Spring 2011 - Ursuline Academy

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Dana Weston and Katie Kenny
Back on the Team!
New AD is an old Friend
Michael O’Connor P’03, ’08 has
played many roles at Ursuline
Academy over the years.
In 1983, he accepted a position as an
athletic coach at a time when the
program supported just one team
per season. When he was not on the
sidelines, Mike taught an accounting
class to seniors.
In 1986, Mike left UA to join the
Boston Police Academy. While in the
force, he served on Ursuline’s Board
of Trustees and sent both of his
daughters to his favorite little school
on Lowder Street.
After retiring from the police force,
Mike returned to Ursuline Academy
in July of 2010 to reclaim his role as
the Director of Athletics. We are
happy to have him back on our team!
Division I Calling
Two UA seniors prepare to dive and dig
into Division I college teams
Ahead of its time in many ways, UA’s athletic program was up and running
long before stipulations of Title IX slipped in to open doors for female
athletes. Since Ursuline’s mission is to provide a well-rounded education for
young women, a program was put in place shortly after the school opened,
offering volleyball, basketball and softball to interested athletes.
Over time, as the emphasis on health education for young people grew, so
did the number of athletes representing the Bears. The Ursuline Academy
athletic program has significantly evolved over the last three decades into
an increasingly competitive program featuring fourteen varsity teams.
A well-organized athletic program in an academically renowned school often breeds a
collection of outstanding and well-rounded athletes. In the past twenty years, we have
recognized three students for scoring 1000 points on the basketball court, seen
numerous young women honored by the MIAA for balancing sports and school, and
have proudly cheered on a handful of athletic achievers as they embarked on careers as
collegiate competitors.
The Class of 2011 has many accomplished athletes, each of whom exhibited leadership
and commitment as they moved up the ranks. For Katie Kenney and Dana Weston, the
journey is only beginning, as they prepare to leave the Bears in June to join Division I
collegiate programs next fall. Come September, all-scholastic athlete Katie Kenney of
Dedham will dive head first into a career with the Boston University Terriers, as a
member of the Women’s Swim Team. With a solid finish to her high school career last
November—she finished first in all her races, she is looking forward to being a small fish
in a bigger pond at BU.
“I couldn’t be happier about my choice to commit to Boston University. It is a great fit
for me,” she says. “The school has a very strong program for the area of study that I want
to go into—physical therapy, and when I went on my recruiting trip I clicked
immediately with the coaches and the team. I’m really looking forward to my next four
years as a Terrier!”
As for volleyball captain Dana, whose team wrapped up the season with an impressive
13-4 record and chance at the tournament, a smaller pond with a winning team is worth
the trip to Worcester.
“I am so excited to continue my volleyball career at a school I absolutely love,” says
Dana, who will join the College of the Holy Cross Crusaders in September. “Volleyball
is my passion and I cannot wait to learn more about it and to evolve into a better player
at a collegiate level.”
continued on page 19
of
Lutz Talent
“My dad wanted me to be a hockey player,” says twelve-yearold
Megan Wessenberg ’16, who recently achieved a 12th place
finish at the U.S. National Junior Figure Skating Championships
in Salt Lake City, Utah. “When I was little and saw the skaters on
the ice with us, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
Megan first hit the ice at age four and moved quickly up the ranks. When
she is not perfecting her routine at Boxborough’s Colonial Skating Club,
or increasing flexibility in dry-land training, she can be found challenging
herself in local and national competitions. For Megan, the rink is a home
away from home.
“Megan is very dedicated to the sport,” says Felicia Wessenberg, who
supports her daughter’s dedication to the time-consuming sport. “It is
difficult to get her to take time off from skating because she loves it so
much.”
After securing a fourth place finish at the New England Regional
Championships in October of 2010, Megan headed west to compete in the
juvenile (u-13) division of the Junior Nationals, where she went toe to toe
with the best young skaters in the country. Though the national
competition was her biggest yet, Megan slid onto the ice confident that
eight years of training would back her up.
“You are always nervous before a competition, but I practiced a lot,” said
Wessenberg, who glided along to Sarah Brightman’s mystical ballad
“Harem” while the judges watched her complete an impressive three
jump combination. According to Megan, the stakes of the competition
did not change the way she felt while performing the routine: calm and
ready.
Megan, who lives in Medway with her family, entered Ursuline Academy’s
seventh grade in September of 2010, less than a month before heading to
Regionals. She says that balancing schoolwork and friends with an intense
practice schedule is feasible, because figure skating is an equally important part
of her life. “I practice two to three hours a day, six days a week, says Megan, who
heads to the rink straight from school each day. “I usually just do my homework
in the car.”
In late January, Megan teamed up with former Boston Bruin great Ken Hodge
to cut the ribbon at Faneuil Hall’s new ice skating rink. Megan was chosen for
the gig by her coach, Debbie Leeming, in recognition of her accomplishment
in Salt Lake. “That was really fun,” says Megan, who wore a turquoise skating
outfit for the occasion.
These days Megan is working hard to perfect her jumps, most notably the
challenging triple lutz. Though her long-term goal of competing at Nationals
is in sight, Megan says she is taking it one jump at a time. “There is always something
more to work on. There is always a harder jump,” she said.
When asked if she is already thinking about Olympic gold, she smiled. “Yes, everyone does.”
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