URQUILLA BEST OF THE PERSONAL BESTS FOR SBP
Jan. 3, 2008
Gio Urquilla highlighted a day of personal bests for the St. Benedict’s swimming team at the Essex County Championships.
Urquilla, a freshman with unlimited potential, swam two personal bests – in the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard freestyle – to lead a Gray Bees team that continues to improve each time out for coach Glenn Cassidy.
St. Benedict’s, which placed ninth in the meet on Thursday, combined for 37 swims at Seton Hall University. Of those, 25 were recorded as personal bests for St. Benedict’s swimmers.
“We may not be good enough to win, but we’re showing improvement and that’s all you can ask for,” said Cassidy.
Urquilla may have to re-think his outlook as a part-time swimmer. He was the lone swimmer to medal in the meet for the Gray Bees, placing fifth in the 200-yard IM in his fastest competitive time yet, touching the wall at 2:16.10.
The fabulous freshman, who could be the next Brandon Jarrett in the making – coming to St. Benedicts’s to play soccer and excelling at another sport – also swam a 54.04 in the 100-yard freestyle, besting his previous fastest by more than a second.
“I think this is a kid (Urquilla) who has a tremendous amount of talent and is just starting to realize it,” said Cassidy, who would like to see his star pupil take the next step and get some full-time tutelage. “With year-round training, he can be something special.”
St. Benedict’s also had a few other notable accomplishments in the pool at Arthur Imperatore Natatorium in South Orange. Angel Maldonado scored points for the Gray Bees in the 50-yard freestyle, while Tom Conte just missed medaling in the 500 freestyle by placing eighth.
Two swimmers who couldn’t even swim when they came to St. Benedict’s – Harquan Rasberry and Achille Dossekou – also continued in their surprising accomplishments. Rasberry shaved 11 seconds off his previous best in the breast stroke, the same event Dossekou scored points in by placing in the top 12.
MEDIA FRENZY CONVERGES ON ST. BENEDICT'S
Aug. 12, 2008
After Cullen Jones helped the American's shatter the world record in perhaps the most scintillating 4X100 freestyle races in Olympic history, nearly every major media outlet stormed the doors at St. Benedict's.
First there was New York's CW11, waiting early Monday morning for Jones' former Gray Bees coach, Glenn Cassidy, only six hours after historic race half-way around the world in Beijing.
"I didn't even get to bed until about 3 a.m. I was so excited I couldn't sleep," said Cassidy, who coached Jones just as his world-class career was beginning to take shape from 1999-2002. "When I woke up, I had a text from (CW11) and turned on the TV and saw them in front of the school."
Cassidy, who lives in Union, hurried to reach the school in time for the next broadcast by CW11 and reporter James Ford. Then there were subsequent visitors from NBC, CBS, UPN9 and RNN, all wanting to see where Jones, the only African American swimmer to hold a world record and just the second to ever win a Gold Medal, honed his skill.
"It was all surreal," said Cassidy, Director of Student Life at St. Benedict's whose day didn't end until well after 8 p.m. "Everyone wanted to know about Cullen. I felt like a father talking about his son. This has just been an unbelievable couple of days."
Click here to watch one of the videos that came from the swarm of media that found their way to 520.
