STANDISH, ME - The Saint Joseph's College swimming program posted another solid season in the pool as a second-year varsity sport. The women won seven of eight meets and placed second in the GNAC Championship, improving upon a sixth-place finish in 2007, while breaking 14 individual and five relay records. Although still searching for its first meet victory, the men's program set team records for points as well as lowest deficit in a meet while 13 individual program records fell during the 2009 campaign.

The 2009 season will most likely be remembered as the year Saint Joseph's hosted the program's first swim meet at the Harold Alfond Center. On February 7th, St. Joe's dealt Husson University a 170-84 defeat in the waters of the Alfond Center pool. The 200-Medley relay team of Lindsay D'Ascanio '11 (Kennebunk, ME), Rose Maccarrone '12 (Hingham, MA), Ashton Piers '09 (Falmouth, ME/Deering) and Amanda Lanoix '12 (Lyman, ME) posted a 2:09.23 time to capture the program's first victory in its home pool.

Several individuals stood out for both teams, perhaps none more than freshman Hannah Gajewski (Biddeford, ME/McAuley). The 2009 GNAC Rookie Swimmer of the Year and six-time GNAC Rookie of the Week recipient participated in 22 events as a freshman, winning 17 while placing second on five occasions. Gajewski broke nine individual records and swam legs for four relay teams that achieved new SJC program record times in 2009.

D'Ascanio, the 2008 GNAC Rookie of the Year, won 13 events and bested four program record times in 2009. Jamie Wojtkiewicz '12 (Bedford, NH) placed first ten on 10 occasions and was a member of all five relay teams that achieved SJC record-breaking times in her rookie campaign.

The first-year duo of Kevin Towne (Shrewsbury, MA) and Kieran O'Connell (Gloucester, MA) led the way on the men's side. Towne set new program highs in five events and O'Connell broke three team records in 2009. Another freshman, Jordan Simenas (Cambridge, MA), achieved program highs in the 100 and 50 Breast events. The trio will be looked upon to help lay the foundation for future successes of the men's program.

Several of the women's team highlights involve the GNAC and New England Championships. After placing fifth in the GNAC's with 65 points in 2007, St. Joe's surged to a second-place performance with 111 points in 2008. At the New Englands in February, the women's team advanced to the finals in 16 competitions and placed 17th with 99 points while setting new program records in five events. The improvement was evident, as Saint Joseph's placed 20th with 36 points, advancing to the finals in nine events, the previous year at the regional event.

With a healthy crop of returners and the ability to host events, look for both the women's and men's programs to reach new heights under the tutelage of second-year Head Coach Rick Horr in the coming season.