On Saturday, July 30, 2011, McAuley junior, Taylor Church, competed in Maine’s first Freshwater Open Swim competition held at Sebego Lake. Miss Church achieved a first place finish in the 5k swim, which was open to anyone from across the United States, and sponsored by USA Swimming.  Taylor is part of Catherine McAuley’s swim team, which garnered a fourth place finish and the coveted Sportsmanship Award this past season in the State Swimming Competition.

Kudos are also extended to McAuley freshman, Katie Call, who finished 18th in the 3k portion of this race.

Congratulations to both Taylor and Katie for such an outstanding, physically challenging achievement! We look forward to seeing you compete for McAuley this coming season!

Congratulation to the McAuley Swim Team for being awarded the Class B 2010-2011 Sportsmanship Award at the State Championship meet in Orono.   This is the third  time in four years that our girls have been voted by their peers to have the most sportsmanship.

After finishing 4^th at the Southwestern meet, where senior Aoife Ryle received the Southwestern Maine Swim Officials Scholarship, McAuley headed to Orono to compete for the Class B state title.  With top performances from sophomore Libby Gajewski (2^nd place in the 200 free and 3^rd place in the 100 fly), and senior Aoife Ryle (2^nd place in the 500 free and 3^rd place in the 400 free relay with the foursome of Ryle and sophomores Taylor Church, Libby Gajewski, and Audrey Thames), McAuley ended up with a solid 4^th place finish.

In the words of coaches Amy Regan, CMHS ’03, and Kary Goodman, CMHS ’04, “WE ARE SO PROUD”.

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!

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.

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

In the recent Class B Girls’ State Swimming Championship, the McAuley Lions not only walked away with a commendable third-place finish, but with the Good Sportsmanship Award for the second consecutive year.

Decked out in green and gold, and leading both parent and student cheers, the Lions showed extraordinary pride and spirit as they supported their teammates’ success in the water.

In addition to the Team receiving a nod for their integrity, senior Kristen Desrosiers defended her position as the 500 freestyle and 200 freestyle Class B State Champion, while her sister, Katelyn, garnered the 500 freestyle Runner-up title.

Congratulations, ladies, on all of these well-deserved honors!

The Catherine McAuley High School Swim Team has been recognized by the Portland Press Herald as one of the top five girls’ teams to watch this coming season.

McAuley seniors Kristen and Katelyn Desrosiers also received mention as two swimmers who are expected in shine in their respective events.  While Kristen is the two-time defending Class B champion in the 200 and 500 freestyle, Katelyn placed third in last year’s Class B individual medley and fourth in the breast stroke.

The entire McAuley community is rooting for a repeat of the Class B championship title.  Best of luck, ladies!

BRUNSWICK- With favored Falmouth in trouble, McAuley and Greely jumped into the battle for the state Class B girls´ swimming and diving championships Tuesday night at Bowdoin College´s Greason Pool. McAuley won, beating the Rangers by five points. The meet was not decided until the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Falmouth was leading before the race but could only watch because its relay team was disqualified with a false start in the preliminaries. McAuley trailed Greely by one point before easily winning the 400 relay to finish with 273 points. It was the first title for the Lions since consecutive championships in 2001 and ´02, and it also ended Falmouth´s four-year reign. Junior Kristen Desrosiers led McAuley, defending her individual titles in the 200 freestyle (1:59.02) and 500 freestyle (5:23.25). In the 500 freestyle consolation race, McAuley freshman Aoife Ryle shaved 18 seconds off her best time and won, taking ninth place overall. She entered with the 14th-best time, and the difference between ninth place and 14th is six points. “That really brought some points,” McAuley Coach John Smith said. “That was just a huge turnaround for the team. Everyone got real excited after that.” McAuley earlier showed depth in the 200 freestyle with a 1-2 finish by Desrosiers and senior Hannah Gajewski The lead bounced back and forth. The Lions — on Desrosiers´ win, Gajewski´s fourth and Ryle´s ninth in the 500 freestyle — closed within a point of Greely. The McAuley relay team of Desrosiers, Gajewski, Gaby Cloutier and Katelyn Desrosiers won in 3:50.18, four seconds ahead of Greely. In addition to winning the State Championship the Lions were given the Sportsmanship Award. Way to go Ladies! (Press Herald)