Track and Field —

The men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the NESCAC Track and Field Championships on Saturday, Apil 28, with a slate of exceptional individual performances powering strong team results. On the men’s side, captain Eli Saucier ’18 showcased his extraordinary burst in four events on the day. Saucier broke his own school record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.64 seconds, which was good enough for second place. Saucier would score a first-place finish just a few hours later when he posted the conference’s fastest time in the 200-meter dash (21.65 seconds). Saucier rounded out his day with key legs in two relays. The 4×100-meter relay featuring Ryan Sedwick ’19, Mitch Bierman ’21, and Sam Robinson ’20 placed third with a time of 42.39 seconds, while the 4×400-meter relay of Lucas Wright ’21, Will Richardson ’21, and Jake Bolster ’19 came in fifth in 3:21.89 seconds. Outside of his relay, Wright earned the title of NESCAC Rookie Most Outstanding Performance for his fifth place finish in the 800-meter run. Wright’s time of 1:52.06 is the tenth fastest time in NCAA Division III Track and Field. In the field events, Preston DeLaurentis ’18 earned All-NESCAC honors with a third-place finish in the triple jump (13.95 meters).

On the women’s team, Catherine Berry ’19 continued her season-long dominance in the sprints with a first-place finish in the 200-meter dash (24.87 seconds) and a third place finish in the 100-meter dash (12.34 seconds). Berry’s 200-meter time is currently the 11th fastest time in the nation. Grace Heller ’19 acquired All-NESCAC honors in her first season for the Continentals for her 36:42.26 time in the 10,000-meter run (third-place). Emily Hull ’18 came in fifth-place in the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 40.32 meters, while Mary Lundin’s ’19 personal best (2:15.29) in the 800-meter run was the sixth-best in the conference. The Continentals closed out the day with a sixth-place finish in the 4×800-meter relay, which included Lundin, Hanna Jerome ’18, Brigit Humphreys ’21, and Elizabeth Perry ’18.

Rowing —

The men’s and women’s rowing teams travelled to Ithaca, NY to compete on the Cayuga Inlet against rival rowers from Marist, Colgate, and Ithaca College. On the men’s side, the Continentals swept head-to-head races with the Ithaca Bombers in the Varsity 8, second Varsity 8, and Novice 4. The men’s varsity 8 of Allie Duggan ’20 (Cox), Grant Kiefaber ’19, Trent Pfeiffer ’19, Harry Thomas ’18, Harrison Potter ’18, Chris Berry-Toon ’21, Thomas Marsh ’20, Fred Pollevick ’20, and Eric Fischer ’20 completed the 2,000-meter course in 6:02.96, which placed them third overall in the competition. The Continentals topped the Bombers by almost 10 seconds in the Second Varsity 8, cruising to a head-to-head victory in a blistering 6:22.97 final time. Expectations were sky-high for the Hamilton women’s rowing team entering Saturday April 28’s competition at the Cayuga Inlet, with the Continentals consistently ranking in the top five in the Division III Top 15 coaches poll throughout the spring season. The women’s team, however, would face stiff competition from the Bombers, who sat just one spot under the fourth-ranked Continentals in the national poll at number five. The regatta opened with the much anticipated Hamilton-Ithaca showdown, which unfortunately fell the Bombers’ way. In the duel of the Varsity 8’s, Ithaca finished in a blazing 6:38.5, while the Continentals crossed the finish line in 6:48.8. In the tightest race of the day, Ithaca finished just one tenth of a second ahead of Hamilton in the Second Varsity 8, with a video review confirming the Bombers time of Ithaca 7:04.4 to just edge out Hamilton’s 7:04.5. However, the Continentals would row to redemption in the Varsity 8 Petite Final, triumphing over Colgate with a time of 6:49.0, with the Raiders finishing in 6:51.0. The rowing teams will continue competition this spring with a May 5 trip to the New York State Collegiate Championships in Saratoga Springs, NY, before travelling to Lake Quinsigamond for the National Invitational Rowing Championships (run concurrently with the NESCAC Championships).

Softball —

The Hamilton softball team concluded its season with a series against the №22 nationally ranked Amherst Mammoths at the Loop Road Softball Complex April 27–28. In the opening game on Friday, April 27, the Continentals jumped out to a five-run lead in the fifth inning. Caroline Chivily ’19 kicked off the scoring in the fifth with a one-run single, before an error and fielder’s choice led to two more runs crossing the plate in the following at-bats. With the bases loaded, Kendall Searcy ’20 ripped a single down the left-field line to push the lead to 4–0. Emily Fraser’s ’20 groundout drove in one final run in the inning. Unfortunately, the Hamilton lead would not last, when the Mammoths ended the game with seven unanswered runs to steal game one from the Continentals. In game two, Fraser’s two-RBI single in the third inning gave Hamilton an early 2–1 lead. However, Amherst pitcher Gina Pagan silenced the Hamilton bats, earning a complete game victory, while her team’s offense came alive for a second straight comeback win. The final game of the series ended in a decisive 18–5 loss in six innings to the nationally-ranked Mammoths. Helen Lin ’19 was the standout performer in game three, batting a perfect three-for-three with one run and one RBI. The Continentals finished with a 11–22 overall record, with a 2–10 NESCAC record under first year head coach Kate Refsnyder, a solid improvement from the 2017 season.

Tennis —

In a season plagued by poor weather, the Hamilton tennis teams were once again forced indoors to the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House for their matches against Connecticut College. The women’s tennis team fell to the Camels 7–2. Sophia Aulicino ’21 continued her strong debut season for Hamilton with a win in the number one singles slot, earning her 13th singles victory of the season. Audrey Chor ’21 was the other Hamilton victor, winning in two sets in the third flight of singles play. Chor posted a 10–8 overall record in singles this season. The men’s team ended the season on a high note, capturing a 7–2 NESCAC victory over the Camels at home. This was the Continentals first NESCAC win since 2013, a tremendous accomplishment for the 2018 squad. Sam Farber ’20 picked up a win in the first flight singles, while Max Zimmerman ’21 squeaked out a narrow victory in flight two singles in two sets. For both teams, the season was cut short due to weather cancellations by the nationally-ranked Williams tennis squads. Eyad Nagori ’18 had a strong overall day with both a singles and a doubles win when paired up with Farber in the second flight. Eamon Gibbons ’21 and Andrew Wei ’20 paired up for the first time in 2018 on Saturday, cruising to a 8–5 match win. Jafar Sharipov ’21 and Matthew Haas ’19 rounded out the Hamilton winners with singles wins in the fifth and sixth flights respectively.

Baseball —

The Hamilton baseball team entered last weekend needing to win out in their final four NESCAC games and receive help from Wesleyan and Williams to earn their first ever NESCAC playoff berth. Although Wesleyan swept Williams, which sealed Hamilton’s playoff fate, the Continentals were unable to hold up their end of the bargain either. The Middlebury Panthers came to Clinton and took all three games on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, Middlebury’s Colby Morris shut down the Hamilton bats, going all nine innings and yielding just one earned run. Brian Lawson ’20 was effective for five innings, giving up just two runs. Hamilton jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the fourth on a Jarrett Lee ’21 two-RBI double and, after Middlebury tied the game in the fifth, Dean Rosenberg ’18 laced a single to left to score Craig Sandford ’19 and put Hamilton up 3–2. Middlebury came back, however, scoring one run in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings while Morris blanked the Continental offense and closed out the complete game 5–3 victory. Hamilton struggled on Saturday, as the Panthers handed the Continentals 9–3 and 10–3 losses in the two games. Hamilton did not hold a lead all day and made six errors over two games, leading to three unearned runs in game one and four in game two. The team managed ten hits in game two but left 13 runners on base en route to scoring just three runs. Graham McCosker ’20 had two hits in game one, while Jarrett Lee ’21 had three in game two and Rosenberg and Ethan Wallis ’21 had a couple of hits apiece in the second game. Despite being eliminated from the playoffs, the Continentals went to Utica on Tuesday and battled the Pioneers in the 31st annual Jackie Robinson Classic. Hamilton struggled at the plate for most of the game, and the Utica offense did enough to give the Pioneers a solid cushion. Utica held leads of 6–0 after six innings, 8–2 after seven, and 8–4 after eight. With their backs against the wall, the Continental offense came to life. Hamilton strung hits together and scored five runs in the top of the ninth. An electrifying two-run double by McCosker off an 0–2 pitch with two on capped the rally, and took Hamilton from being within one strike of defeat to being in position to win the game. Ian Nish ’19 got into a bit of trouble in the ninth, putting runners on first and second with one out. He got a strikeout and a long fly out, however, to end the game and secure the victory. Hamilton travels to Troy, NY on Wednesday to finish its season series with Amherst for its final game. Defeating the Mammoths would give Hamilton a new single season wins record.

Women’s Lacrosse —

After finishing the regular season with a 3–7 conference record and a 5–10 overall record, the women’s lacrosse team snuck into the NESCAC playoffs as the number eight seed. They were tasked with traveling to top-seeded and national number six Middlebury for their quarterfinal matchup. Defeating the Panthers would be no easy task, and it proved to be too much for the Continentals, as Middlebury cruised to a 14–5 victory and into the quarterfinal round. Darby Philbrick ’18 scored two goals to close out the season with a team-leading 26. Philbrick finishes her career with 97 goals over four stellar seasons. Jackie Cuddy ’18, Skyler Simson ’20, and Honor Gabriel ’21 also found the back of the net for Hamilton. Nicole Lyons ’18 pitched in two assists to give her 30 points on the season, good for second best on the team. Middlebury outshot Hamilton 39–18 and Hannah Burrall ’19 was solid in goal, making 16 saves. Eleni Neyland ’18 played the final 3:09 in net and made one save on three shots. Hamilton enters the offseason looking to return to its winning ways. Competition in the NESCAC is certainly fierce, but the consensus is that the Continentals did not live up to their potential this season and did not perform as well as they have in previous years. They’ll look to return to the top of the conference next season.

Men’s Lacrosse —

The men’s lacrosse team ended the season on a high note — an 8–7 victory over Hartwick — which broke a 12-game losing streak. Hamilton finish the season at 2–13, and went winless in conference play. Chad Morse ’19 and Clay McCollum ’19, who led the team with 26 and 20 goals respectively, each scored three goals in the victory over Hartwick. Morse produced a team-best 33 points on the season, while Chris Conley ’20 provided 26, McCollum added 22, and Henry Hill chipped in 20. Matt Greene ’18 and Rob Arrix ’19 anchored the defense, while Kyle Gately ’20 started all but one game in net. Hamilton returns most of its key contributors next season, though will lose face-off specialist Eric Zurmuehle ’18 and Greene, amongst others. The Continentals will need a strong off-season and an impressive recruiting class to return to relevance next season. Hamilton was outscored 141 to 64 in ten conference games, all losses, and needs to seriously step up to be a competitor in the conference.

Golf —

Joe Tigani ’18 was the brightest spot for both the men’s or women’s team this spring. Tigani alone represented the Hamilton men at the NESCAC Championships, Tigani’s third appearance at the Championships, and he represented well. After the first day of play, Tigani led the field with a 71, his second best 18-hole score on the season. On the second day, Tigani shot an 80, his highest 18-hole round on the 2017–18 season. His 151 total put him in seventh place out of the 23 representatives five members from each of the top four teams, along with the top three individuals on other teams from NESCAC qualifiers. In other results this spring, the men took fourth out of eight teams at the Williams NESCAC Spring Opener, with Tigani tying for second place, Bobby Osborn ’20 finishing 13th and Andrew Watson ’19 and Nick Randolph ’21 tied for 21st. The women finished sixth out of eight at the Williams Spring Invitational with Libbie Warner ’19 tying for 13th, Winda Wanikpun ’20 finishing 31st and Sophie Archos finishing 35th. Earlier in the Spring, the men defeated SUNY Delhi 306–316, while falling to Trinity in Florida 7.5–1.5 in a match play competition. The women took third out of ten at the Ithaca Invitational, with Warner finishing in fourth place and Wanikpun tying for fifth. They also finished second out of three in a three-team match against Mount Holyoke and Vassar in Florida. Though sporting a small roster of just six women, the entire women’s team returns next season. The men graduate two seniors, Tigani and Nate Kremer ’18, returning all of their top scorers but Tigani.