"I play my best in our closer games," Hall admits, revealing the competitiveness and determination that opponents have long respected him for. Pike adds, "He wants to win as badly as anyone I've ever met and also wants to feel proud about his performance."

Along with intensity, Hall possesses enough raw talent to truly excel in the pool. A capable swimmer, Hall owns a rocket arm which when combined with his intense desire to win makes the Crimson co-captain "the team's best outside scoring threat," according to Pike.

The aquamen have learned to turn to Hall in pressure situations. In the battle for the New England title November 7-8, Hall contributed five goals and five assists, but in the final against Brown his sterling play was not enough. Ditto for the Easterns the next weekend, when Hall led all Harvard scorers with nine tallies. His performance included a pair of goals and five steals in the heartbreaking 8-7 loss to Fordham to drop the Crimson out of the top four. "That game was the most disappointing loss I've ever had," Hall says, but he concedes, "it was one of my best games of the year."

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In many respects Houston Hall represents the old guard for Harvard water polo, a holdover from an era when the team was not a team but really just a semi-serious club. With his departure Hall leaves the team primarily in the hands of a California contingent. Guerra, Munatones, Phil Atkinson and Graham all hail from the Golden State and Hawaiian Fasi also comes from the West Coast. With this central core the aquamen should be able to continue the team's progress.

For a while Hall was the only core the aquamen had. The team has come a long way since those days, and Hall deserves quite a bit of the credit. He says, "I know what it was like then and what it's like now. We've accomplished a lot. We haven't done everything I wanted to but coming as far as we did has been very satisfying."

Water polo has become a way of life at Harvard for Houston Hall, and he knows it. "It's the best thing I could have done here, and it's been an incredibly enjoyable experience in every respect. I enjoy the game, like to compete and like to win."

Over the course of four years Hall has done them all--enjoy, compete and win--and for those with even the slightest capacity for memory, his presence will be felt at Blodgett for many years to come.