Swimming and Diving
Wheeler sets three school records at New England Meet
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Verm., Feb. 23, 2010 -- Saint Joseph junior Sarah Wheeler (Winchendon Springs, Mass.) finished in the top 10 in three individual events and set school records in each at the New England Swimming and Diving Championships at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center.
Saint Joseph finished with 114 points and finished 15th of 22 in the team competition. Keene State won the event (924 points), followed by Bentley (802) and Eastern Conn. (709).
Wheeler finished fifth in the 100-yard butterfly (1:01.04) and eighth in the 200 butterfly (2:20.16) with record-setting performances. She was also sixth in the 400 IM in 4:59.16, setting a school record in the preliminary round at 4:57.62.
For her efforts, Wheeler was honored for the third time this season as GNAC Swimmer of the Week.
Saint Joseph freshman Suki Hood (North Haven, Conn.) set two freshman records in finishing 15th in the 50 butterfly and 16th in the 100 butterfly. She swam 29.22 in the 50 fly finals and 1:06.27 in te 100, but set the record at 1:05.74 in a preliminary.
Sophomore Mary Provencher (West Hartford, Conn.) was the other Blue Jay to earn points in an individual event with her 12th place3 finish in the 50 breaststroke (34.74).
Senior Kristine Ellegard (Rocky Hill, Conn.) teamed with Wheeler, Hood and Provencher on three relay teams that all reached finals and secured points. The foursome finished 11th in 400 medley relay, 12th in the 200 free relay and 14th on the 400 free relay.
In all, Saint Joseph swimmers posted 27 personal best splits and times.
Blue Jays close in double dual meet
CHICOPEE, Mass., Feb. 6, 2009 -- Saint Joseph College closed out it dual meet schedule at Elms College against two opponents. The Blue Jays came up on the short end of 77-45 score against Elms and were narrowly defeated by Husson, 64-58.
Saint Joseph junior Sarah Wheeler (Winchendon Springs, Mass.) was the overall winner in three events, earning the Blue Jays first-place points against both opponents in each event. Wheeler won the 200 freestyle (2:21.86), 100 freestyle (1:04.73) and 100 butterfly (1:10.45).
Freshman Suki Hood (North Haven, Conn.) earned one overall win, finishing first in the 800 freestyle (10:30.19). Her overall second-place finishes in the 100 backstroke and 50 butterfly netted the Blue Jays first-place points against one opponent each.
Qualifiers will represent Saint Joseph in the New England Meet, Feb. 18-21.
Wheeler honored after Westfield Meet
WEST HARTFORD, Conn., Feb. 2, 2010 -- Saint Joseph College junior Sarah Wheeler (Winchendon Springs, Mass.) was honored for the second time this season as the GNAC Swimmer of the Week after her performance Saturday at Westfield State.
Wheeler won the 100-yard butterfly, 200 butterfly and was second in the 100 freestyle. Wheeler was previously honored after winning four events at the GNAC Meet in December.
Saint Joseph freshman Suki Hood (North Haven, Conn.) was named to the GNAC Honor Roll. Hood won the 50 fly and was second in the 200 fly (to Wheeler) and the 500 free.
Westfield State won the meet, 154-113. Both Wheeler and Hood were on the winning 400 free relay team that also included senior Kristine Ellegard (Rocky Hill, Conn.) and sophomore Mary Provencher (West Hartford, Conn.) Provencher also had a second in the 50 free and a third in the 50 backstroke. Freshman Sophia Bachiashvili (Bath, Penn.) had third-place finishes in the 200 breaststroke and 50 back.
Home schedule comes to a close
WEST HARTFORD, Conn., Jan. 27, 2010 --Senior Kristine Ellegard (Rocky Hill, Conn.) finished second in the 50-yard backstroke and third in the 500-yard freestyle against Plymouth State in the final home meet for the senior class. Plymouth State won the team competition, 138-118.
Saint Joseph junior Sarah Wheeler (Winchendon Springs, MA) was a double-winner with first-place finishes in the 200 free and 50 butterfly and freshman Suki Hood (North Haven, Conn.) won the 400 IM.
Blue Jays Battle On
WILLIMANTIC, Conn., Jan. 20, 2010 -- With a team plagued with injuries and other misfortune, the Blue Jays had eight out of 20 swimmers and divers compete against Eastern Conn.
Eastern won 149-127 and swept individual honors in all the events in which it scored. Saint Joseph standout Sarah Wheeler came up with three close second place finishes while battling injuries.
“We were sore and tired and our goal was to swim as hard as we could in distances races that we hadn’t competed in all season yet,” Saint Joseph coach Kieran Osgood said. “And they succeeded.”
Team Returns From Florida
WEST HARTFORD, Conn., Jan. 15, 2010 -- After battling Mother Nature for ten days in Islamorada, Fla., Saint Joseph College faced a tough challenge when it returned home with a meet against WNEC. During the training trip, valuable water time was lost due to extreme and rare cold weather and quick adjustments needed to be made.
Despite a 137-118 loss, there were several distinguishing performances.
Saint Joseph freshman Suki Hood (North Haven, Conn.) started the meet off in the 1000-yard freestyle and her winning time of 12 minutes, 11.08 seconds was close to a 15-year old school freshman record.
Junior Sarah Wheeler (Winchendon Springs, Mass.) took three first-place finishes in the 100 fly, 100 free and 500 free.
Senior captain Kristine Ellegard (Rocky Hill, Conn.), made a New England cut in the 50 back with a time of 32.60. Mary Provencher (West Hartford, Conn.), Sarah Hawkes (Bristol, Conn.) and Jacqueline Pedroncelli (Litchfield, Conn.) all swam personal bests, dropping several seconds of their times.
Wheeler wins four events at GNAC Meet
BOSTON, Mass., Dec. 6, 2009 -- Saint Joseph College junior Sarah Wheeler (Winchendon Springs, Mass.) set three meet records, one pool record and was the only swimmer to win four individual events Saturday and Sunday at the annual GNAC meet at Simmons College.
Simmons won its sixth consecutive GNAC championship and eighth in the past nine years. Saint Joseph College finished fourth in the team competition.
Wheeler won the 200-yard individual medley (2:21.30), 50 butterfly (28.44) and 200 butterfly (2:24.30) with GNAC records as well as the 100 freestyle (57.88). Her time in the 50 butterfly broke her own meet record and a five year-old pool record.
Saint Joseph sophomore Mary Provencher (West Hartford, Conn.) and freshman Suki Hood (North Haven, Conn.) each scored in four individual events. Provencher’s top finish was a third place in the 200 backstroke and Hood was third in the 100 freestyle. Senior Kristine Ellegard (Rocky Hill, Conn.) and sophomore Ashley Beaudoin (Dedham, Mass.) scored in three events each.
The Blue Jays 400 medley relay team of Provencher, Hood, Wheeler and Ellegard earned a second-place finish.
The team is off during semester break, but returns to action Fri. Jan. 15, 2010, hosting WNEC at 7 p.m.
GNAC Honors for Wheeler, Hood
Saint Joseph junior Sarah Wheeler (Winchendon Springs, Mass.) and freshman Suki Hood (North Haven, Conn.) were named to the GNAC honor roll for their strong starts to the season. Both posted times that qualified them for the New England meet in all their events. 
After finishing third in the season-opening Pentathlon, Saint Joseph has lost two dual meets. The Blue Jays lost to Western Conn., 162-116 and to Eastern Conn, 149-127.
Against Western, Wheeler won the 200IM, anchored the winning 400 free relay team and had second-place finishes in the 100 free and 50 fly. Hood won the 500 free, was also on the winning 400 free relay team and had second place finishes in the 200 free and 100 fly.
Sophomore Mary Provencher (West Hartford, Conn.) was second in the 100 back and 50 back.
Against Eastern, Wheeler won the 200 fly, 500 free and 200 IM. Hood won the 50 fly, was part of the winning 200 free relay team and was second in the 1000 free. Also on the winning relay team were senior Kristine Ellegard (Rocky Hill, Conn.), freshman Nicole Clough (Meriden, Conn.) and Provencher.
Freshman Cristina Balser (Manchester, Conn.) and sophomore Noelle Bellefleur (Bloomfield, Conn.) finished first and second in one-meter diving. Balser set a personal best of 158.20.
Solid Start at Pentathlon
WEST HARTFORD, Conn., Oct. 24, 2009 -- Led by junior Sara Wheeler (Winchendon Springs, MA), who finished third in the individual competition, the St. Joseph College Swimming & Diving team began its season Saturday at its own Blue Jay Pentathlon.
Five teams participated and Eastern Conn. and Assumption shared team honors with 62 points each. St. Joseph was third with 12 points, followed by Husson with seven and WNEC with six.
For the individual competition, each swimmer who competed in all five events had their times combined from all five to determine the order of finish. Wheeler's time of 5:39:29 left her two one-hundredths of a second behind second-place finisher, Eastern junior Amy Arrisco (Wallingford, CT). Assumption freshman Jennifer Ryan (Weston, FL) was the individual winner in 5:38.19.
St. Joseph freshman Suki Hood (North Haven, CT) finished 14th and sophomore Provencher (West Hartford, CT) was 20th of the 53 swimmers who competed in all five events.
"I'm very pleased with the day," St. Joseph coach Kieran Osgood said. "It was an outstanding showing for our first meet, especially considering we were down a few athletes due to illness and other sports."
St. Joseph hosts its first dual meet of the season, taking on Western Conn., Sat. Nov. 14 at 1 p.m.
Blue Jays Announce 2009-2010 Schedule
WEST HARTFORD, Conn., August 17, 2009 -- Saint Joseph College head swimming & diving coach Kieran Osgood has announced the 2009-2010 schedule. The Blue Jays will open up competition on Saturday, October 24 when they host the annual Blue Jay Pentathlon in the Bruyette Natatorium on campus. SJC will also hots a pair of dual meets with Eastern Conn. State University and Western Conn. State University before wrapping up the first half of the year with the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships at Simmons in December. The Blue Jays are coming off one of their most successful campaigns in school history. View Complete Schedule.
