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10
ON CAMPUS
T
his past columbus day, St. Lawrence students
took part in the 31st annual St. Lawrence
Quadathlon, a triathlon with a twist. This
unique athletic contest includes four events: a
500-yard swim, five-mile bike, one-mile canoe,
and two-mile run. Teams can compete in five
categories: student teams of all men, all women, mixed teams (two
men and two women), individuals called Ironmen and Ironwomen,
and faculty and staff. The winner of each category gets to take
home a Quadathlon champion T-shirt.
The late Bob Northrup, former head swimming and diving
coach, created the Quadathlon as a team bonding exercise. Now,
the event is run through the intramurals program, and is directed
by Robert Clemmer, head swimming and diving coach.
“It was met with so much enthusiasm that the other varsity
teams asked to participate,” Clemmer says. “Eventually the teams
included other students on campus and faculty and staff.”
The event averages 15 teams with participation from across the
Athletics Department. Annie Williams ’17, a member of the
women’s rowing team, competed this year for the first time.
“
The crew team has never done a Quadathlon before,” Annie
says. “Our coach said this was a good cross-training exercise that
also included a chance for team bonding.”
Swimmer Meg Musser ’18 participated in the last three
Quadathlons with other members of the women’s swimming and
diving team. “We generally kill it in the pool, which gives us a
great jump on the competition. But the rest of the race is much
more land-lover friendly, so opposition catches up on us sea
creatures pretty fast. The last leg is always a fight to the death.”
Though originally designed for the swimming and diving team,
the event gets competitive for all participating athletes.
“We always do our best to protect our turf and try to bring home
the gold,” Meg says.
Kevin Swomley ’17 is a four-year Quadathlete for the Nordic ski
team, and a repeat gold medalist. Members of the Nordic team
are also regular participants in the event, and have won in at least
one category for the past few years.
“I wouldn’t say the swimmers rule this event,” Kevin says.
“I would say our record proves otherwise.”
n
O
ftentimes the paths that
connect us are ones that
we don’t appreciate
enough.
The St. Lawrence
Geographic Information
System, or GIS, program,
along with
accompanying University departments are
working to develop, maintain and observe these
trails so that St. Lawrence and eventually the
entire Canton community can enjoy them.
What got the project going was the interest and
donation of Tom Saddlemire ’70, an alumnus
interested in outdoor activity, especially mountain
biking. His gift creating the Saddlemire Trail led to
the assembly of a tripartite committee dedicated to
further developing and maintaining this and other
trails as part of The Campus Trails project.
“We’d like these trails to be accessible and known by campus,
for running, walking, biking, or whatever gets people outside—
ultimately to show that we have this great land as a resource right
in our backyard,” says Dakota Casserly, a GIS/GPS technician at
St. Lawrence.
The Campus Trails project plans, manages and monitors the
trail-use throughout campus. Professors and students assisting
with this project at St. Lawrence have worked to preserve and
examine the trails that run throughout our community. The
team is also working in conjunction with the Village of Canton
to be included in a larger trail map of the entire surrounding
area. For now, their focus is on evolving, improving and
identifying the trails on campus.
Halley Choy ’17, one of the students who has helped with this
project, worked with Peter Pettengill,
assistant professor of
environmental studies this past summer. She and Pettengill
measured the trails using ARC GIS software, in order to see if
the trails are being used, overused, and maintained, to
determine which trails need what for improvement.
“I really like to run and travel new trails and find places that
are untouched, but easy to access,” Halley says, “so I love getting
to explore these paths and learn more about them.”
Those who have been developing and connecting these trails
are already seeing the results of their labor. “Anytime I’m out on
the trail, I see people out there,” Head Nordic Coach Ethan
Townsend says. “When you think about our location and what
we have here, we’re not a big-city school, but one of the appeals
should be our accessibility of getting out in the woods.”
n
Mapping the Trails of St. Lawrence
BY LIZ MILLER ’17
Quadathlon
BY JULIE ROGERS ’17