Chris DeConinck ’11 protects the ball from a defender from the University of California-Santa Cruz during the National Collegiate Division III Water Polo Club Championship Tournament in St. Paul, Minn. Hamilton goes on to finish fifth, losing only to UCSC, the eventual champion, as DeConinck wins second-team all-tournament honors. “It was exciting and exhausting to travel halfway across the country to compete in the championship,” DeConinck says. “In just the second season of the program’s history as a member of the Collegiate Water Polo Association, Hamilton performed very well at such high level of competition.” The event also speaks to the importance of funding and support for club sports, he says: It “gives serious athletes in ‘smaller’ sports a chance to compete and test themselves.”
