WESTON, Mass. – After four months of regular season competition, the Regis College swimming and diving teams enter the championship portion of the schedule, starting with the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships Friday, Jan. 31 through Sunday, Feb. 2, at the new Boston Sports Institute in Wellesley, Mass.
The Regis women put together a 9-2 dual meet record, plus they finished third at the Roger Williams Invitational Oct. 19 and won the Regis Invitational Dec. 8. Meanwhile, the Pride men completed its dual meet slate with a 3-4 record, finished fourth at the Roger Williams Invitational, and posted a second place finish at the Regis Invitational.
Throughout the season, the women have been led by senior captain Sarah Leonard (Brockton, Mass.), as she enters the weekend third on the conference's performance list in both the 100 backstroke and 100 individual medley, fourth in the 50 backstroke, and eighth in the 200 individual medley. Leonard is the two-time defending GNAC champion in the 50 backstroke, plus she finished in the top five in two other individual events at last year's conference meet.
Sophomore Julia Burke (North Andover, Mass.) is expected to lead the Pride in the breaststroke events, as she is currently third in the GNAC in the 50 breaststroke, fourth in the 100 breaststroke, and fifth in the 200 breaststroke. At the 2019 GNAC Championships, Burke was part of the victorious 200 medley relay and earned top-six finishes in all three breaststroke events.
Jessica Zernitsky (Newton, Mass.) is sixth on the league's performance list in the 50 butterfly, while Alexa Lancisi (Milford, Mass.) is eighth in the 100 butterfly. Kyleigh Boatwright (Roseville, Calif.) finds herself in the top 10 in several events, including the 200 individual medley (sixth), 100 backstroke (seventh), 100 individual medley (eighth), and 100 butterfly (10th).
Thalia Bowie (Lexington, Mass.) has been Regis' top performer in the distance events so far this season, as she is currently fifth in the 1650 freestyle within the GNAC, seventh in both the 400 individual medley and 1000 freestyle, and 10th in the 500 freestyle. Gloria Sutton (Suffield, Conn.), the current school record holder in the 1000 freestyle, will also look to contribute to the team's success as her collegiate career winds down.
Senior Elisabeth McQuaid (Marlborough, Mass.) will represent the Pride in the one-meter diving event Saturday afternoon at the conclusion of swimming preliminaries. She won the GNAC one-meter diving title in both her freshman and sophomore seasons and finished third in the event last year, plus she holds the school and pool records in one-meter diving.
In the coaches' pre-championship poll, the Regis women finished second with 71 total points, comfortably ahead of third place Colby-Sawyer College with 53 points. Simmons University received all nine first place votes to be selected as the favorite to win its 16th consecutive conference title and 18th GNAC championship overall.
On the men's side, Regis received one first place vote and 40 points overall to end up second in the poll. Norwich University, the winner of every GNAC title since the league began holding a men's invitational meet in the 2011-12 academic year, gained the other six first place votes to finish atop the poll with 48 points.
Junior captain Grant Kollien (Acton, Mass.) won the 1000 freestyle at last year's GNAC Championships, plus he finished second in both the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle. He enters this weekend with the league's top regular season time in the 1650 freestyle as well as fourth in the 500 freestyle.
In 2019, GianCarlos Banrey (Roslindale, Mass.) won the GNAC titles in the 50 butterfly and 100 butterfly, plus he finished second in the 100 freestyle. He will be a championship contender once again in the sprint events, as he is currently first on the GNAC performance list in the 50 butterfly and second in the 50 backstroke.
Brendan Pike (Weymouth, Mass.) has also tasted success at the conference meet, winning the 500 freestyle and taking part in the victorious 400 medley relay last season. This year, he enters the meet second on the league performance list in both the 500 freestyle and 1650 freestyle, fourth in the 200 freestyle, and fifth in the 100 breaststroke.
A three-time GNAC Rookie of the Week this season, Robert Wood (Cathedral City, Calif.) tops the GNAC performance list in both the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, plus he is sixth in the 200 individual medley and seventh in the 100 backstroke. Junior Noah Toumayan-Miller (Natick, Mass.) also aims to contribute to the team's success as he plans to compete in freestyle and breaststroke events.
The GNAC Championships begin Friday night, Jan. 31, at 6 p.m. with the finals of the 200 freestyle relay, the 1650 freestyle, and the 200 medley relay. On both Saturday, Feb. 1, and Sunday, Feb. 2, swimming preliminaries will take place in the morning (10:30 a.m. Saturday, 9:30 a.m. Sunday), with the finals scheduled for the evening (6 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday).