By Skye Tulio
Assistant Sports Editor
For brothers Seth, Cael and Asa Johnson, representing Bonaventure athletics runs in the family. The oldest sons of Bruce and Nancy Johnson of Frewsburg, along with their sister Anneli, are all current or former Bona athletes in a family of swimmers and baseball players.
“Both our mom and dad were swimmers, and our dad has always loved baseball, so it’s always been a really good balance for us,” Seth said. “Swimming being more of an individual sport and baseball being more of a team atmosphere, it worked out well for us in that it made us well-rounded as far as athletics.”
The oldest of seven, Seth was the first of the Johnson siblings to discover Bona’s, graduating in 2005. As an athlete, Seth remains one of the top swimmers in men’s swimming and diving history.
He currently holds the program record in the 50-yard freestyle (20.45), which he set during his (2001-02) freshman season. A two-time all-conference swimmer, Seth was named the Atlantic 10 Most Outstanding Rookie his freshman year. In his four A-10 Championships,he captured 14 gold medals, including two in the 50-free.
Seth said his family had no affiliation to Bonaventure other than the fact his father, Bruce, a swimming coach for more than 30 years, had come to know current Bona men’s swimming and diving coach Sean McNamee over the years.
“My dad’s been coaching for a long time in this area, and he actually coached Frewsburg, our high school, when Sean swam here locally for Franklinville,” Seth said. “He coached against Sean when (McNamee) coached Franklinville for a little while, and then when he came to Bonaventure it was kind of funny because he was calling to recruit me.”
Even though he lived 50 minutes away, Seth said he had never even seen the campus until his first visit as a recruit.
After the 2008-09 season, Seth was named head coach for Bonaventure’s women’s swimming and diving team. Seth said he and his wife, Cindy, also a former Bonaventure swimmer, made the decision to accept the position together.
“My wife and I both swam here, so we knew the program quite well and felt we could help out,” Seth said. “The only reason why I would have probably taken this job is because she swam here and been a graduate assistant of the program, so she knew the kind of hours and the commitment that go in to coaching, and that’s very helpful that she can be as supportive and understanding.”
Under Seth’s leadership, the Bonnies made three Atlantic 10 Championship appearances. In 2010, the Bonnies finished sixth at A-10s with a total of 388.5 points. They tied for fourth with La Salle in 2011 with 343 points and this season finished seventh out of nine with 249.5 points.
Anneli was the second member of the family to attend St. Bonaventure.
She graduated in 2008 as a member of the women’s swimming and diving team. In her senior season, the team finished sixth in the four-day A-10 Championship. Anneli recorded the team’s best finish on the final day of the event, grabbing second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a season-high time of 2:18.23.
Next came Cael, the second-oldest son of the family and a current Bona senior. Cael said he knew he also wanted to become a Bonaventure athlete but preferred a baseball diamond to a swimming pool. Recruited by coach Larry Sudbrook, the right-handed pitcher began his freshman season in 2008.
“Out of high school, I knew I wanted to go to a small Division I school,” Cael said. “Being close to home was important to me, too, but
it wasn’t the fact that I was following my brother and sister. Bonaventure was just the right choice for me as well.”
Cael went 3-1 with a 7.21 ERA as a freshman in 18 appearances and six starts. As a sophomore, he went 4-5 with a 4.72 ERA, spending the entire season as an A-10 weekend starter. He made three appearances with two starts his junior season before an injury forced him to redshirt.
As a redshirt junior last year, Cael went 4-4 with a 3.75 ERA. He made 13 appearances, starting seven games. So far in his redshirt
senior season, Cael is 2-5 as a starter with an ERA of 5.21 after 10 appearances and eight starts.
Fourth-born and current sophomore Asa followed his siblings’ lead, committing to Bona’s after also being recruited by Sudbrook. In his 2011 freshman season, Asa took the mound in 11 games, going 0-1 and recording a 5.71 ERA in 17.1 innings. So far in the 2011-2012 season, Asa is 3-2 with a 6.27 ERA. He has appeared in 16 games with five starts.
“My junior year when I was being recruited, I was like, ‘No, there’s no way it’s going to happen,’” Asa said. “I was going to be the kid that was different and go somewhere else, but I just kind of fell in love with the place and ended up coming.”
Asa said it can be difficult at times to be on the same team as his older brother, but it’s also motivation to keep getting better.
“It’s definitely a little weird coming out of the bullpen and taking the ball from your older brother,” Asa said. “Hopefully he has confidence in me that I can take the ball from him and still do a good job and vice- versa. Having your brother on your team kind of makes you want to push yourself to be better just as he is.”
Seth said he never imagined he and his siblings would come together at the same university.
“It’s amazing how things happen like that, but no, I never pictured that,” Seth said. “I didn’t know what my brothers would do, but I think being affiliated with the school, knowing so many people and being here so many times, they’ve obviously become comfortable with it, and it’s been a great fit for them.”
Bonaventure will welcome its newest Johnson brother, Thad, next year, as he signed a National Letter of Intent in November to play for the 2013 baseball season. A middle infielder, Thad will be the first position player of the family to join the team alongside his pitcher brothers.
Cael said even though he and his siblings ended up attending the same place, it wasn’t because of a ‘monkey-see, monkey-do’ mentality.
“I think one thing we all strive to do is tell our younger siblings to just do what they want and not feel like they have to come here,” Cael said. “People ask me, ‘Oh, did you just come here because your older siblings did?’ I think for each one of us, it was just because it was the right fit and we were all looking for the same thing. It just happened that this was the place where we could find all that.”
tuliosa10@bonaventure.edu
