WESTON, Mass. - The Regis (Mass.) men's and women's swimming & diving teams celebrated a historic 2016-2017 season last Friday with an end-of-year banquet in the Upper Student Union.
Both the men's and women's teams finished in sixth place at last month's New England Championships, the highest in program history on the women's side and third highest for the men. The women's team scored points in the ECAC Championships for the first time in three years, while the men's team scored points for the fourth consecutive year. The men had the highest point total of any Division III school for the fourth straight year as well.
The teams combined to set 18 school records this season for a total of 105 in the past five years. The men were responsible for 12 of the 18 records set this year, while four of the six set on the women's side were records previously set in the 1990s.
Sophomore Katherine Mariano (Newton, Mass.) received her award from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference at the banquet, as earlier in the week, she was named to the GNAC All-Sportsmanship team.
Head coach James Sweeney handed out his team's individual awards as well on Friday. Mariano and freshman Gloria Sutton (Suffield, Conn.) received the Most Improved Award on the women's side, while junior Nick Rainville (Reading, Mass.) won the award for the second straight year for the men. Freshman diver Elisabeth McQuaid (Marlborough, Mass.) was the recipient of the women's Coach's Award, while senior Bryan Johnson (Sudbury, Mass.) took home the honor on the men's side. The Most Valuable Player award went to Jessica Higgins (Peabody, Mass.) for the second straight year for the women, while seniors Kiet Luong (Malden, Mass.) and Cassidy Bastienelli (Newton, Mass.) were named co-MVPs for the men.
The captains for the 2017-18 swimming & diving squads were also named on the evening. Higgins will co-captain the women's team for the second straight year, and will be joined by Mariano. Rainville will captain the men's team for the first season as he enters his senior year.
The Pride will graduate five seniors in 2017, four on the men's team and one from the women's, and return a strong core in the fall. Combined between the teams, 22 swimmers and divers will return to compete for the Pride in 2017-18.
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