Saints Hold on to Houlihan Trophy for Second Straight Year

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Tara Freeman
The Saints varsity eight and freshman eight defeated Hamilton College Saturday.

April 17:  The St. Lawrence University men's crew team had a stand-out performance Saturday in Waddington, NY, as both the varsity eight and freshman eight defeated Hamilton's top eight to hold onto the Houlihan Trophy for the second year. 

The Houlihan trophy is named after a former Hamilton oarsman, Matthew Houlihan ‘03, who passed away in his sleep in the fall of 2000.  The family donated the trophy last year to honor Matthew and keep his name alive in the Hamilton Crew program.  Due to the friendly rivalry between the St. Lawrence and Hamilton crew teams, the trophy is awarded to the winner of the men's varsity eight event each year.

The Saints novice eight, coached by Ryan Weis, competed against their varsity eight, as well as Hamilton's varsity eight Saturday.  All three crews were relatively even off the line, however St. Lawrence's top boat moved out by the 500 meter mark.  The Saints novice eight battled with the Continentals 1V, but were able to maintain their lead, holding off a Hamilton move in the final 250 meters of the race.  St. Lawrence's top eight handily won by a time of 5:46.6, while the Saints freshman took second with a time of 5:59.3.  Hamilton rounded out the event, crossing the line in 6:01.8.  Sophomore Will Schrade stroke the Saints 1V, while sophomore Jamie Cook sat seven seat, sophomore Justin Painter sat six seat, sophomore Brent Underwood sat five seat, junior Dave MacClaren sat four seat, junior Cameron West sat three seat, sophomore Griffin Green sat two seat, and junior Nick Blum sat bow.  Junior Alyssa Halton coxed the Saints varsity eight. 

St. Lawrence's freshman eight was stroked by Jake Morse, while Will Maloney sat seven seat, Christian Bergbauer sat six seat, Rob Meacham sat five seat, Will Mahoney sat four seat, Francis Stripp sat three seat, Sam Baker sat two seat, and Jeff Pond sat bow.  Audrey Strasenburgh coxed the boat.

The Saints battled in the men's four event, falling to Hamilton's varsity crew by one second.   Mahoney stroked the four, while Green sat three seat, Cook sat two seat, and Maloney sat bow.  Sophomore Mike Cianca coxed the boat.

St. Lawrence will be back in action April 24th when they head on the road to compete in the Liberty League Championships in Saratoga Springs, NY.