STANDISH, ME – The Saint Joseph's College Men's Swimming team made strides during the 2009-10 campaign under second-year Head Coach Rick Horr.

The Monks averaged just over 65 points per meet, which is a team-best in three years as a varsity sport, and closed the competitive gap against Elms College and University of New England.

Individually, Kevin Towne '12 (Shrewsbury, MA) and Andrew Marshall '13 (Kittery, ME/St. Thomas Aquinas) combined to set 10 new team records over the winter and both competed in three events in the New England Regional Meet in White River Junction, Vermont in late February.

Towne accounted for four individual records, as the sophomore co-captain set new program marks in the 50-Free (25.48), 200-Back (2:16.11), 100-Back (1:00.35) and 50-Back (28.31) events. Marshall set six records, as the freshman standout broke the marks for the 1000-Free (11:29.74), 500-Free (5:28.54), 200-Free (2:02.96), 100-Free (56.29), 100-Fly (1:08.29), 50-Fly (30.59), 200-IM (2:23.73) and 100-IM (1:06.86) events. Both swimmers also swam legs in all three of the relay teams that broke team records during the 2009-10 season.

Two others, Brian Grasser '12 (Groton, CT) and Eric Jaukkuri '13 (Quincy, MA), showed marked improvement during the season and look to contribute further in future seasons. Grasser improved by seconds in the 100 and 50-Free events, while Jaukkuri had progressed dramatically by season's end. Both underclassmen participated in the New England Regional Meet as members of the 800 and 400-Free Relay teams, which were the two events that yielded points for the Monks.

The closure of the 2009-10 swimming season signaled the end for senior Eli Ratner (Cape Elizabeth, ME), who competed in 19 individual events, including a pair in the 2010 New England Regionals, in two seasons for the Monks.