On the evening of Sept. 9, Hamilton’s Marathon Canoe Racing Team loaded up two vans and began their journey up to the town of Old Forge to compete in the Adirondack Canoe Classic, also known as the 90-Miler. For two weeks leading up to the event, the team had been rising before the sun to have canoe practice on the water of Delta Lake reservoir. This year, 20 Hamilton students, split into four canoes, competed in the race, along with Director of Outdoor Leadership Andrew Jillings. The team was supported by five members of the pit crew.
The 90-Miler follows a section of the historic Northern Forest Canoe Trail through some of the Adirondacks’ most pristine waterways. Each year, 270 boats of varying type compete in the race. This year, Hamilton raced three four-person, C4, canoes and one eight-person, Voyageur, canoe. The route is completed in stages over the course of three days, and the boat in each category with the fastest overall time wins.
The fastest of the student boats this year was the C4 with Lydia McGinn ’22, Dylan Morse ’22, Mac Behrhorst ’23, and Max Wutzke ’23, clocking in at 15:56. The C4 finishing just behind at 16:15 was paddled by Violet Newhouse ’23, Zach Weller ’23, Alec Jansujwicz ’24, and Fiona Morrison ’24. They were followed by Maggie McDow ’23, Maddie Schink ’23, Lena Schneck ’23, and Jenna McCarthy’s ’23 boat who finished in 18:58. The Voyageur canoe, paddled by Shelby McVey ’22, Adele Hinkle ’22, Sosha Stecher ’22, Amy Zhai ’22, Eva Nolan ’22, Bella Moses ’23, Lillian Norton-Brainard ’23, Sophie Auvin ’23, finished in 19:02. Andrew Jillings won the Unlimited Kayak Men's Masters category finishing in 14:56.
Team captain Lydia McGinn said that “the 90 is consistently one of the best weekends of [her] year.” She continued “there’s pretty much nothing better than spending three days out in the Adirondacks, pushing yourself to your physical limits while laughing and paddling with the other people weird and wonderful enough to sign on to canoe 90 miles. It’s an extremely unique experience and one I’m incredibly grateful to have shared with the team this year.”
The entire team is grateful for the support of Amanda Gilsten ’23, Syd Soloway ’23, Catherine Fengler ’24, Sara Schneidman ’24, and Sophie Crehan ’24, who served as pit crew for the race.
Hamilton’s Marathon Canoe team hopes to race in the Long Lake Long Boat Regatta on Sept. 25.
