Holy Cross Men’s Swimming & Diving Set For 2010-2011 Season
By Anna Poulter-Hendrickson
Special to GoHolyCross.com
The Holy Cross men's swimming and diving team returns to the pool for the 2010-2011 season with optimism, after returning 13 letterwinners from a year ago. Out of the 20 individual events that the Crusaders competed in last season, top performers return to lead the team in 13 of those events. The squad will bolster its lineup with the addition of nine newcomers as well.
Head coach Barry Parenteau has tabbed seniors Sean Hager and Nick Larsen as captains for the season, but expects to see strong leadership out of all of the seniors. Last season, 10 members of the team were tabbed for the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and three members of the team, including seniors Matt Mullaney and Matthew Hynes, posted perfect 4.0 grade point averages. The team was also one of 16 Holy Cross squads to receive Division I Academic Progress Rate public recognition awards from the NCAA.
Backstroke
Juniors Connor
Bowman and Patrick
McMahon, along with senior Aidan
McGrath, will give the Crusaders depth and versatility
in the backstroke events. Bowman returns as the top Holy Cross
backstroker in the 50, 100 and 200 back events. Bowman, a walk-on
as a sophomore, swam season-best times at the Patriot League
Championship and Parenteau will look to him to continue this season
where he left off last year. McMahon also had season-best
performances at the Patriot League Championship, while McGrath
returns from a junior year abroad.
Breaststroke
Sophomore Brian
Power had a big impact for Holy Cross in the
breaststroke events a year ago and looks to continue that success
this season. Power led the team in the 100 and 200 breast, swimming
season-best times at the Patriot League Championship. Junior
Michael
Burns returns to push Power in both events, as he also
had season-best times at the Patriot League Championship. Freshman
Tim
Liddy will strengthen the lineup for Holy Cross in the
breaststroke events.
Butterfly
Larsen returns after leading the Crusaders with season-best
times in the 100 and 200 fly at the Patriot League Championship
last season. Hager will add strength to the lineup, as he
finished the 2009-2010 season with four of the team's five fastest
times in the 200 fly. Mullaney also returns to give the Crusaders
depth in the fly events. Last season Mullaney recorded the team's
third-best time in the 100 fly at the Hart Center against
Providence. Newcomers Zachary
Cietek, Patrick
Gibbons and Anthony
Russo will also add depth for the Crusaders in the
butterfly events.
Freestyle
Parenteau has strength in numbers in the sprint freestyle events
this season. John
Vatalaro and Brian
Lyons return for their sophomore campaign after
finishing with team-best times at the Patriot League Championship
in the 50, 100 and 200 free events. Bowman and sophomore Edward
Supple also return after compiling top times in the 50
free at the Patriot League Championship. Larsen and Hynes, along
with sophomore Chris
Malfitano, also add to the depth for Holy Cross in the
sprint freestyle events. Rookies Ben
Chelmow, Gibbons, Russo and Jan
Yburan will help give Parenteau the depth needed to be
competitive in individual and relay events.
Lyons will also contribute for Holy Cross in the distance freestyle
events, as he was a team leader a year ago in the 500 and 1,000.
Burns and junior Matt
Sottile also return to the lineup, with Burns
recording the third-best time on the team in the 500 and 1,000 a
year ago and Sottile swimming top team times in the 1,000 and
1,650. Parenteau will look to rookie Kevin
O'Connor to help add versatility in Holy Cross' lineup
in the distance events.
Individual Medley
Power and Hager return to lead Holy Cross in the individual
medley events. Last season, the two shared top times in the 200 and
400 IM. Power recorded a team-best time in the 200 IM at the
Patriot League Championship, while Hager hit a team-best time in
the 400 IM at the Patriot League Championship. Parenteau will look
to newcomers Liddy and O'Connor to strengthen the team in the
medley events and add flexibility to the lineup.
Diving
New faces will make up the Holy Cross men's diving team this
season, as sophomore Richard
Pellegrini and freshman Nick
Videtti join the team for the 2010-2011 season.
Head diving coach Wil Aybar is looking forward to
watching the development of these new divers, as he expects to see
their talent rise with their dedication to the sport.
Schedule
Holy Cross opens the season at the Hart Center on Friday, Oct. 15 against Fairfield and then welcomes Patriot League opponent Lehigh on Saturday, Oct. 16. The Crusaders will travel to Springfield on Oct. 30 before hitting the road for the Terrier Invitational hosted by Boston University on Nov. 19-21 and closing out the first half of the season on Dec. 3-4 at the Harold Anderson Invitational hosted by Rhode Island.
The Crusaders kick off the 2011 portion of the season on Jan. 21, hosting the Worcester City Championship. Holy Cross travels to Providence on Jan. 29, hosts Boston College on Feb. 3 and closes out the regular season on Feb. 5 when it hosts Bryant. Holy Cross will wrap up the season at the Patriot League Championship on Feb. 17-19 in Lewisburg, Pa.
