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By Steve Seepersaud

One of the greatest things about sports is that you're pushed outside your comfort zone to become a stronger version of yourself. The three ��ñ�� alumni who will be inducted into the Greater ��ñ�� Sports Hall of Fame can attest to that, and will be recognized as standouts in a community that has launched many great athletes including stars in pro football, hockey and baseball.

As a young girl, Bridgette Hobart Janeczko, MS '86, was the last person you’d expect to become an accomplished swimmer. Afraid of the water, she failed early swim lessons. But, with the help of coaches in the Southern Tier Swim Club and the ��ñ�� school system, Janeczko worked her way up to competing on the ��ñ�� North High School boys’ swim team (until the girls’ team was launched).

Janeczko then swam for Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y., and picked up ultramarathon swimming in her mid-40s. Her many accomplishments include swimming across the English Channel, circling Manhattan Island, swimming New Jersey's largest lake and becoming the first person to swim all nine swimmable Finger Lakes (two are used solely for drinking water). 

“Each one of my coaches played a critical role in my life, not just in swimming but life lessons,” says Janeczko, who worked as a CPA, then formed a technology consulting firm in New Jersey. “I was blessed being a young athlete in ��ñ��. These lessons of hard work, respect, discipline, teamwork, mental toughness and focus have been life lessons I apply to my swimming today as well as everyday life. I believe these lessons helped me go on to a successful professional career living a healthy lifestyle.”

Crystal Joseph ’87, competes with the elite Westchester Track Club and still has the drive to succeed. She was a four-event indoor and outdoor track star at Maine-Endwell High School before coming to ��ñ��, where she was a high jumper, hurdler and sprinter. Joseph earned three All-America honors in her final two years — the most national awards of any field-event athlete in ��ñ��'s history. A member of both her high school and college halls of fame, Joseph says she’s honored to be chosen for the Greater ��ñ�� hall from a group of 225 nominees.

“I’m beginning my 25th year as a chiropractor with specialties in applied kinesiology and sports chiropractic,” says Joseph, who practices in Westchester County, N.Y., as well as in the ��ñ�� area. “I’ve been blessed to be able to combine my passion with my career as I focus, functionally, on whole body alignment. I'm constantly attending functional medicine seminars and listen to a litany of weekly webinars. I'm forever a student.”

Dan Kosick ’00, MSW ’06, is a middle school social worker in the ��ñ�� area, and regularly competes in trail and obstacle course events. He was a three-sport high school athlete until a cancerous growth forced the amputation of his right leg. After learning again how to walk and run, he attended a ski racing camp that inspired him to pursue — and earn — a spot on the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team. Kosick is a two-time Paralympian, having competed in 1998 and 2002, and he’s the first above-the-knee amputee to complete 50 miles at the World’s Toughest Mudder.

“When I competed as an adaptive athlete, all I ever wanted was to be treated and respected as an athlete,” Kosick says. “By being inducted into the Hall of Fame, I feel it has acknowledged my athletic career in a way that puts me side by side with some of our most accomplished local athletes. Our community has produced world-record holders and top-level athletes in dozens of professional sports.”