Pride Swim & Dive Teams Collect Several All-New England Honors

WESTON, Mass. – Coming off the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association (NEISDA) Championships last month, the Regis College swimming and diving teams collected several awards as a result of their performances.

Among those who competed at the NEISDA Championships, five women and three men from Regis College earned All-New England honors for finishing in the top eight in an individual event or as part of a top four relay.

Leading the women receiving All-New England honors is senior Sarah Leonard (Brockton, Mass.), the winner of both the 50 backstroke and 100 backstroke as well as a second place finisher in the 100 individual medley and a member of the 400 medley relay that finished fourth. She became the first Regis female swimmer to win a New England title in 23 years.

Julia Burke (North Andover, Mass.), Alexa Lancisi (Milford, Mass.), and Kyleigh Boatwright (Roseville, Calif.) also earned All-New England recognition for their participation on the 400 medley relay. Individually, Burke collected All-New England honors for finishing eighth in the 50 breaststroke, as did Boatwright for a third place finish in the 200 backstroke and a seventh place finish in the 100 individual medley.

For the fourth time in her career, Elisabeth McQuaid (Marlborough, Mass.) was an All-New England performer in one-meter diving, as she finished fourth with an 11-dive score of 346.25. The women's team as a whole was one of the recipients, along with Husson University, of the Steve Looke Team Sportsmanship Award. Looke graduated from Norwich University and was a coach for the Cadets until 2008, plus he served on the NCAA Swimming & Diving Committee.

On the men's side, Robert Wood (Cathedral City, Calif.) capped off an impressive freshman campaign with three All-New England awards after finishing second in the 500 freestyle, fourth in the 200 freestyle, and sixth in the 200 individual medley. Brendan Pike (Weymouth, Mass.) also collected three All-New England honors with a second place finish in the 400 individual medley, a third place finish in the 1650 freestyle, and a seventh place finish in the 500 freestyle. GianCarlos Banrey (Roslindale, Mass.) finished third in the 50 butterfly to receive All-New England recognition.

Individually, Burke and Pike were selected to represent their respective squads on the NEISDA All-Sportsmanship Team. According to the press release listing the members of the All-Sportsmanship Team, "our 21 member women's teams and 15 men's teams take great pride in the sportsmanship behaviors of our student-athletes both in the pool and in the campus community."

The Regis women's swim & dive team capped its 2019-20 season with a second place finish at the GNAC Championships and a program-best fifth place finish at the NEISDA Championships. Meanwhile, the Pride men ended up third at the conference championships and eighth at the New England meet.