Magazine - summer 03 - St. John's College

42
{Croquet}
Cruising to Another Croquet Victory
Santa Fe Seniors Join the Party
by Rosemary Harty
With The College’s
veteran croquet correspondent
Sus3an
Borden (A87) taking
on new duties in
the Advancement
office this year, this editor planned to capture
the action at the 22nd annual croquet
match against the Naval
Academy, held on the
customary date of the last
Saturday of April. But I was
recruited for champagnepouring
duty in the Alumni
tent, where in an attempt
to weed out impostors,
would-be imbibers were
quizzed on senior essay
topics. (“Um, something
about…Homer,” was a
typical response.) The
sound of cheering reached
the alumni tent, but we had
a hard time following the
action, like most of the
estimated 1,200 spectators
who crowded onto the
campus for a great party
on a spectacularly sunny
April day.
Good thing the press was
there. The match brought
out the local papers, the
Associated Press correspondent,
and a shamefully
biased correspondent from
The Trident, the Naval
Academy’s newspaper, who
again blamed the loss on
the allegedly rigorous
Naval Academy schedule.
The most interesting
development this year was
the participation of 28
Santa Fe students who
came to Annapolis on their
own dime to see for themselves
what croquet fever is
all about. Most caught a
red-eye flight from Santa
Fe after seminar Thursday
night, but a couple of determined Johnnies
of the West drove all the way to Annapolis
and back.
“Most of us had never been to Annapolis,
so we wanted to see the campus,” explained
Chris Coucheron-Ammot (SF04), who
organized the outing. Being an honest
fellow, Coucheron-Aamot readily acknowledged
that the contingent came first “for a
fabulous party” and second for a show of
solidarity.
“The senior class in Santa Fe really
believed in the ‘one college-two campuses’
ideal of St. John’s,” he said. “We don’t
feel like there’s a big difference between
Johnnies in Santa Fe and Johnnies in
Annapolis.”
The visitors understood
“parts of the game,” and
were particularly taken by
the contrast in traditions
between the rivals, he said.
“We liked the way the Mids
had Plebes in white jackets
carrying around water bottles
for them, and Johnnies
had their girlfriends carrying
around bottles of Colt 45.”
Johnnies put their
Western classmates up on
couches and floors in their
apartments around town.
Sarah Stickney (A04) and
John Okrent (A04) organized
barbecues to feed them.
The campus community out
West would welcome an
Annapolis contingent out
for one of its best parties,
Oktoberfest.
“We usually bring snow
down from the mountains
because it hasn’t snowed
on the campus yet, and we
have a snowball fight,”
he explained.
Why not include a
croquet match in Oktoberfest
festivities? “Have you
seen our soccer field?”
Coucheron-Aamot asked
in reply. x
Imperial Wicket Sam
Spalding lines up a shot.
{ The College • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }