Women’s Swim and Dive Squad Cruises to Regis Invitational Title
WESTON, Mass. – Regis College won 14 of 18 individual events as well as both relays to finish ahead of Elms College and Husson University at the Regis Invitational, held Saturday at the Regis Aquatics Center.
The quartet of Jessica Zernitsky (Newton, Mass.), Sarah Leonard (Brockton, Mass.), Alexa Lancisi (Milford, Mass.), and Kyleigh Boatwright (Roseville, Calif.) kicked off the meet with a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay in a season-best time of 1:45.80. Thanks to Leonard setting a pool record of 28.57 seconds in her 50 backstroke split, she along with Julia Burke (North Andover, Mass.), Lancisi, and Zernitsky won the 200 medley relay in 1:58.15, also a season-best time.
Boatwright led the Pride with three individual victories, starting in the 50 breaststroke with a season-best time of 34.63 seconds. She also touched the wall first in the 100 individual medley in 1:05.47, also a season-best mark, and in the 50 backstroke with a time of 30.59 seconds.
Leonard followed up her pool record with two wins during the afternoon session, first edging Boatwright by 35/100ths of a second in the 100 backstroke with a season-best time of 1:03.35. She went right back into the pool and won the 100 freestyle in 57.95 seconds, over two seconds in front of Lancisi.
Gloria Sutton (Suffield, Conn.) once again controlled the distance events, first winning the 500 freestyle with a season-best time of 5:44.55, holding off a charging Thalia Bowie (Lexington, Mass.) by just 7/100ths of a second. Sutton's victory in the 1650 freestyle was much clearer, as she set a pool record time of 19:23.96, two seconds quicker than the standard she previously set in 2017, winning by over 33 seconds.
Zernitsky also picked up two individual event victories Saturday, first winning the 50 freestyle in 26.05 seconds, followed by a win in the 50 butterfly in a season-best time of 28.23 seconds. Besides being part of both relay wins, Lancisi finished first in the 100 butterfly in a season-best time of 1:04.32, beating Zernitsky by almost two full seconds.
All three one-meter diving pool and school records fell Saturday, as Elisabeth McQuaid (Marlborough, Mass.) completed 11 dives with a total of 443.05 points, 35 points more than the previous school record that stood for 28 years. In splitting up the dives, McQuaid established the five-dive record at 188.80 points and the new six-dive standard at 254.25 points.
Burke finished first in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:53.85, a personal season best by almost four full seconds. Bowie won a close race in the afternoon, touching the wall first in the 400 individual medley by just 23/100ths of a second with a time of 5:07.52. Hayley Ferguson (Billerica, Mass.) won the 100 breaststroke in 1:18.02, a season-best mark.
Regis collected 274 points to win the invitational, followed by Husson in second place with 99 points and Elms in third place with 78 points. The Eagles and the Blazers picked up two event victories each, with Elms's Brittany North defeating Leonard by 1/100th of a second in the 200 individual medley.
After fall semester finals and the holiday break, Regis will head to Florida for winter training. The Pride will take part in the FIU Sprint Invitational in Miami, Fla., Saturday, Jan. 5.