Sports
Curling team sweeps into Nationals
By Sirianna Santacrose ’15
February 27, 2015
You may have seen it on TV during the Olympics. Perhaps you know that it originated in Scotland in 1541. Or maybe the word “bonspiel” brings to mind the name of a musical percussion instrument. Regardless of your familiarity with curling, the sport is played as far away as Japan and as close to home as Utica, NY. In two weeks, four members of the Hamilton curling team will compete in the USA College Curling Nationals held at the Rochester Curling Club.
Begun in 2004 by a small group of students, the Hamilton curling team now consists of more than 20 members with varying degrees of experience. Beginning after fall break, the team practiced weekly at the Utica Curling Club under the coaching supervision of the club’s two owners.
Returning members helped introduce new members to the sport while working on their own technique for the upcoming season. They traveled to several bonspiels during the fall and the winter, including tournaments hosted in Boston, Troy, NY and Bridgeport, CT.
Notably, Hamilton’s team won two of its matches at its first bonspiel in Wayland, MA last fall, competing against teams who had been on the ice weeks before they had. Senior Josh DeVinney said this was his favorite bonspiel because with Jake Davidson ’15 as skip, “we were both on the same page, foreshadowing an enjoyable year overall.” Furthermore, at the Nutmeg Bonspiel in Bridgeport, Hamilton beat U-Penn, a more experienced curling team, by five points.
Most recently, three Hamilton teams competed in a two-day bonspiel at the Utica Curling Club over Valentine’s Day weekend. They co-hosted the competition with Colgate University. By the end of the weekend, Hamilton 2 was pitted against RIT 2, whom they had played earlier in the year.
While the E event was a close match, senior president Chris Lepre’s perfect shot sealed the win for Hamilton. Sophomore Andrew Fletcher noted, “It was one of the best shots I’d ever seen.” As it was Lepre’s last official game of the season, Fletcher praised him for playing “An incredibly good game,” adding that, “It was a great way for [him] to finish off with Hamilton Curling.”
The win earned Hamilton just enough points to qualify for the 16th and final seed at the Rochester tournament, which will take place March 13 through 15. Senior captain Kevin Welsh, along with Davidson, DeVinney and Olivia Valcarce ’15, will act as vice, skip, second and lead, respectively.
In preparation for nationals, a former member of the men’s national team will coach the Hamilton seniors at the Utica Curling Club. DeVinney explained, “We are practicing competitive scenarios and reviewing strategy in scrimmages with Colgate, who will also be going to Nationals.” Welsh added, “We’ve had plenty of years to learn good strategy, so now it’s up to us to perfect our technique.”
Of the upcoming tournament, Lepre said, “I’m thrilled that we made it to Nationals this year. We have a group of incredibly dedicated seniors going to represent us for whom this means a whole lot.” Davidson is hopeful for the team to stir up the competition. “If we play at the potential level we showed at the Connecticut tournament,” he said, “we stand a good chance of making a major upset.”
As for the future of the team, the members are confident that the team will continue to gain popularity and success as it develops in coming years. Although it will lose many seniors this spring, this will provide an opportunity for younger players, such as Fletcher, to build up the team again. “Our team has a lot of very talented younger players that show great promise,” Fletcher said. “They’ll definitely get to play a lot to hone in their skills… and we will… be making a run for nationals once again.” Davidson called Fletcher “an up-and-comer on the team,” and DeVinney added that he observed “some raw talent in the newcomers this year.”
A highly social sport, Hamilton’s team is well known for its sportsmanship and positive attitude. At the Utica bonspiel, for example, a curler from another team told Valcarce that the Hamilton curlers “were the most fun team to curl against.”
The four seniors heading to Nationals will no doubt carry this upbeat energy and attitude into their gameplay, which will make for a fun and competitive weekend of curling in Rochester.