Women's swimming team has magical weekend
by Kendall Weir '12
SPORTS WRITER
With record-breaking performances from team stars Megan Gibbons ’12 and Maggie Rosenbaum ’14, the Hamilton women’s swimming and diving team placed sixth at the NESCAC Championship, four spots higher than the team finished in 2010.
Hosted by Williams College at Muir-Samuelson Pool last weekend, 11 teams competed in the Championship this year. Rosenbaum and Gibbons broke records on each of the three days of competition, and the entire team was proud of the way they swam. “What our women did at the meet was unprecedented!” said Head Coach T.J. Davis.
The women placed eighth after day one in the pool. Rosenbaum swam the 50-yard backstroke in 26.24 seconds, a time good enough to break the pool record, the meet record and also the previous Hamilton record. She provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with her leg in the 400-medley relay; Gibbons, captain Liz Bucceri ’11 and Joanie Burton ’13 joined Rosenbaum to help the relay finish in fourth place overall.
Gibbons broke her previous record in the 50-yard freestyle swim to finish second overall by .01 seconds. Burton, Bucceri and Kate Rack ’11 impressed in their respective consolation finals events to close out day one for the Continentals.
Men's hockey finishes atop NESCAC
by Ashley Allen '12
SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR
Hamilton’s men’s hockey team sure took care of business this weekend.
Winning six out of their last eight games, the Continentals captured the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC for the first time in the conference’s history and had one of their most successful years in recent memory. In control of their own destiny heading into a slate of games against ECAC opponents University of Massachusetts at Boston and Babson College, the men posted two impressive victories. With a regular season record of 14-6-4, the men finished ranked no. 13 in the Division-III rankings.
On Feb. 18, the Continentals and came away with a well earned 5-4 win. Anthony Scarpino ’12 led the way for Hamilton scoring three goals, while Michael DiMare ’14 added two goals. DiMare tapped in the first goal for Hamilton at 7:43 into the first period, assisted by Joe Buicko ’11 and Nick Anderson ’14.
Women's ice hockey team looks to run table
by John Wulf '12
SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR
The Hamilton women’s ice hockey team finds itself in a familiar place: for the fourth straight year the Continentals will be first-round underdogs in the NESCAC playoffs. It’s the team’s 10th straight appearance in the postseason, and while making the tournament is a nice accomplishment, the early playoff exits that have left the team wanting.
In 2008, as the number six seed, Hamilton lost to Trinity 5-1. In 2009, as the tournament’s eighth seed, Hamilton lost 7-1 to Amherst. Just last year, again as the no. 6 seed, Hamilton lost to Middlbury 8-1.
This string of embarrassing results that have left ugly stains on otherwise productive seasons. Now, heading into the playoffs as the sixth seed for the third time in four years, Hamilton has an opportunity to buck the trend.