Hopkins Athletes Conquer Summer

As the U.S. Mens and Womens soccer teams worked on qualifying for the FIFA 2018 World Cup, the Girls Varsity Soccer Team, coming off a heartbreaking 0-2 loss to Greenwich Academy in last year’s FAA finals, participated in a three day camp at Pomfret Academy to prepare for the varsity season this fall. Charlotte Yin ’20 said, “The camp...focused on the basics of soccer and helped us brush up on our skills in order to prepare for preseason.”

As NFL training camps ramped up, the Hopkins football team took full advantage of the offseason, competing in an interscholastic, Hopkins-hosted passing league. Varsity captain Spencer Lockhart ’18 stated, “This summer the [varsity football] team hosted a seven on seven passing league in the pit.”

Lockhart added, “Getting to compete against other schools over the summer allowed us to take huge steps forward as a team, both in terms of the execution of our plays and our chemistry as a group.”

The second half of July saw the 2017 FINA World Championships, the largest nonOlympic international championships for swimming, diving, and water polo. On July 29, in Budapest, Hungary, the Croatian men’s water polo team bested Hungary by two goals in an 8-6 victory to claim the crown. On the women’s side, the American team steamrolled Spain 13-6 en route to gold.

Back in the States, Hopkins’s Brian Seiter competed in the water polo Junior Olympics in Irvine, California with his club team. Seiter said, “My club team, Chelsea Piers, went to the junior olympics in Irvine, CA [as] the top seeded team from the east coast in [the sixteen-andunder] age group. We did better than any non-California team in our age group, [placing] into the platinum division and getting 24th place.”

On August 19, the Ohio Machine overcame the Denver Outlaws in a 17-12 offensive shootout to claim their first Major League Lacrosse title. Members of the Hopkins varsity boys lacrosse team also competed this summer. Midfielder Cameron Delcristo ’20 and goalie Zach Blake ’19 both played for elite summer lacrosse teams on the college recruiting circuit, and both travelled down to Princeton, New Jersey to play in the Princeton lacrosse prospect day.

Although legitimate exposure was limited due to the sheer number of highlevel prospects-- “[There were] so many goalies [that] there [was] no way to get any looks,” commented Blake--the junior goalie did enjoy the experience: “Although the exposure was limited, playing in front of college coaches at a division one prospect day was a great experience,” Blake said.

Following the Golden State Warriors’ five-game rout of the Cleveland Cavaliers in early June, the Hopkins summer league basketball team took the court in two summer leagues. Captainelect Jack Atkins ’18 commented, “This summer we played in two summer leagues, and had three games a week.  W e showed marked improvement from last summer, [upsetting] the undefeated top seed in the Hopkins league, Guilford, in order to advance to the semifinals, where we beat Amity. We ended up losing in the finals to a strong North Haven team, but we definitely had a great summer of basketball.”

Altogether, it was a busy summer in the athletic world, especially for Hopkins athletes. The Razor wishes the best of luck to Hilltoppers as they begin their seasons. Go Hop!