PREVIEW: Swimming & Diving Ready for New England Championships

WESTON, Mass. - With the regular season in the books, championship season has arrived for the Regis (Mass.) men's and women's swimming & diving teams.

The teams take part in their first of three postseason events this weekend when they compete in the NCAA Division III New England Championships at the University of Rhode Island.

All 10 active swimmers will compete in the New England Championships on the men's side, while seven swimmers and freshman diver Elisabeth McQuaid (Marlborough, Mass.) will compete for the women.

Senior Kiet Luong (Malden, Mass.) has his sights set on the relay events, where the Pride has thrived all season long. "Last year we did really well - we placed top-five in New England," he said. "This year hopefully we'll place top-three."

Both teams have had arguably the strongest in their respective programs' histories, both individually and as a team. The men and the women both placed second at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championships in December.

Individually, the Pride has combined for 13 New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association and GNAC weekly awards on the season between the men and the women. McQuaid has earned a team-high four NEISDA Diver of the Week awards, while Luong leads the way for the men with three GNAC Swimmer of the Week awards. Senior Cassidy Bastianelli (Newton, Mass.) is the only Pride swimmer to receive the honor from both NEISDA and the GNAC, with one NEISDA weekly nod and two from the GNAC.

"We've been counting down the days," said junior Ashlyn DeRoche (North Reading, Mass.). "We really want to get some points for the team and do better than we did last year."

The teams will get a weekend off after New Englands before competing in the ECAC Championships at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. from Mar. 3 through Mar. 5, followed by the NCAA Division III National Championships in Shenandoah, Texas from Mar. 15 through Mar. 18.

#RegisMSWIM | #RegisWSWIM