Pride of 2023 - Year in Review
WESTON, Mass. - As the calendar year winds down, it's time to take a look back and highlight several accomplishments within the Regis College athletics department during 2023.
The new year began with a basketball doubleheader sweep at Rivier Jan. 3, 2023. Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) led the men with 22 points and eight rebounds on his way to earning Second Team All-GNAC honors after the season. For the women, 2022-23 GNAC Rookie of the Year Madi Zancan (Cumberland, R.I.) finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.), on her way to the 1,000th point of her career later in January as well as First Team All-GNAC and Third Team All-Region recognition, finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
February brought about championship competition for the winter sports, starting with swimming and diving as Cashman Murphy (Westwood, Mass.) won the GNAC title in one meter diving for the second straight year, breaking the championship record established by now-assistant coach Elisabeth McQuaid. Murphy also joined McQuaid in 2019 as a qualifier for the NCAA Division III Regional Diving Championships and, along with soccer player Santiago Pedraza-Novak (Bogota, Colombia), received the prestigious Regis-Casserly Award.
The women's track and field team won the GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championship Feb. 12 at Boston University, led by three individual event victories for Ashleigh Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.) as well as wins for Anastazia Copeland (West Hartford, Conn.) in the weight throw and the distance medley relay team. The men's track and field team finished in second place thanks in part to event victories by Harry Grayson (Lowell, Mass.) in the long jump, Conrad Kalinowski (London, England) in the pole vault, and Justin Thuotte (Lebanon, Conn.) in the triple jump.
Both basketball teams qualified for their respective GNAC Tournament to cap the month of February. March saw the start of the spring sports as well as the continuation of the men's volleyball season. Marcello Cappuccio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) became the first Regis player to receive AVCA All-Region honors, plus he was voted GNAC Libero of the Year after breaking the school single season record with 311 defensive digs. Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) also received First Team All-GNAC honors as he led the Pride with 303 kills, second-most in a single season in program history.
At the end of April, both the men's and women's track and field teams finished in second place at the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Kalinowski won three events, Thoutte finished first in both the long jump and triple jump, and Benjamin Happenny (Woonsocket, R.I.) finished first in the 1500 meter run. On the women's side, Ashleigh Kelley collected three more individual GNAC titles, Erin Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.) won the 10,000 meter run, Copeland finished first in the hammer throw, and the 4x100 meter relay team emerged victorious.
Among other highlights during the spring 2023 season, Bianca Burke (Cambridge, Mass.) set the softball team's single season records for hits with 49 and runs scored with 33 as she hit .392 and earned Second Team All-GNAC recognition. Morgan Pero (Hartford, Vt.) earned the 100th point of her collegiate lacrosse career during a 16-11 victory over Lasell Apr. 15 that also saw Kylee Marley (Westerly, R.I.) score six goals.
The academic year was capped with the announcement that 102 Regis student-athletes were named to the 2022-23 Academic All-GNAC Team, the fifth straight year at least 100 members of the Pride received the academic recognition.
The fall sports reported to campus in late August and embarked on a historic quest, as every fall team qualified for and competed in their respective GNAC postseason competition for the first time since Regis joined the league in 2017. For the third straight year, the women's tennis team reached the championship match of the GNAC Tournament and took a 2-1 lead after doubles, led by the First Team All-GNAC doubles tandem Stephanie Beatrice (Rockland, Mass.) and Kiana Thompson (Boynton Beach, Fla.), who also earned First Team All-GNAC in singles for the second straight year.
The women's cross country team finished in second place at the GNAC Cross Country Championships for the second straight year, while the men's team finished in fourth place. Led by Third Team All-GNAC honoree Frankie Alley (Gardner, Mass.), the new single season record holder in assists, the field hockey team qualified for the GNAC Tournament for the first time since 2019.
Both soccer teams qualified for their respective GNAC Tournament, with the men's team winning five straight matches down the stretch as well as its first round tournament contest at home. The women put together a seven-match unbeaten streak at the end of the regular season and were led in part by Payton Bridge (Norton, Mass.), who became the second Regis player in as many years to receive All-Region recognition from United Soccer Coaches.
The women's volleyball team set new program records with 26 victories overall and 14 conference wins to finish second in the GNAC regular season standings. Led by GNAC Setter of the Year Ahnasia Mckinney (Chelmsford, Mass.) and fellow All-GNAC honorees Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.), Aryam Serrano-Monserrate (Lake Forest, Calif.), Avery Mola (Cheshire, Conn.), Rita Dow (Nashua, N.H.), and Grace Fabiano (Greenland, N.H.), the Pride advanced to the championship match of the GNAC Tournament and hosted Lasell Nov. 11 in front of a loud, standing room-only crowd.
There are still two competitions involving Regis College in 2023, as the men's basketball team heads to Atlanta, Ga., to face Belhaven Dec. 29 and Oglethorpe Dec. 30. On Jan. 2, 2024, the women's basketball team opens the new calendar year with a home game against Emerson College, while the swimming and diving teams, track and field teams, and men's volleyball team all report back to campus and either resume or start their seasons.
ROAR PRIDE!!!