Banrey, Leonard Receive First GNAC Weekly Awards of 2019
WINTHROP, Mass. – After standout performances against a combination of Division I, Division II, and Division III programs at Saturday's FIU Sprint Invitational, freshman GianCarlos Banrey (Roslindale, Mass.) and junior Sarah Leonard (Brockton, Mass.) received weekly awards from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, announced Monday by the league office.
Banrey picked up both honors for men's swimming and diving, earning his first Athlete of the Week honor to go along with his fourth Rookie of the Week award. Leonard received her second Athlete of the Week award of the season to give the Regis women three straight Athlete of the Week honors.
Banrey enjoyed the best performance among Regis swimmers Saturday, finishing second in the 50 butterfly. Competing against swimmers from Division I as well as Division III in the tournament-style event, he opened with a second-place finish in 23.81 seconds, followed by a third-place finish in the quarterfinal in 24.14 seconds.
He advanced to the 50 butterfly final thanks to a semifinal time of 23.62 seconds but lost in the head-to-head final to Lukas Wormald of the University of Waterloo (23.44 to 23.75 seconds). Banrey also competed in the 50 freestyle, finishing in a tie for 21st place among 85 swimmers with a time of 23.17 seconds.
Leonard posted the highest placement among the Regis women Saturday. She advanced past the first round in one of the tournament-style 50-yard events thanks to a sixth place finish in the 50 backstroke in a season-best time of 28.46 seconds. She was eliminated from the 50 backstroke tournament after posting a time of 29.70 seconds in the quarterfinal race.
Leonard also competed against a stellar field of swimmers at different levels in four other events: the 50 breaststroke (41st – 36.96), 50 freestyle (T46th – 27.20), 100 freestyle (44th – 1:02.34), and 100 backstroke (32nd – 1:10.09). The 13 points she collected in the 50 backstroke helped the Pride women finish sixth out of 12 teams, ahead of Division I program Manhattan College, Division II member Merrimack, and Division III schools Keene State, College of Staten Island, Widener, and Illinois Tech.
Regis returns to dual meet competition with home contests the next two Saturdays, starting with a matchup against conference foes Colby-Sawyer and Simmons (women only) this Saturday, Jan. 12, starting at 12 noon. The Pride's final home competition of the season will take place the following Saturday against Elms Jan. 19, also beginning at 12 p.m.