CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Holy Cross men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened up the season by taking part in the Northeast Catholic Invitational. The women finished in fourth place out of seven schools, while the men came in fifth out of six schools.

Leading the way on the women's side was junior Nicoletta Kalavantis, who placed second in the 400-yard individual medley (4:45.86) and fifth in the 200-yard butterfly (2:12.58). Sophomore Ayden Chanin also had a strong weekend with a third place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (53.55) and a fourth in the 200-yard freestyle (1:57.81). In addition, sophomore Greta Walting came in fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:09.05), junior Julianna Bender was fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:28.89) and senior Katy Saladin finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:00.38). In relay action, the Crusaders were fourth in both the 400-yard medley relay (4:05.07) and the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:42.06).

On the men's side, freshman Rory Hess had a third place finish in the 100-yard butterfly (52.28), freshman Patrick Walsh came in fourth in the 200-yard backstroke (1:56.08) and freshman Luca Moscetti was fourth in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:20.97). In addition, senior Michael Brennan finished fifth in the 200-yard butterfly (1:57.21), while sophomore Chris Clow was fourth in the three-meter diving (162.45) and fifth in the one-meter diving (160.80). Holy Cross' top relay was the 400-yard freestyle team, which came in fifth (3:17.66).

The Crusaders will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 9, when they travel to Iona for a 2:00 p.m. meet.