MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING PARTICIPATE IN NEW ENGLAND CATHOLIC INVITATIONAL

WESTON, Mass.- The Regis College men's and women's swimming and diving teams got the 2011-12 season started with competition in the New England Catholic Invitational at Boston College, Saturday September, 24^th.

Starting with day one the Pride faced strong competition from NCAA DI and DII teams that featured Boston College, Iona College, Holy Cross, Siena College, LeMoyne University, and Assumption College.

On the women's side the Pride was powered by the strong swimming of first year talent. Freshman Yassyra Diaz (Dorchester, Mass.) competed in the 100 yard freestyle finishing with a time of 1:04.76. Following her lead in the 200 yard individual medley was freshmen Haley Bowen (Litchfield, N.H) and Shannan O'Neil (Lowell, Mass.) who placed 37^th and 38^th respectively. The Pride closed out the meet with a solid performance in the 200 yard freestyle relay where, O'Neil, Kelsey Jane Wright (Lowell, Mass.), Bowen, and Megan Kennelly (Milford, Mass.) combined to place 14^th  on the day.

The men's squad was led by freshman standout Zachary Earl (Mexico, N.Y.)  who set the school-record in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 11:14.98 and notched the  highest finish of the evening for the Pride.  Fellow freshman Alexander Graf (Newton, Mass.) broke the school record in the 200 IM with a time of 2:11.26. This finish put Graf in 11^th place for the day.  Graf also snagged a 12th place finish in the 100 freestyle posting a time of (50.83).

 The Pride finished the first day of competition with a strong showing in the 200 freestyle relay. Pride juniors Andy Laforest (Roslindale, Mass.) and Doug Dunbar (Beverly, Mass.) teamed up with teammates Djordie Mandic (Portland, Maine) and Graf to secure a 6th place finish with a time of 1:36.34.

On day two of the New England Catholic Invitational, the Pride received another strong day from Zach Earl and Alex Graf. Zach Earl posted a sixth place finish with a time of 11:14.98 in the 1,000 yard freestyle while also placing well in the 200 yard freestyle even with a time of 2:00.36. Alex Graf had good performances in the 100 yard freestyle event with a 12^th-place finish and a time of 50.83 as well as an 11^th-place finish in the 200 yard individual medley with a 2:11.45 time. The duo, along with Greg Sarantakis (Lowell, Mass.) and Djordje Mandic, also helped the Pride finish in second in the 400 yard freestyle relay behind Holy Cross with a time of 3:33.29.

On the women's side, Yassyra Diaz posted a time of 1:04.76 and was followed closely behind by Megan Kennelly with a time of 1:05.04 in the 100 yard freestyle event. Haley Bowen paced the Pride with a time of 2:36.92 in the 200 yard individual medley as well as a 21st-place finish (1:16.97) in the 100 yard breaststroke and a 13^th-place finish (2:46.55) in the 200 yard breaststroke, while Shannan O'Neil posted a time of 1:13.34 in the 100 yard backstroke.

To view the results from Friday night at the New England Catholic Invitational, please click here.
To view the men's results from Saturday at the NECI event, please click here.
To view the women's results from Saturday at the NECI event, please click here.