Breslin in new role for Colgate offense

Sam Breslin has emerged as one of the squad's most versatile offensive players.

Breslin, who is starting at wide receiver and returning kickoffs this fall for the first time in his collegiate career, also showed flashes of his quarterback days in high school when he tossed a 67-yard pass on an end-around play against Stony Brook.

"I've always enjoyed the offensive side of the ball," said Breslin, who as a senior at Wayland played quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, scored 10 rushing touchdowns, and passed for 11 more.

"I played some wide receiver last year, but mainly in a four-wideout set and now I'm fully involved in the offense," he said.

Breslin delivered a clutch play two weekends ago against Dartmouth.

With his team trailing, 20-13, and needing 34 yards for a first down, Breslin hauled in a career-best 35-yard reception on third down that set up Colgate's tying TD en route to a 34-20 victory. It was redemption for Breslin, who had been called for an illegal block earlier in the drive.

"One of their defenders hit me from the side and we both kind of pitched forward for a few extra yards. I pretty much knew where I had to get to for the first down," Breslin recalled of the crucial catch, in which he turned an ankle. The injury kept him sidelined last weekend against Fordham, and was listed as day-to-day before yesterday's game against visiting Georgetown.

"Sam has really been proficient as a receiver and kick returner," said Colgate head coach Dick Biddle. "He has the athleticism and skills that make him a multidimensional player who gives us options."

Breslin said he was a bit surprised to step into the Colgate starting defensive backfield as a freshman, but he definitely had the credentials - five interceptions and 52 tackles his senior season at Wayland.

"Looking back, it was great to play so many positions in high school," said Breslin, who at Colgate has gone up against a former high school teammate, Alex Jenny, now the starting quarterback at Dartmouth.

"Now, when I line up against a defensive back, I have a pretty good sense of what he might do and I also have a better feel for my own quarterback."

Breslin, an All-New England Prep player at the Northfield-Mount Hermon School, was a captain at Wayland whose high school football honors included selection to the "Super 26" all-state team and the Shriners All-Star Game.

Before entering the water just after midnight for a 22-mile solo swim from Catalina Island to the mainland of Southern California late last month, Waltham resident Elaine Kornbau Howley watched a school of flying fish and a sea lion pass her way.

"I was already queasy from the boat ride to the island and my first four hours in the water were pretty tiring," she recalled, "but my goal was to finish under 12 hours, and I made it in 11 hours and 57 minutes."

Howley, who was accompanied during her swim by her husband, Mark, aboard the guide boat, was joined occasionally in the water by training partner Lisa Mikkelsen of Holliston, who helped set the pace.

"I'd stop to tread water and eat about every 45 minutes," said Howley, who has been interested in long-distance swimming since she was a lifeguard while growing up on the Jersey Shore, and hopes to cross the English Channel next summer. "If I touched another person or the guide boat, I would have been disqualified. It was a great feeling to finally get to that rocky beach at the end of the swim."

Howley is sponsored by her employer, ZweigWhite, a Natick-based consulting and publishing company. A former swim team member at Georgetown University, Howley coaches the masters swim team at the Longfellow Sports Club in Natick.

The Catalina Channel is listed as one of the "seven summits" of open-water swimming. It was first successfully crossed in 1927 by George Young, in 15 hours and 44 minutes in 1927.

Tickets are on sale for the Wayland High School Athletic Hall of Fame's second induction ceremony Oct. 25 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Natick.

This year's class includes longtime soccer and track coach Bill Snow, as well as his 2001 state champion boys' soccer team. The other inductees: Brandon Anderson (class of 2003), George Bradley (1958), Steve Brooks (1976), Gary Chase (1972), Laurie Griffin (1974), Jonathan Mann (1983), Hilary Meyer (1995), Tom O'Shea (1982), Kim Pond McGrath (1984), Scott Watts (1993), the late Jerry Whelchel (1960), and Sally White Eastman (1987). Other teams to be honored are the 1971-72 state cochampion wrestling team, and the state cochampion girls' lacrosse team from 1986-87.

Tickets can be ordered through the hall's website, waylandhof.org.

Norfolk resident Juliana Nievergelt, 48, is lined up to defend her age-group title at the Ironman World Triathlon Championships in Hawaii on Saturday. The event entails a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and a marathon-distance run of 26.2 miles.

She finished first in the 45-49 category last year with a time of 10 hours, 31 minutes and 22 seconds, just five minutes off the record.

Marvin Pave can be reached at 508-820-4223 or marvin.pave@rcn.com.