WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Regis College men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams wrapped up their head-to-head meets schedule on Saturday afternoon at Eastern Connecticut State University in a meet with the Warriors and Bridgewater State University.
The men wrapped up the 2014-15 season with an undefeated record for the first time in program history, a year after winning only three meets. The women’s meet came down to the final relay, with the Pride coming up just short from defeating the host Warriors.
On the men’s side, the 200 medley relay team of Kiet Luong (Malden, Mass.), Mike Panagiotakos (Methuen, Mass.), Nick Rainville (Reading, Mass.), and Robert Ekberg (Northbridge, Mass.) picked up a win with a time of 1:46.66. Rainville later added wins in the 1,000 yard freestyle (11:40.43) and 100 yard butterfly (57.33), while Panagiotakos posted a win in the 100 yard breaststroke (1:12.92) and finished second in the 50 yard breaststroke (32.66).
A.J. Graf (Newton, Mass.) posted the top time in the 50 breast at 30.16 and added wins in the 200 yard freestyle (1:53.61), and 50 yard butterfly (25.19). Kiet Luong grabbed the top spot in two individual races with wins in the 50 yard backstroke (27.35) and 100 yard backstroke (57.26). Luong smashed the school record in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:26.73.
Rounding out the race, Cassidy Bastinelli (Newton, Mass.) had wins in the 50 yard freestyle (22.92) and 500 yard freestyle (5:20.01), while Robert Ekberg had a win in the 100 yard freestyle (53.46).
For the women, the 200 medley relay team of Jessica Higgins (Peabody, Mass.), Haley Bowen (Litchfield, N.H.), Ali Butcher (Natick, Mass.), and Ashlyn Deroche (North Reading, Mass.) began the meet with a time of 1:59.32, good for a first place finish. Higgins added a win in the 100 yard backstroke (1:05.49), and finished second in the 500 yard freestyle (5:54.66). Haley Bowen posted the top time in the 100 yard breaststroke (1:12.34), and finished only .67 seconds behind the top time in the 100 yard butterfly (1:08.62), and only one second off the best time in the 400 yard individual medley (5:10.80).
Amanda Iandoli (Mansfield, Mass.) finished just behind Bowen in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 1:10.79. Ashlyn DeRoche finished third in the 200 yard freestyle (2:11.31) and Lucia Llorente-Ruiz (Newton, Mass.) came in third in the 50 yard breaststroke (35.32), with both swimmers finishing within five seconds of the top time. Ali Butcher posted a pair of top three finishes in the 50 yard butterfly (29.79) and 50 yard freestyle (27.30), coming within a second of the top times in both races.
The meet came down to the 200 yard freestyle relay, with the team of Deroche, Butcher, Llorente-Ruiz, and Shannan O’Neil (Lowell, Mass.) finishing just .59 seconds behind the top time at 1:49.31.
Both teams are off until the weekend of February 13 when the Pride travel to the University of Rhode Island for the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association Championships.
Above is a press release submitted by Regis College.
