WESTON, Mass. – After leading their respective teams to second place finishes at the 2019 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Swimming & Diving Championships, three members of the Regis swimming and diving program have earned weekly honors from the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA), announced Wednesday afternoon by the coaches' organization.
Senior Joshua Unas (Santa Clarita, Calif.) has been voted the Male Swimmer of the Week for the third time this season. Sarah Leonard (Brockton, Mass.) picked up her second Female Swimmer of the Week award of the year, while fellow junior Elisabeth McQuaid (Marlborough, Mass.) was voted Female Diver of the Week for the sixth time during the 2018-19 campaign.
Unas won three individual events and was part of two GNAC-winning relays over the weekend. Friday, he posted the fastest 50 breaststroke split of 28.37 seconds to help the Regis 200 medley relay squad win by a half-second with a time of 1:42.47.
Unas earned two individual titles Saturday night, starting with a four-second victory in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.71. He also touched the wall first in the 50 breaststroke in 29.07 seconds. He also played a major role in Regis's victory in the 400 medley relay, as he turned a three-and-a-half second deficit as he dove into the water into a 0.35-second lead thanks to a 100 breaststroke split of 1:01.75 as the Pride won the event in 3:45.26.
Unas concluded the weekend with a victory in the 200 breaststroke Sunday with a time of 2:21.83 in the afternoon final, going wire-to-wire as he finished 0.83 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. He also led off the 800 freestyle relay with a 200 free split of 1:54.37, helping the squad to a second-place finish in the event in 8:11.39.
Leonard picked up two conference titles at the championships, first in the 200 medley relay Friday, where she set a new school record with a 50 backstroke split of 27.61 seconds to help the squad win in 1:52.69, also a school record. She also led off the 200 freestyle relay with a 50 free split of 25.62 seconds as the Pride finished second in the event in 1:42.30.
Saturday, Leonard earned a fifth-place finish in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:20.26, and then she led off the 400 medley relay with a 100 backstroke split of 1:01.29 as the team finished second with a total time of 4:14.26. Sunday, she won the conference title in the 50 backstroke in 27.68 seconds and finished second by just 59/100ths of a second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.49.
McQuaid picked up All-GNAC honors in the one-meter diving event Saturday, finishing third with a total score of 207.65. She also finished sixth in Sunday's three-meter diving event after compiling a score of 189.70, earning 29 total points for the Pride during the meet.
Regis is preparing for the NEISDA Championships Feb. 21-24 at MIT in Cambridge, Mass.