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May 23, 1997 1997 Men's and Women's Swimming Season RecapWomen's Record: 6-6 Men's Record: 4-8 Head Coach: John O'Neill Captains: Paul Ahearn, Colleen Doyle, Stacy SweetserThe Providence College men's and women's swim squads steadily improved throughout the season with the Lady Friars finishing with a 6-6 record while the men's team finished with a 4-8 tally. The Friars finished the second half of the season strong as they defeated Boston University for the first time in the history of the program in their last home meet on February 8th. Sophomore Jed Michnowicz (Santa Clara, CA) led the squad to a 162-134 decisive victory over the Terriers as he continued to dominate the 200 and 500 Free events as well as the 200 backstroke. Michnowicz won the 200 Free and 200 Back as well as aiding the 200 Medley Relay to victory. The Santa Clara, CA native earned several first place finishes throughout the season including PC's only three individual wins against St. John's, a win in the 800 Free against Syracuse and two wins against Seton Hall (1,000 and 500 Free). Michnowicz picked up the only individual first place at UNH as he won the 200 Back and also helped the 200 Free Relay to victory against the Wildcats. Michnowicz led the Friars to an 11th place finish at the BIG EAST Championship held at Rutgers University. The sophomore finished 11th overall in the 400 Free and 13th overall in the 200 Back. Senior captain Mike Ahearn (Plano, TX) scored all season in the 200 Backstroke highlighted by a third place at BC and a fourth place showing at St. John's. He also scored in the 200 Freestyle and helped the 400 Medley Relay to top finishes. Senior Stephen Joe (Swansea, MA) also helped the squad as he took a first place at Syracuse in the 200 Breaststroke. Junior Steven Brown (Sacramento, CA) had success this season in the 100 and 200 IM and the 200 Fly. He finished second at UMass in the Butterfly and third at St. John's. Junior Kurt Yates (Cincinnati, OH) broke the Providence's 100 breaststroke record and the New England record that he had been aiming at all season with a 1:07.77 time against Boston University. He had wins during the season including a first place finish in the 200 Breaststroke against Massachusetts. The Lady Friar squad finished with a 6-6 tally after losing to St. John's on February 1 by only three points, 121-118. The squad was led by co-captains Stacy Sweetser (McLean, VA) and Colleen Doyle (Bellevue, WA) as well as by juniors Kierstin Newell (Branford, CT) and Shannon Najjar (Sarasota, FL). Sweetser was consistent all season with her best afternoon coming just one week before the BIG EAST Championship. Sweetser took part in breaking three school and New England records against Boston University on February 8th. She broke the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:16.21 and also helped the 200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay to new records. At the BIG EAST Championships, Sweetser took a 14th in the 100 Breaststroke. Senior leader Colleen Doyle led the squad all season in the IM and Free events. Against St. John's on February 1, Doyle led the squad with two first place finishes. She won the 200 IM with a time of 2:15.48 and the 500 Free with a time of 5:20.55. For her efforts that week, she was named PC Female Athlete of the Week. Doyle also took part the next week as she helped the 200 Medley Relay to a new school record as well as a New England record. Doyle, who excels in the classroom, was named to the GTE CoSIDA At-Large District I All-Academic Team as she has held over a 3.8 grade point average in her four years. The future of the Lady Friar program looks strong as a group of juniors scored in the 1996-97 season. Kierstin Newell led the squad in the 200 Free and 100 Free while Shannon Najjar won several first place honors in the butterfly throughout the season. Newell finished the highest for PC at the BIG EAST Championships as she tallied a 7th place finish in the 100 Free with a time of 52.20. She also finished 9th in the 200 Free. Also a bright spot for PC was junior Leah McLean (Norfolk, MA) who had her best performance in her career finishing in third place on both boards at Boston University. The combination of sophomore Carla Clemente (Loudonville, NY) and freshman Karen Cardwell (Marietta, GA) looks optimistic for the Lady Friars. Clemente has stood out in the backstroke and has also helped PC to strong Medley Relay events. Cardwell stood out in mid January as she helped PC to a win over Seton Hall as she claimed three first place finishes (200 IM, 1000 Free and 500 Free). The swim teams have routinely been named two of the top academic programs in the nation. The men's squad earned a cumulative grade point of 2.81 which finished 38th among Division I schools nationwide. The women's grade point was 2.96 which was 48th nationally. It is the fifth consecutive year the women have been named in the Top 50 nationally. Awards and Honors
Karen Cardwell
Colleen Doyle
Kierstin Newell
Leah McLean
Stacy Sweetser
Steven Joe
Kevin Kosiorek
Jed Michnowicz
Letterwinners
April Amoroso
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