September 22, 2011
Hamilton sports history is filled with great names and great games, and as a part of the bicentennial celebration, I would like to reflect on a few that certainly stand out and have stood the test of time.
Although Hamilton football has had a few tough years as of late, the program’s history is rich in great games and great moments, dating all the way back to the 19th century.
Hamilton football originated in the 1890s, shortly after the pioneering schools like Harvard and Yale began full-fledged programs in the 1870s. Then President of the College Melancthon Woolsey Stryker loved football, and according to sportswriter John Pitarresi ’70 of the Utica Observer-Dispatch, “The twenty-six years under President M. Woolsey Stryker were the best years of Hamilton College football.”
Those seasons include an 8-1 campaign in which the Continentals were ranked 10th in the country. The team won all eight games in shutout fashion, and the team’s only loss came against Army. After a win against Williams that season, “[President] Stryker and a big crowd of students met them at the train station in Clinton . . . and everyone marched up the Hill behind the college’s band,” recalled Pitarresi. “Football was obviously pretty important at the time.”
In 1941, the football team led by Milt Jannone ’43, Mac Bristol ’43 and Coach Forest Evashevski went 5-2. Evashevski coached the University of Iowa after leaving the Hill, leading his Hawkeyes to three Big 10 titles and two victories at the Rose Bowl.
“His Hall of Fame plaque is in the foyer of the gym, but no one seems to know that and no one seems to know who he was. Fame is fleeting,” commented Pitarresi.
Hamilton football notched its only undefeated season in 1958. In 1964, Larry “Moose” Pritchard ’66 made his first and only career field goal attempt as time expired to complete a monster comeback against Wesleyan. Another highlight was the team’s one-loss season in 1984, which included a victory over then second nationally-ranked Union College in front of more than 5,000 Hamilton fans at Steuben Field.
“I can guarantee it was the biggest crowd I've seen in the 46 years I've been around,” said Pitarresi.
Though not a perennial threat, Hamilton College football has had its moments of glory and its stellar seasons. Behind starting quarterback Jordan Eck ’13, this year’s team hopes to get the year started off strong against Tufts and compete in the NESCAC throughout the season.
Former men’s basketball coach Tom Murphy is a name fresh in the minds of the past few generations of Hamilton students, faculty and athletes alike. Murphy boasts a career record of 599-260 in 34 seasons as Hamilton’s coach, which ranks him fourth all-time in wins for Division III.
Several of those wins came against Division I Colgate University, whom the Continentals beat more often than not under Coach Murphy. When All-Americans John Klauberg ’78 and Cedric Oliver ’79 played under Murphy in 1975-79, Hamilton notched a record of 90-15, which included a double-digit win each season over Colgate. Oliver went on to be drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 1979.
The year 1987 marked another one of the countless highlights in Murphy’s career—he and the Continentals defeated Division I Utica College, which, at the time, was under the helm of Coach Larry Costello. Costello, whom Murphy outcoached, played in the NBA and coached the Milwaukee Bucks to their first ever NBA title in 1971 in a sweep over the Baltimore Bullets. After that season, Utica College went back down to Division III.
A few years later, Hamilton went undefeated (24-0) in 1990-91, keeping the No. 1 rank in all of Division III throughout the season.
“The team was covered in news stories on ABC, CBS and NBC national news, as well as on ESPN because at that time, the NESCAC prohibited post-season play,” commented retired golf coach Robert Simon, the Marjorie and Robert W. McEwen Professor of Philosophy. “The team almost surely, in my opinion, would have won an NCAA championship.”
Through the 80s and 90s, several media outlets and networks nationwide noted that Hamilton was the winningest team in the U.S. in any division, more so than Duke and University of North Carolina.
It would be insulting to reflect on Hamilton sports highlights and fail to mention Ward Wettlaufer ’59. Wettlaufer backboned the Hamilton golf team for four years, and has since gone down in history as one of the greatest amateur golfers to play the game. His career highlights include winning the Eastern Amateur, the North and South Amateur, and competing on the 1959 U.S. Walker Cup Team.Wettlaufer and golf legend Jack Nicklaus, longtime best friends, paired up to win a match in the Walker Cup.
Lastly, the most recent highlight in Hamilton sports history is without a doubt the women’s lacrosse national title in 2008, marking Hamilton’s first ever NCAA team title. The Continentals defeated defending champion Franklin & Marshall by a margin of 13-6, led by the 2008 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Sarah Bray ’11 and Anne Graveley ’11. The two stars combined for eight goals, and Kaillie Briscoe ’09 added two goals and two assists.
Coach Patty Kloidt and the Continentals did not stop there, they reached the NCAA semifinals in 2009, the title game again in 2010, and as the second-ranked team in this year’s pre-season coaches poll, they have their sights set on another national title.