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Crew claims Newell Cup vs. SLU

By Elijah Spang '17

Pushed by a strong current and tailwind on the Erie Canal, Hamilton’s crew team claimed three first-place finishes on April 19.

The regatta in nearby Rome, N.Y. against Saint Lawrence University saw two victories by the women’s team, one of which won them the Newell Cup.

The men’s team also had a strong performance with a win in the novice 4 boat and a very competitive varsity 8 boat race, which Saint Lawrence won by only two seconds.

The Women’s varsity 8 boat that captured the Newell Cup was led by Leah Sorenson ‘14 at stroke and Sydney Cantor ’16 as the cox swain. They produced an impressive win over the Saint Lawrence varsity 8.

Hamilton finished with a time of 7:05.37, solidly ahead of St. Lawrence who finished with a time of 7:21.81 on the 2,000 meter course.

Following the lead of the varsity 8, the Hamilton women earned another victory at second varsity. The second varsity boat was stroked by Emily Hedison ’17 with Heather Piekarz ’16 at coxswain. Hamilton’s boat finished the course with a time of 7:17.48 ahead of St. Lawrence’s boat with a time of 7:28.75.

The men’s varsity 8 boat suffered a tough loss as they were edged out by Saint Lawrence’s varsity 8 in a very close race that earned Saint Lawrence the Houlihan Cup. Saint Lawrence’s boat took an early lead, but Hamilton went stroke-for-stroke with them and gave no ground.

Late in the race, Hamilton mounted an impressive final charge, but Saint Lawrence was able to counter and secure the close victory. Saint Lawrence’s boat came in at 6:14.61. Hamilton’s boat stroked by Jared Lippman ’16 with Allie Hoetzel ’14 at coxswain, was right behind at 6:16.26.

While the Hamilton men’s second varsity team also lost their race, the Hamilton Men’s novice 4 boat was able to notch an exciting victory against Saint Lawrence’s novice 4. The Hamilton boat had Elias Clough ’17 at stroke and Bowin Lee ’17 at coxswain.

Hamilton surged to an early lead, but Saint Lawrence was able to work their way back into the race and managed to take the lead with 500 meters to go. The Continentals countered this by digging in down the stretch. This final effort paid off and Hamilton finished with a time of 7:23.47 ahead of St. Lawrence at 7:31.15.

This regatta was overall a very solid performance for Hamilton’s crew team considering the challenge of limited practice time on the water due to the region’s freezing spring weather.

According to team member Richard Wenner ’17, “The snow and the flooding kept us off the water for a substantial amount of time but we have managed to get a lot of work done in the meantime.”

As the weather improves and the team spends more time out on the water, it will be interesting to see what they are capable of. Hamilton’s crew teams will be in action again as they head back to the Erie Canal to race this weekend.

Both the men and women will face Colgate and Lehigh on April 26.  The regatta will mark the final races for both teams before they wrap up their seasons in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) National Invitational Championships on May 11.

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