Catherine McAuley High School is pleased to announce that junior Alexa Coulombe has verbally committed to receive a full basketball scholarship to Boston College.

For the full article on Coulombe, published in the August 26 edition of the Portland Press Herald, please access the following link:

http://www.pressherald.com/sports/mcauley-player-decides-to-join-boston-college_2010-08-26.html

The McAuley community is proud of this tremendous accomplishment, Alexa!

Congratulations to Class of 2009 graduate, Kristen Desrosiers, who was the first female finisher in the annual ‘Peaks to Portland’ swim, a 2.4-mile course from Peaks Island to Portland’s East End Beach.  Desrosiers finished with a time of 48:03, exactly two minutes ahead of her twin sister and fellow McAuley alumna, Katelyn ‘09.

This was the first ‘Peaks to Portland’ swim for the Desrosiers, who both attend the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA and are part of the school’s Swim Team.

The McAuley community is proud of this noteworthy accomplishment!

Catherine McAuley High School is pleased to announce the recent hiring of Amy Vachon as its head Varsity Basketball Coach.

McAuley’s Athletic Administrator Joe Kilmartin believes that “Amy’s basketball background and personal characteristics made her the ideal choice for our school.  Her overall experience will ensure that McAuley basketball and its student athletes will continue to prosper and grow.”

Vachon comes to McAuley from Greely High School, where she served as an Assistant Varsity Coach for two years and helped the Rangers get to the Western Maine Finals.  Vachon has also assisted at Cony High School in Augusta and was Head Varsity Coach at Waterville High School for one year, prior to attending graduate school.

Coach Vachon’s athletic pedigree is outstanding.  Daughter of long-time Cony coach Paul Vachon, she played on two state championship teams in both basketball and field hockey.  In basketball, she was a four-year All-State Basketball Selection,  twice she was selected Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year (’95 & ’96), and she was Miss Maine Basketball and High School Athlete of the Year in 1996.

Vachon continued her career on a full basketball scholarship at the University of Maine under Coach Joanne P. McCallie, now head coach of Duke University.  While at Maine, Vachon’s teams advanced to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments and earned the first tournament win in Maine and America East History with a victory over Stanford University, where former McAuley standout Ashley Cimino will play her senior season next year.  Coach Vachon was a two time All-Conference Selection and the all-time assists leader for both Maine and America East.

Vachon continued her education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning her graduate degree in School Counseling.  She is employed as a Guidance Counselor at Westbrook Middle School and is the eighth grade Field Hockey Coach.

From the Saint Joseph’s College of Maine website:

November 27, 2009 STANDISH, ME – SJC sophomore swimmer Hannah Gajewski (Biddeford, ME/McAuley) has been listed on the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll for her performance during the first reporting period of the winter season. In the opening weeks of the 2009-10 campaign, Gajewski earned five individual top finishes for the Monks and swam legs for three winning relay teams. The sophomore set a new program record with a 12:04.74 effort in the 1000-Free against Elms at home on November 14th. Gajewski’s name is prominent in the current SJC Swimming record book, as the sophomore standout owns 10 individual records and has participated on three record-setting relay teams. In just over a season in the pool for the Monks, Gajewski, the 2009 GNAC Rookie Swimmer of the Year, has participated in 29 individual events with 22 first-place finishes and 7 runner-up performances. St. Joe’s, 2-1 with wins over Husson and Regis, will participate in the GNAC Championship at Simmons College on December 5th and 6th with opening events slated to begin at 10:00 AM both days.

McAuley High Varsity Basketball Coach, Wil Smith, was recently featured on the front page of the June 22 edition of the Portland Press Herald for his involvement with the Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram’s Athlete of the Year Award Ceremony.  Smith, who also directs the Seeds of Peace summer camp in Otisfield, served as guest speaker for the Ceremony, where he reminded the honorees of their responsibility to share their gifts and talents with their community and beyond.

For the full article, please access http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=263689&ac=PHnws.

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) recently announced that Hannah Gajewski ‘08, a freshman at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, has been selected as the 2009 GNAC Rookie Swimmer of the Year.

Gajewski has been named the GNAC Rookie of the Week six times and was also named the Conference Co-Swimmer of the Week on February 23.  She has won sixteen events this year, breaking nine individual team records while participating as a member of three program record-holding relay teams.  Gajewski earned two individual wins at the GNAC Championships in the 200 Free and 100 IM, while also earning a win in the 400 Medley Relay.

Congratulations, Hannah, on this impressive accomplishment!

- Photo and article courtesy of www.sjcme.edu