Raising the Bar of Success
For the 2011-12 men's and women's swim teams the focal point is simple: continue to raise the bar of success.
Success in and out of the pool has been the mantra for eighth-year head coach Bill Tyler who has directed his teams to set and reset more than 300 Elms College records.
The Blazers return seven men's swimmers to the pool and 14 women's swimmers including senior captains Garrett Brune (Lakeville, Mass.) and Katie Roberts (Torrington, Conn.).
Here is a look at how both teams break down heading into the 2011-12 campaign.
Men's Team
The men's team will be small in number, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in quality. Led by a corps of three seniors, including Brune, Michael Desmond (Nashua, N.H.) and Nicholas Provost (Three Rivers, Mass.), the Blazers will rely heavily on the experience and leadership that these three athletes bring to the pool on a daily basis.
Brune owns several individual school records in both meters and yards, and has also been a part of four record-setting relay teams. Provost has earned three individual school records in yards and one in meters, and is also a member of the record-holding 800-yard freestyle relay team (7:56.81 set in 2009).
Juniors Mark Gehring (West Springfield, Mass.) and Jonathan Girard (West Springfield, Mass.) will add depth and experience to Elms' upperclassmen. Gehring has been involved in three record-setting relay squads, including the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:31.48 in 2010) and the 400-yard freestyle relay team that secured a time of 3:22.01 in 2010.
Sophomores Keegan Goan (Westbrook, Maine) and Aaron Starke (Chicopee, Mass.) made a splash in their collegiate swimming debuts last season, as Goan set three individual records in the 50-meter and 100-meter butterfly (28.24 and 1:03.43 respectively) and the 100-meter individual medley (1:06.60). He, Starke and Gehring were part of 200-meter freestyle relay team that set a school mark of 1:44.73.
Freshman Jeffrey Ludington (Killingworth, Conn.) rounds out the Blazers' small but stellar squad that is poised to make waves during the 2011-12 season.
Women's Team
The 2010-11 season was a memorable one for the Blazers' women's swim team. Elms posted a program-best 11-2 record in head-to-head competition, including wins in nine of its final 10 meets, placed second at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship for the fourth time in five years and finished 10th at the season-ending New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA) Championship.
After earning rookie of the year honors as a freshman in 2009-10, Tessa Dudunake (Northampton, Mass.) was named the GNAC Swimmer of the Year last season as a sophomore, while first-year swimmer Devon DeGrazia (Westport, Mass.) garnered GNAC Rookie of the Year honors.
Among the Blazers' group of returners is a trio of seniors, including Roberts, Chalis Bird (Windsor, Mass.), and Marissa Yeager (Dunbarton, N.H.) who will provide valuable leadership.
Bird finished fourth in the 100-yard freestyle during last season's GNAC Championship, while Roberts placed fifth in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 36.82 at the event. Bird is part of two relay record-setting teams in meters, and also has a hand in all five of the Blazers' five record-setting relay teams in yards.
Juniors Dudunake, Emalee Furtek (Ludlow, Mass.) and Tricia Ruell (Chicopee, Mass.) each enter their third year as a member of the swim program and will add depth and experience to Elms' upperclassmen unit.
Dudunake owns two individual school records in both meters and yards, is part of two relay records in meters, and five relay records in yards. Her time of 36.63 in the 50-meter breaststroke is also the Elms pool record. Furtek is part of two record-holding relay teams – the 200-meter medley relay and the 400-meter freestyle relay.
Led by DeGrazia and Ashley Kirchner (Dalton, Mass.), the Blazers feature 11 sophomore swimmers. DeGrazia set six individual school records in meters last season, and four individual school records in yards, in addition three relay records in meters, and four relay records in yards. Kirchner was an impressive contributor as well, notching seven total individual records as well as five total relay records.
Joining DeGrazia and Kirchner are Diana Borys (Oakville, Conn.), Gabrielle Calvanese (Agawam, Mass.), Jillian Francis (Methuen, Mass.), Kelly Gilhooly (Bloomfield, Conn.), Stephanie Konstantinidis (Holyoke, Mass.), Maggie Kuntz (South Hadley, Mass.), Samantha Noel (Durham, Conn.), Emily Schneider (West Kingston, R.I.) and Abigail Wingfield (Northampton, Mass.) who owns the school record in the 200-meter butterfly.
Elms' squad rounds out with three freshman; Madison Boehm (Sutton, Mass.), Jessica McVeigh (Ludlow, Mass.) and Rebecca Yungk (New Britain, Conn.).
Schedule
The 2011-12 slate for the men's team begins on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Mount Saint Mary's College (N.Y.) and features four home events. The Blazers first home contest of the season is Saturday, Nov. 12 against St. Joseph's College (Maine) at 2:00 p.m. at Partyka Natatorium.
This season also marks the first GNAC Invitational for the men's programs which will take place on Dec. 3-4 at Simmons College in conjunction with the women's GNAC Championship.
On the women's side, Elms begins its campaign on Oct. 29 at Mount Saint Mary's (N.Y.) and will compete in its first home meet on Nov. 12 against St. Joseph's (Maine).
In addition to the four home events that the men will be competing in, the women will race against Western New England University on Dec. 18.
The season concludes with the three-day NEISDA Championship in White River Junction, Vt. beginning on Friday, Feb. 17-19 for both teams.
Wrap Up
For the men's team, quality and experience will help guide the squad to success during the season, while the women's team will feature a deep and experienced stable of swimmers that is poised to raise the bar of excellence even higher in 2011-12.
