WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University men's and women's swimming and diving teams will begin the championship portion of their season Thursday when the three-day Northeast-10 Conference Championships get underway at Southern Connecticut State University.

The women's team should be led in the swimming events by junior All-America Jessica Hodsdon (Brewer, Maine/Brewer HS) and sophomores Kellen Power (San Jose, Calif./Valley Christian HS) and Amanda Le (Chelmsford/Chelmsford HS).

Hodsdon, who earned Division II All-America honors at last year's NCAA Championships, will be looking for her first individual NE-10 gold medal this weekend. She is the top qualifier in both the 100 yard and 200 breaststroke, is second on the psych list in the 200 butterfly and is third in the 200 individual medley.

Hodsdon owns three NE-10 silver medals (100 breast in 2010 and 2011, 200 breast in 2010) and was also third in the 200 breast a year ago.

Le, who'll be competing in her first conference championship, is right behind Hodsdon on the seed list in the 100 and 200 breast, and is also third in the 50 freestyle and fourth in the 200 IM. Power, who was third in the 100 free last year, is also listed third in that event this time around as well as second in the 200 free.

On the men's side, Bentley should be led by junior George Go (Manila, Philippines) and sophomores Phillip Chan (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier HS) and Steve Sylvia (Westerly, R.I./Westerly HS). Go is fourth on the psych sheet in the 200 fly, fifth in the 100 back and sixth in the 100 fly. Chan and Sylvia are fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 50 free, and Chan is also number six in the 100 breast.

Bentley should be strong in all four diving events with senior Mike Walsh (South Salem, N.Y./ John Jay HS) competing for the men and the women's team represented by juniors Abby Mathews (Chelmsford/Chelmsford HS) and Shelly D'Aleo (Enfield, Conn./Suffield Academy), as well as freshman Paige Wilde (Naugatuck, Conn./Holy Cross HS).

Walsh has been in the top three in the both the one-meter and three-meter diving events each of the last two years and will be looking for his first NE-10 championship this weekend. D'Aleo was the runner-up in the women's one-meter last year, Mathews was second in the same event in 2010, and Wilde is a qualifier for the NCAA Division II pre-championship meet.

In last year's championship, the Bentley women placed second and the men's team was third. Southern Connecticut will be looking for its ninth consecutive women's NE-10 title and its eighth men's championship in nine years, a run that was interrupted by Bentley in 2010.