Stonehill College, located in Easton, Massachusetts, announced today they will be adding a women’s swimming program for the 2020-2021 season.
The Stonehill Hawks complete in the Division II Northeast-10 Conference, consisting of schools located in New England and New York. The defending champion on the women’s side is Assumption College, which won by 125.5 points last year over runner-up Bentley College.
The new Hawks swim team will practice and compete at the Peter Asiaf Fieldhouse pool, at the nearby Massasoit Community College. That facility is a six-lane, 25-yard pool with stadium seating.
No coach has yet been named, but interested student-athletes can contact Stonehill Athletics at [email protected].
Full Release
EASTON, Mass. (September 26, 2019) – Stonehill College has announced that it will add women’s swimming as its 22nd varsity athletic program with the first season of competition planned for the 2020-21 academic year.
“Stonehill is excited to announce the addition of women’s swimming as our newest varsity sport,” stated Dean O’Keefe ’94, Director of Athletics at the College. “As Stonehill continues its ongoing expansion of impactful academic and co-curricular offerings, we are eager to provide another opportunity for student-athletes to compete at the NCAA Division II level and in the NE10.”
A search will begin immediately for the program’s first coach, and the team will train at the Peter Asiaf Fieldhouse pool on the campus of Massasoit Community College in Brockton, Massachusetts. The addition of women’s swimming marks Stonehill’s second expansion of varsity athletics programs over the last three years, joining women’s golf in 2016, which is in its third varsity season this fall.
“The additional offering of women’s swimming will enhance an already strong athletic program,” said Fr. John Denning, CSC, President of Stonehill College, who serves on the NCAA Division II Presidents’ Council. “Our student-athletes exemplify the meaning of educating the whole person. This is another opportunity for our student-athletes to pursue their passion through athletics and scholarship.”
With the addition of swimming, Stonehill will offer every women’s sport sponsored by the Northeast-10 Conference and return the Conference’s membership for the program back to nine institutions after the departure of Merrimack College over the summer. The NE10’s other women’s swimming members are: Adelphi University, Assumption College, Bentley University, Le Moyne College, Pace University, The College of Saint Rose, Saint Michael’s College and Southern Connecticut State University. The NE10 Swimming Championships are held annually in February. There are currently 89 women’s swimming programs competing at the NCAA Division II level, with the NCAA Division II Championships contested in March.
Prospective student-athletes and currently enrolled Stonehill students interested in competing as a member of Stonehill’s women’s swimming program can contact Stonehill Athletics at [email protected] for further information.
With 21 intercollegiate sports, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. Stonehill has won the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents’ Cup five times, all coming within the last 14 years. The Skyhawks have received the NCAA Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Achievement each of the first eighth years of the program’s existence of honoring institutions with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. Stonehill has earned a 96% Academic Success Ranking (ASR) by the NCAA, which considers the academic success rate of the institution based on the graduation rate of student-athletes, good for seventh among all NCAA Division II institutions, with eight Skyhawk teams receiving a perfect rating of 100%. In addition, the Skyhawks are ranked 11th in the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Power Rankings for Division II used to assess the academic and athletic standards of all NCAA and NAIA athletic programs.
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Yay for new teams!