Willis, Smith Capture New England Titles; Bears Break Four Records at NEISDA Championships

KINGSTON, R.I. -- The Bridgewater State University men's swimming & diving team broke four school records, and freshman Dylon Willis (Attleboro, Mass.) and junior Richard Smith (Milford, Mass.) became the program's first New England champions during day two of the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association (NEISDA) Division III Championships held on Friday at the University of Rhode Island.

In Friday morning's preliminaries, Willis placed first in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 26.91 seconds as he eclipsed Mark Carvalho's school mark of 27.13 seconds set back in 1999.

Willis then captured the New England title in the 50 breaststroke on Friday night with a finals time of 26.84 seconds as he bettered his own record by 7/100 of a second.

Smith recorded a preliminary time of 1:54.22 in the 200 individual medley as he broke his own BSU record of 1:57.01 set earlier this season.

Smith then won the New England title in the 200 IM with a finals time of 1:52.97, improving on his preliminary time by more than a second.

Sophomore Jameson Rose (Somerset, Mass.) posted a time of 4:47.09 in the preliminaries of the 500 freestyle as he broke the previous program mark of 4:49.06 set by Rich Sarson in 1984. Rose would go on to place third with a finals time of 4:50.53.

Sophomore Alexander Belinsky (Norton, Mass.) and freshman Giulian Santos (Framingham, Mass.) rounded out the Bears' All-NEISDA performers on Friday. Belinsky posted an 11-dive score of 294.30 points in the finals of the one-meter diving competition to place fifth, while Santos finished sixth in the 50 freestyle with a finals time of 22.36 seconds.

The Bears' 400 medley relay squad featuring Rose, Willis, Smith and junior Max Medina (Marion, Mass.) eclipsed the school record in the event with a preliminary time of 3:32.78. The foursome broke the old mark of 3:36.99 set by Paul Harrington, Adam Budd, Dave Cangiano and Brad Henderson in 1996. 

Rose, Willis, Smith and Medina recorded a finals time of 3:32.87 in the 400 medley relay to place fourth overall.

The BSU men's squad is in fourth place with 208 team points after day two. Roger Williams University leads the way with 335 points with Norwich University (266 pts.) in second place and Brandeis University (249 pts.) in third.

The four-day championship event continues on Saturday morning with the preliminary round getting underway at ten.