Rick Bollin, ’86 • Track & Field, Football
As a sophomore in 1984, track and field and football star Rick Bollin placed second in the decathlon at the NCAA Division III Track and Field championships, hosted by Carleton. His performance was even more remarkable because Bollin had taken up the discipline a mere three weeks prior, when he finished first at the inaugural Carleton decathlon-heptathlon meet. Following the meet, Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Doug grow predicted that Carleton would “never be the same,” and would become just another “jock factory” after having produced an athlete of Bollin’s caliber.
Bollin went on to compete in two more national-meet decathlons, taking eighth as a junior in 1985 and second again as a senior in 1986, giving him three All-America citations in that event. He still holds a Carleton record of 6,800 points, set in 1985.
At the 1985 and 1986 indoor track national meets, Bollin competed in the 55-meter high hurdles. Later that spring he was named MVP of the MIAC championships for his decathlon performance. Bollin also anchored Carleton’s 4×100-meter relay team that qualified for nationals in 1986.
As a tight end for Carleton’s football team, Bollin was named to the All-MIAC second team in 1984 before a knee injury the following season ended his football career prematurely.
In 1986 Bollin received Carleton’s Warren Beson Award, given annually to the senior athlete who excels in the classroom and on the field. He was an economics major from Winona, Minn.
Bollin most fondly recalls the friendships he made at Carleton. “The thing I’ll remember most is the people I met,” he said. “The core group of friends I made there are friends for life.”
Melissa Hamilton-Crutchfield, ’85 • Track & Field, Volleyball
On her application for admission to Carleton, Minneapolis native Melissa Hamilton-Crutchfield indicated she “might” participate in track and field and volleyball in college. Four years later she had earned eight varsity letters in track and volleyball, seven All-Conference honors and two All-America citations.
Hamilton-Crutchfield, who also participated in Ultimate Frisbee while at Carleton, began her impressive list of track honors by claiming the 1983 MIAC title and qualifying for nationals in the 100-meter dash and placing second in the conference 200-meters. She was also a member of Carleton’s 1985 All-American 400-meter relay team.
The following spring, Hamilton-Crutchfield was a member of the MIAC-champion 400-meter relay squad.
In 1985, after earning four indoor track All-Conference citations, including MIAC titles in the 55 and 300-meter events, she advanced to the indoor national meet, where she earned her second All-America award with a fifth-place finish in the 55-meters. A torn hamstring prevented her from receiving even more awards in outdoor track the following spring. That year Hamilton-Crutchfield received the physical education department’s Track Special Team award, an honor that she described as a career highlight.
In volleyball, Hamilton-Crutchfield earned four letters and was named captain as a junior in 1983.
Of her time at Carleton, Hamilton-Crutchfield, a sociology-anthropology major, remarked, “It was through challenge of both athletic and academic competition and rehabilitation that I gained a greater sense of self-worth.”
In 1991 she earned a master’s degree in exercise physiology and fitness management from New York University.
In the summer of 1996, Hamilton-Crutchfield realized a dream by “finally” making to the Olympics – as a spectator. “And,” she says, “I didn’t have to go through a single day of training!”
Syd Larson, ’37 • Football, Basketball
A two-sport standout for Carleton from 1934-37, Sydney Larson was just 27 years old when he was killed in an airplane crash on a training exercise at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station on August 24, 1942. All-told, he earned letters twice in football and three times in basketball during his stellar career. As a senior in 1937, Larson even served as C-Club president.
As a fullback on the Carleton football squad, Larson was a member of teams that put together back-to-back 6-1 records in 1935 and 1936. The latter squad won the Midwest Conference title, while the former gave up just 14 points all season.
In basketball Larson was a versatile player, earning a letter as a sophomore guard before moving to forward during his junior and senior years. In 1936-37, Larson helped lead the Carls to a Midwest Conference championship.
in the 1937 Algol, Larson’s entry notes that he was regarded as the “highest ranking athlete in the class,” and that “Syd has left behind a record of athletic achievement which will stand through many years.”
Larson, an economics major, was a native of Winona, Minnesota.