Despite what team captain Jay Carhart ’21 describes as “a strange year for Hamilton curling,” the team is headed for the USA Curling College Championship from March 8 to 10 in Wayland, Mass.
Carhart explained that “with no seniors and only three juniors on the team, we have rebuilt the team with nearly 30 new (first-year students). There was a danger of us not qualifying for nationals, but the freshmen showed real strength and determination and we finished the season strong, 12th in the nation for college curling.”
In its last bonspiel of the year, Hamilton team 2 (Gus Huiskamp ’21, Jennifer Flemming ’22, Emily Moy ’22, Taron Kui ’22) went 1-2. “They were all first-time curlers this year, and the fact that they were confident enough to play in a bonspiel without any returning curlers is impressive,” said Carhart. “They all played really well and showed promise for the future of our team.”
Hamilton team 1 (Ryan Wall ’20, Carhart, Molly Healey ‘22, Amy Glanzer ’21) went 2-3 at the bonspiel. After losing to Syracuse, the team went on to beat RPI 2, and the University of Pennsylvania.
“These two victories and a fantastic tie breaker stone thrown by Molly Healey got us into the playoff rounds on Sunday as the third seed,” said Carhart. The team lost to 1st seed RPI 1, then played a tough game with Bowdoin, eventually losing out on 3rd place. With those two losses, Hamilton finished 4th out of the 24 team pool.
“While we still made nationals this year, I am even more excited for the years to come, as our new curlers gain experience and lead the future of our club,” Carhart concluded.
