Hawks Newsletter July 2023
President’s Introduction
Gentlemen Hawks,
Welcome to the July newsletter which provides an update on the Club and the achievements of Hawks. Highlights include the recent Tour de Dublin, which may prove familiar reading for the Parisian tourists of 1990, and news of strong sporting performances in the Varsity Cricket and at Henley.
Easter Term was a particularly busy term for the Club and the Clubhouse was a popular venue for post exam celebrations thanks to the work of our Steward (Lauren Bland). The term culminated in a successful Hawks’ Event at Fenner’s, celebrating a fantastic year for Cambridge sport (full Varsity results here).
The Club has played a central role in this sporting success, as a hub for sportsmen and women across the university, and financially via the Charitable Trust. The Club has also directly supported historic fixtures by hosting athletes from Harvard and Yale during the return leg of the HYOC Match and welcoming golfers from Yale visiting CUGC.
A new initiative to reintroduce Alumni Hawks back to the community in Portugal Place has proven to be popular and I hope more alumni will consider visiting the Clubhouse to meet Resident Members and re-engage with the club and Cambridge sport (more information below).
I am always pleased to hear from Hawks and answer any questions about the Club. Please do get in touch via president@hawksclub.co.uk if you would like to share some news!
Once a Hawk, always a Hawk and it would be a pleasure to welcome members, of all vintages, back to Portugal Place.
GDBO,
Felix Craig-McFeely (Fitzwilliam, CUBC)
Hawks’ Club President 2023-24
New Committee
The Hawks’ Club thanks the outgoing Committee for their hard work and is pleased to announce the new Committee for the 2023-24 academic year.
President – Felix Craig-McFeely (Fitzwilliam, CUBC)
Hon. Secretary – Alex Mair (Gonville & Caius, CUGC)
Junior Treasurer – Max Loveridge (Jesus, CURUFC)
Membership – Samir Sardana (Gonville & Caius, CUHC, CUCC)
Trading – Charles Kantolinna (Jesus, CURUFC)
Events – Cameron Mitchell (Robinson, CUCC)
Hawks’ Event – Ryan Moss (Gonville & Caius, CUABC)
HOATS – Ehren Agarwal (Emmanuel, CUCC)
Merchandise – Seb Walton (Christ’s, CUHC)
Communications – Joe Helm (Churchill, CUAFC)
London Dinner – Save the Date!
The Hawks’ Club London Dinner will be on Wednesday 6th December at The Savoy. Please save the date and encourage fellow Hawks to attend. An email will be sent to members in due course with ticket details.
Local Hawks’ Meetups
Between 300 and 350 Alumni Hawks’ live in or close to Cambridge. A big effort is being made to reintroduce Alumni Hawks’ back to the Club in Portugal Place to meet old friends, share in the spirit of being a Hawk and to re-engage with the Club. Everyone on our database has been emailed and over 50 members have responded to say they would be keen to be involved. Consequently, a Dinner was arranged last term and a packed dining room on the top floor of the Club enjoyed a memorable dinner with great food and an inspiring and thought-provoking speech was given by John Pritchard.
Such was the enthusiasm, that we are aiming to hold a dinner each term along with several evenings for alumni to get together for a casual beer or two along with identifying home Varsity match dates across all sports to try and bring back more support from the Hawks’.
If you aren’t involved already, but want to be put on the list, please email Herbie (CURUFC, ’87 and ’88) on mark.hancock@amerdale.co.uk
Harvard Club, Boston
We are pleased to announce a new reciprocal arrangement with the Harvard Club in Boston. The Harvard Club aims ‘to be the social, intellectual, and athletic hub of Harvard alumni and our affiliated community in the Greater Boston area.’ The Harvard Club is both a Platinum Club of America and a Platinum Club of the World. Thank you to Eric W. Nye (Queens’, CUBbC) for his work to establish this relationship.
The full list of Reciprocal Clubs can be found here and Letters of Introduction can be obtained from the Honorary Secretary (secretary@hawksclub.co.uk)
Hawk’s Club Sportsman of the Year – Luke McCarron
Congratulations to Luke McCarron (Jesus, CUAC, CUHH, CUTriC) who is the Hawk’s Club Sportsman of the Year for 2022/23. Luke has performed at an exceptionally high standard across both university and international sport, rising to 330th in the Triathlon World Rankings.
In November, Luke won his Blue and finished 6th in the Varsity Cross Country Match, contributing to a Cambridge Victory. Luke also scored for Cambridge in a third place finish at the BUCS Cross Country Championships. In February, Luke finished 1st in the Varsity Duathlon as a member of the victorious Cambridge team. This summer, Luke finished 2nd in the 5k at the Varsity Athletics to win another Blue!
Alongside his contribution to Cambridge sport, Luke has represented Ireland internationally in triathlon. He finished 2nd at the Irish National Triathlon Championships, 16th at the World University Championships and 17th at the Arena Games Super League Grand Final. He also represented Ireland at the European Games in both the individual event and mixed team relay. His best result was at the Hong Kong Continental Cup where he finished 7th, just 19 seconds behind the winner.
Luke will continue to compete internationally next year at both the International Continental Cup and Super League Arena Games Series with the goal of representing Ireland at the Commonwealth Games in 2026.
Hawks’ Club Team of the Year – Cambridge University Boat Club
Congratulations to the Cambridge University Boat Club’s Men’s Squad who are the Hawks’ Club Team of the Year for 2022/23.
2023 was an exceptional year for the CUBC, sweeping Oxford for only the 3rd time in the club’s history. The Men’s Blue Boat won by 1 ⅓ lengths, Goldie by 1 length and the Lightweight Men’s Blue Boat by 11 lengths. On a choppy Tideway day, the Men’s Boat Race victory was characterised by a daring coxing move from Jasper Parish (Clare), steering for the relative shelter of the Fulham wall and away from the fastest water to gain a ¾ length advantage from Oxford and upset the bookies’ in a legendary Cambridge victory.
The victorious Men’s Blue Boat, Goldie and Lightweight Men’s Blue Boat
In addition to strong Boat Race performances, the club has enjoyed strong success on the national and international stage. Blues Luca Ferraro (King’s) and Ollie Parish (Peterhouse), were selected for the U23 World Championships, winning a Gold and Silver respectively. The Lightweights also enjoyed an exceptional season, winning Gold at BUCS in the Lightweight Pair and Four and narrowly losing to Princeton, the US National Champions, at Henley.
Hawks’ Tour de Dublin
Readers of the December 2020 newsletter may recall an article on the infamous Hawks’ Tour de Paris which was brought to the attention of the then committee by Trevor Castledine (Queens’, CUHC, President 1990-91). Unfortunately a pandemic scuppered plans to rekindle this much-loved adventure but the Tour photo taken on the steps of the Sacre-Coeur has been displayed, pride of place overlooking the bar for the last few years. In the 150th year, it was the hope of the 2022/23 Committee that a tour party would be sent abroad, to spread the good word of all things maroon and gold.
In June, 25 Resident Hawks headed to Dublin to celebrate the end of exams and another enjoyable year in Portugal Place. The packing list consisted of Tour cap, Hawks’ tie, passport and toothbrush, with the aim of testing ‘Does Guinness taste better in Dublin?’ After strenuous testing, in our 20 hour jaunt across the Irish Sea, we are pleased to report that the Guinness was excellent!
A highlight of the Tour was a visit to the Pavilion at Trinity College Dublin, kindly hosted by the Knights of the Campanile. The Knights were founded in 1926 to host visiting sports teams, inspired by both Hawks’ and Vincent’s. The Tourists enjoyed a fantastic evening of food and cricket before being sent on their way with a map of Dublin’s cheapest and best bars. We would like to thank the Knights for their excellent hospitality and look forward to hosting them in Michaelmas Term.
No tour is complete without a best tourist and your correspondent would like to pay particular tribute to George Means (St Edmund’s, CUCC). His innings is suspected to be a Club record (let down only by poor scoring) and perhaps in future years a ‘Most Valuable Tourist’ Honours Board may adorn the walls of the Clubhouse Lounge alongside the lists of Presidents and photos of Internationals.
Thanks go to Max Loveridge (Jesus, CURUFC) for his fine organisation of the tour and there is a strong appetite for another trip next year. We also plan to book accommodation next time……
The Tourists enjoy the hospitality of the Knights of the Campanile at Trinity College Dublin
Hawks at Henley
The Hawks’ Club was particularly well represented at this year’s Henley Royal Regatta. Highlights included a 4th Henley win for 4-time Blue Freddie Davidson (Emmanuel) in the Stewards’, while Tom George (Peterhouse) and Ollie Wynne-Griffith (Peterhouse) claimed victory in the Goblets. Former Goldie oarsman Tom Strudwick (Christ’s) earned a win in the Thames Challenge Cup in a dominant Thames Rowing Club crew. Freddie, Tom and Ollie will be back in British colours for the World Championships in Belgrade in September and the Club wishes them every success.
Elsewhere in the draw, CUBC fielded crews in the Diamonds, Visitors’, Temple and Prince Albert Challenge Cups coached by Hawks’ Rob Baker and Nick Acock (Emmanuel). A particularly strong performance was shown by a Goldie/Lightweight composite crew in the Temple, falling to Princeton, US Lightweight National Champions, by just ¾ length. Additionally, Crabtree, the Cambridge alumni club, fielded a crew of Old Blues and Goldies in the Wyfold.
Hawks are well represented in the organisation of the Regatta; Mike Sweeney (St John’s), Iain Reid (Fitzwilliam), Patrick Delafield (Jesus), Chris Baillieu (Jesus), Mike Williams (Trinity Hall), Richard Phelps (St Edmund’s), Chris Rodrigues (Jesus) and Tom James (Trinity Hall) could all be found on Stewards’ duties. Off the water, the Regatta was enjoyed by a large number of Hawks, maroon and gold ties could be found in the Enclosures in abundance, particularly the Fawley Bar!
Since Henley, Luca Ferraro (King’s) and Ollie Parish (Peterhouse) were selected to represent Great Britain at the U23 World Championships in Plovdiv. Luca won Gold in the Eight and Ollie won Silver in the Coxed Four, capping a highly successful season for CUBC including a ‘clean sweep’ of all 6 Boat Races.
Tom George & Ollie Wynne Griffith (2022 Blues) win the Silver Goblets in an all-Hawk crew!
Hawks racing at Henley:
Stewards Challenge Cup – Freddie Davidson (Emmanuel)
Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup – Oliver Wynne-Griffith (Peterhouse), Tom George (Peterhouse), Seb Benzecry (Jesus)
Diamond Challenge Sculls – Matthew Edge (St Catharine’s), Dara Alizadeh (Hughes Hall)
Visitors’ Challenge Cup – Oliver Parish (Peterhouse), Luca Ferraro (King’s), Thomas Lynch (Hughes Hall)
Temple Challenge Cup – Harry Fieldhouse (St John’s), Orlando Morley (Girton), Cameron Mackenzie (Gonville & Caius), Ben Jones (Magdalene), Lewis Gray (St Catharine’s)
Prince Albert Challenge Cup – Oliver Boyne (Downing), Cameron Spiers (Downing), Luke Beever (Emmanuel), Reef Boericke (Gonville & Caius), Sean Hayes (Jesus)
Thames Challenge Cup – Tom Strudwick (Christ’s), Freddie Markanday (Queens’), Teague Smith (Girton)
Wyfold Challenge Cup – Charles Fisher (St John’s), Reggie Mitchell (Trinity), Sam Wilson (Sidney Sussex)
Cricket 4 Day Varsity Match
The victorious CUCC Blues led by Harry Houillon (Fitzwilliam, CUCC)
The Blues were victorious in the 2023 4-day Varsity Match. Outstanding performances from Sam Turner (scoring 98 and 68) and Samir Sardana (taking ten wickets across the match) helped the Light Blues win by a margin of 176 runs. This win means the Blues have won the overall Varsity series 2-0, following victory at Lord’s and a match abandoned at Arundel.
Cambridge won the toss and captain Harry Houillon elected to bat. After a frustrating, rain-affected Day 1, where less than 30 overs were bowled, the score was left at 57-2 overnight. A strong Oxford bowling performance restricted the Light Blues to a modest total of 226. Seamer Clarke and spinner Choudhary were the pick of the bowlers, taking 4 wickets apiece. Cambridge’s total would have been far lower were it not for an crucial innings from Sam Turner, who faced an incredible 271 balls for his 98 runs. His attritional knock was supported by contributions from Freddie Kottler and Samir Sardana, who added 35 and 16 respectively. This left Oxford around 35 overs to bat on what was always going to be a pivotal evening of play.
Tim Wallace took three important wickets with his accurate seam bowling, yet with the score at 94-3 with 3 overs of play left, Oxford looked as though they may be just ahead heading into the close of play. However, two wickets from Sardana, including one on the final ball of the day, swung the momentum in Cambridge’s favour, leaving Oxford 95-5 at the close of Day 2
Outstanding spin bowling from Sardana and Patel on the morning of Day 3 ensured that Cambridge took a lead into their second innings, as Oxford were dismissed for 144, with Sardana and Patel taking 4 and 3 wickets respectively. This meant that the Cambridge openers walked out to the crease before lunch with a lead of 82.
Cambridge knew a strong batting performance here was essential, to take the game away from Oxford and to set up a chance of victory. A good second wicket partnership of 84 between Turner and Houillon helped settle early nerves in the Cambridge camp, yet following Houillon’s dismissal for 48, the Light Blues quickly fell from 84-1 to 103-4. This was a crucial period in the game, as a few more wickets here could easily swing the balance back towards Oxford. However, Turner delivered again with another determined knock, making 68 off 138 balls, meaning that he had faced over 400 balls in the match – a truly outstanding Varsity performance.
Brilliant knocks from the Cambridge middle and lower order propelled the Cambridge innings onwards (Mitchell 48, Wallace 31, Onley-Gregson 22, Sardana 30). These crucial contributions wrenched the momentum away from Oxford, who faced a challenging period in the field as runs continued to flow. Following a 25 run 10th wicket partnership between Patel and Agarwal, CUCC finished on 301 all out, with a lead of 383. This meant Oxford would have to face a tricky period of about 7 or 8 overs before the end of Day 3. Again, Sardana produced for the Light Blues, taking the important wicket of Roberts before the close.
Heading into Day 4, Cambridge needed 9 wickets, with Oxford 360 runs away from the required total. Cambridge got off to the perfect start in the morning session, with 3 wickets from Sardana and 1 each for Onley-Gregson and Wallace, reducing Oxford to 74-6. However, an excellent partnership between Brown and Choudhary frustrated Cambridge. The two of them batted for 20 overs together, putting on 74 runs. Wallace produced a vital breakthrough, dismissing Choudhary for a well-made 33. Another stubborn partnership from Royan and Brown took the Oxford score up to 204, yet Sardana struck again, taking the crucial wicket of
Brown (78). The next two wickets fell in quick succession and Oxford were all out for 207, which meant the Light Blues were victorious by 176 runs.
This was a fantastic team performance from the Blues, but the two standout performers were Sam Turner, who set the game up for victory with his 166 runs in the match, and Samir Sardana, who helped the Blues seize victory with his sublime bowling (10-121 in the match). This memorable victory over 4 days was a fantastic way to conclude the season and is a great reward for all the hard work of the group throughout the year.
Hawks’ Club Resident’s Photos
The whole Club and Committee photo, taken at Hawks’ Event this summer, can be viewed and purchased here.
Contact Us and Picture Submissions
Please do get in touch with us about anything Hawks’ Club related! We particularly welcome photos of Hawks past and present which we will try to get up in the Clubhouse and on the website. It is also great to hear about the sporting or social activities of past Hawks – for example, anecdotes or brief thoughts on current affairs, or how we could improve the newsletter.
Do get in touch via either president@hawksclub.co.uk or secretary@hawksclub.co.uk.
You can also rapidly and easily keep up to date with all the latest Hawks’ Club activities by following our social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
A reminder to keep your details up to date on the website (your username should be <SURNAME><INITIALS> e.g. MOENAJ for Alexander James Moen – send an email to secretary@hawksclub.co.uk if you have forgotten your username).
If you enjoyed this newsletter, you can also read archived newsletters here.
Newsletter compiled by President Felix Craig-McFeely and Communications Officer Joseph Helm
