Photo by Lynn Kim ’21
The Continentals are rolling. While national attention remains fixated on the MLB World Series, NFL, NBA, and NHL, the town of Clinton, New York has experienced a sports renaissance the past two weeks led by the Hamilton College fall sports teams. With the fall season winding down to make way for Hamilton’s indoor warriors (basketball, hockey, track and field, squash, swimming and diving), several Continental teams needed big conference victories to clinch postseason positions, while others sought to tune-up for post-season competitions. Hamilton football, soccer, and field hockey swept Bowdoin and Colby in consecutive weekends, and every other fall team put up outstanding performances to mark one of the most successful stretches in Hamilton sports history.
Playing in the NESCAC means constant battles with some of NCAA Division III’s top talent, where every minute of competition is vital to playoff aspirations, national ranking, and team success. The Continentals are getting hot at the right moment, spoiling Bowdoin’s homecoming weekend before returning to the Hill to put on a show for their wildly fanatical parents on Family Weekend.
Sports writers Cliff Musial ’21 and Grace Myers ’19 covered the football teams spectacular back-to-back wins against the Polar Bears and the Mules (a thrilling comeback), and women’s soccer’s pair of shutout victories. The men’s soccer and field hockey teams closed out the weekend sweeps.
The men’s soccer team rivaled their female counterparts with NESCAC wins in consecutive weekends over Bowdoin and Colby, clinching a spot in this weekend’s conference quarterfinals. Midfielder Bobby Chapman ’19 carried the Continentals to an upset win against Bowdoin on Oct. 13, scoring both of the team’s goals in the narrow 2–1 victory. Chapman’s first two goals of his Hamilton career came at a perfect time and represented the most goals conceded by the Polar Bears in a match this year. After falling to a loaded Williams squad on Oct. 18, the Continentals battled back with a 2–0 shutout over Colby on Family Weekend. Hamilton’s defense was impenetrable, allowing just three shots on goal to the Mules who were unable to slot a goal past goalkeeper Linds Caldwell ’20.
The Continentals will travel to Amherst to play the Mammoths in the NESCAC quarterfinals this weekend. Hamilton battled Amherst to a scoreless draw where neither team could score the deciding goal through two overtimes on Oct. 7, so Saturday’s playoff match-up will surely be an excellent fight between two strong teams.
The Hamilton field hockey team has been a fixture at the top of the Division III National Rankings this fall, and proved they will be a difficult out come this weekend’s conference quarterfinals. Michaela Giuttari ’20 is tied for second in the NESCAC with 17 goals in 14 games, while the team finished the season with a 9–5 overall record, which currently places the Continentals in a tie for third in the conference. Losses by Amherst and Bowdoin on Oct. 25 clinched a home playoff game for the Continentals this weekend. As the fourth seed in the tournament, the Continentals will host the Trinity Bantams at Goodfriend Field. Hamilton defeated Trinity 3–2 on Sept. 16, and will hope to repeat this victorious result on Saturday. The Continentals currently sit at number 15 in the most recent National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III poll.
On Oct. 14, the field hockey team completed the Hamilton sports sweep with a 2–1 win over Bowdoin, in a clash of nationally ranked foes. Giuttari ’20 scored both goals for the Continentals in the first half, and Julia Booth ’19 slammed the door with three saves for Hamilton. Tatiana Bradley’s ’19 Family Weekend hattrick paced the Continentals in a 3–1 victory over the Mules. Bradley has scored seven goals for Hamilton while tallying 20 points in the 2017 regular season, both career highs for the talented forward.
Although they did not compete on Oct. 14, the men’s and women’s cross country teams picked up wins at the Hamilton Short Course Tuneup to join the Continentals Family Weekend victory party. In the Saturday’s men’s five-kilometer race the top four finishers were all Continentals. Peter DeWeirdt ’18 was the top overall finisher, completing the course in 15:50.5, followed closely by Henry Whipple ’18 (16:06.5), Erich Wohl ’18 (16:24.6), and Reilly Shew ’19 (16:27.9). Saturday’s cross country meet also included a co-ed four-kilometer race, where the Hamilton men once again showed their depth with the three top finishers. Lucas Wright ’21 crossed the line first in the 4k with a time of 12:40.
The women’s team was similarly successful on Saturday, placing first out of four teams in the short course home meet. Brigit Humphreys ’21 won the three-kilometer race with a time of 11:16.4, with Katie Cronin ’21, Courtney Brunet ’20, and Caitlin Anthony ’18 finishing fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively. The women’s team replicated the men’s results in the co-ed four-kilometer race, with Grace Heller ’19 placing first with a time of 14:34.1, while teammates Hanna Jerome ’18 (14:48.8) and Haley Driscoll ’21 (15:51.9) rounded out the top three finishers.
The men’s and women’s rowing teams had significant success despite a lack of home field advantage, traveling to Boston, Mass. on Oct. 22 to compete in the historic Head of the Charles. The Continentals jumped 13 spots from their last Head of the Charles finish, earning 10th place out of 26 teams in the collegiate eights with a time of 16:47.873. In the women’s collegiate fours, the Hamilton boat finished 21st of 36 crews with a time of 19:24.093. Hamilton’s men’s collegiate eight finished in 15:17.303, good enough for 26th out of 37 crews on the Charles River.
Last but certainly not least, the Hamilton volleyball team picked up two wins at home on Oct. 13 and 14 against NESCAC opponents to solidify the strength of the Continentals across the board in the fall season. The Continentals battled to a five-set win over Amherst on Oct. 13, trading sets with the Mammoths before polishing off their NESCAC foes with a 15–9 fifth set. Erin Donahue ’18 led Hamilton with 14 kills in the match while Margaret O’Brien ’18 stepped up defensively with three solo blocks and four block assists. The following day, the Continentals toppled Trinity 3–1 behind Giuliana Rankin’s ’20 impressive offensive effort (13 kills).
The volleyball team has clinched a trip to the NESCAC playoffs for the first time since 2014, and have a chance to be the first team in program history to win a NESCAC postseason match. Under new head coach Kristin Baker, the Continentals hold a 12–7 overall record, with a 6–3 record against NESCAC opponents. Hamilton currently sits in fourth place in the NESCAC, which would earn the team a home playoff game during the first weekend of November. The Continentals have one remaining NESCAC match this Friday, Oct. 27 against Middlebury at the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House, before closing out the regular season with a home double-header against Morrisville State and St. Lawrence.
The state of Hamilton College sports is incredible this fall. The football team is on the precipice of a three game win streak, the rowing teams look ahead to the Head of the Schuylkill to close out the fall season, the cross country teams have immensely high expectations heading into the NESCAC and Regional Championship meets, and both men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, and field hockey have all clinched their spots in the NESCAC playoffs. Not to mention the standout performances from the men’s and women’s golf and tennis teams. This has been one of the most successful fall seasons in recent school history, and it is truly a great time to be a Hamilton sports fan. The whole campus is rooting for the Continentals’ good fortunes to carry over into the postseason.
