Records Fall As Blue Jays Claim Third In GNAC Title Meet
WELLESLEY, Mass. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's swimming and diving team made history Sunday, finishing in third place, a program record, in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships, held at the Boston Sports Institute in Wellesley, Mass. Sunday night. In addition, a total of nine men's swimmers qualified for the upcoming New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA) Championships, the final meet of USJ's 2021-22 season, held Thursday, February 24 through Sunday, February 27. School records were also shattered for the third consecutive night.
The Blue Jays improved throughout the season and even throughout the meet, maintaining an impressive gap on the back half of the competition. Senior captain Jacob Wyse (Broad Brook, Conn.) placed sixth of 10 swimmers in the 400 IM (4:27.37), scoring five points for USJ. Junior Maksym Ugrak (Newington, Conn.) was next to score key points, matching Wyse with a sixth place swim himself, this time in the 200 Butterfly (2:13.68). Ugrak was seven and a half seconds clear of the next closest swimmer. In doing so, he crushed the school record by nearly six seconds. The junior made it two for two in program records when he placed eighth of 10 in the 50 Butterfly, finishing in 29.19 seconds. His prelim time of 28.86 seconds, while not for points, was even faster, furthering the gap from the previous school record of 30.28 seconds, a record once held by Wyse for over three years.
Saint Joseph wrapped up the night in style with a podium swim in the 800 Free Relay, a tough event across all four relays. A flock of four Blue Jays earned 16 points in this one; Junior Aaron Gauvin (Berlin, Conn.), sophomore Vinnie Carbonell (Berlin, Conn.), senior captain Brendan Lynch (Watertown, Conn.) and Wyse. USJ touched the wall in 7:49.49, another program record.
The highlights also came way up on the diving board, as junior David Kavanaugh (West Hartford, Conn.) put together one of the best performances of his USJ Athletics career, breaking the 3-Meter diving record with a score of 232.70. Kavanaugh, along with senior captain Brielle Bergeron (Easthampton, Mass.) on the women's side, provided much needed support for the swimmers throughout the weekend.
USJ concluded the final day of swimming and diving comfortably in the third position once again (158 points). Roger Williams claimed victory with 521 points, while Norwich finished runner-up (410 points). USJ claimed its best GNAC Championship finish in program history.
COACH QUOTE [Brenda Straker] "The men's team swam and dove exceptionally well! Seven school records in all were broken and 99% of the team swam their personal best times in all their events. We finished third in the standings, having moved up a place each year of the four years since the inception of the program. The men should be very proud of all they have accomplished, I know I am!"
The Blue Jays broke eight school records on the weekend (seven on the men's side), and 14 members of the teams qualified for the upcoming NEISDA Championships (nine on the men's side).
UP NEXT
The Blue Jays will now have two-plus weeks to prepare for the season finale, the NEISDA Championships, which will be held Thursday, February 24 through Sunday, February 27, at the Tootell Aquatics Center in Kingston, R.I. Head to usjbluejays.com to catch all the action!
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