM | #RegisDIVE