200 Days in the Life of the College
Saturday, March 12
Spring break sports? Go down Hill, turn south
By Virginia Slattery ’12
We all love Hamilton, but that doesn’t mean we love the weather — for instance, that nearly two feet of snow that fell the Monday before spring break. When you haven’t seen a blade of grass or felt the sun’s warmth in months, it’s nice to put Clinton in the rearview mirror when break arrives.
But if you’re a Hamilton athlete playing a spring sport, break does not mean vacation; it means working out all day, every day — albeit under the glorious sun of the South, often in the Sunshine State. “Heading to Florida is the perfect break from the Clinton winter and gives the team a great opportunity to bond and train,” says Alice Dannenberg ’11, co-captain of women’s crew. “It also gives us a chance to work on that tan you can’t get in balmy Central New York in March.”
Related
This year, half a dozen teams slide down the Hill to crisscross Florida and elsewhere, training and competing in the welcome heat of the South. The baseball team spends a week playing 12 games in Winter Haven, Lakeland and Auburndale. Softballers swing for the fences in 10 games over five days in Fort Myers. Golfers tee off at two invitationals in Port St. Lucie. Tennis players serve ’em up at Kissimmee, Orlando, Altamont Springs and Winter Park. Women also play lacrosse in Kissimmee, while the men prep farther north, in Greensboro, N.C. As for the crew team, the intensive training pays off when it returns home with a trophy for overall team points at the Tampa Mayor’s Cup Regatta — along with some great tan lines.
