Sports Roundup

Women's Hockey Fourth in Frozen Four

The Dartmouth women's hockey season came to an end with a trip to the NCAA Championships (the Frozen Four) Friday through Sunday, Mar. 25-27.

For the Big Green, it was the third-straight trip to the Frozen Four, and the fourth in five years, but Dartmouth dropped a 7-2 decision to eventual national champion Minnesota in Friday's semifinals and a 5-1 loss to St. Lawrence in the consolation game Sunday to finish fourth.

The Big Green outshot the Saints 26-23, but St. Lawrence helped itself with three power-play goals in the third period on the way to the win.

Down 2-0, the Big Green fought off three St. Lawrence power plays in the second period. Then, with less than ten seconds left in the period, Carrie Thompson '08 sent a breakout pass to Gillian Apps '06, who scored as time expired to cut the St. Lawrence lead in half.

However, the Saints built their lead back up with a trio of power-play tallies in the third period for the 5-1 final score.

The game was the final collegiate contest for Kirsti Anderson, Krista Dornfried, and co-captains Alana BreMiller and Meagan Walton, all '05s. "Our seniors did an outstanding job with leadership this year," head coach Mark Hudak said, "and I'm proud of them, as well as the rest of the team."

Post-season honors included a CCM All America second-team nod for forward Katie Weatherston '06.

The Final Leg

Since last competing for Dartmouth last spring, senior track and field athlete Mustafa Abdur-Rahim has continued to upgrade his résumé. Last July, he collected 7,844 points in the decathlon at the United States Olympic Trials, narrowly missing out on an Olympic berth but finishing sixth, the highest among collegians. His return is the Big Green's gain, as the fifth-year senior has one year of outdoor eligibility remaining.

Abdur-Rahim remained sharp while competing unattached, winning four of seven events during a heptathlon victory during the Dartmouth Relays and winning the 60-meter hurdles during the Dartmouth Indoor Classic. He finished in the top five in four other events at meets during the winter.

"The current plan is for 'Moose' to do a decathlon on our spring trip-'The Big Green in the Desert' meet-and qualify for the NCAA championships," says men's track coach Barry Harwick. "Assuming that meet goes well, he would not do another decathlon until the NCAA meet. That will keep him fresh for the NCAAs and allow him to do multiple individual events at the Heps."

Abdur-Rahim, who was named an All America selection for the third time, as well as the Division I Male Athlete of the Year by the New England Track and Field Coaches Association last spring, was a force to be reckoned with in 2004. His 7,936 points in Scottsdale, Ariz., in March set an Ivy League and New England collegiate record, and he eclipsed that total with 7,937 points while finishing third in the decathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Tex.

After almost a year removed from competing for the Big Green, Abdur-Rahim is cautious about making predictions. "I expect that I will be able to contribute to the Dartmouth track and field program, hopefully as much as the past-and more," he says. "But I always have to keep my expectations in check because life and track are too unpredictable."

However, Dartmouth field coach Carl Wallin expects Abdur-Rahim to exceed his previous results. "He's been training three hours a day since the fall; he's in very good shape," Wallin says. "I think he can be better in everything, to be honest. I don't think he's reached his potential."

Harwick also expects Abdur-Rahim to be even better this spring. "I think that 'Moose' is in the best shape of his life," he says. "He will contend for the NCAA title, improve on his own school record in the decathlon, and try to crack the 8,000-point barrier."

Abdur-Rahim says his recent off-season training is no different than in the past. "I've been training just as much as I have in the past. I've been doing more specific training in certain events, but my training has been pretty much the same as before."

Harwick has high expectations for Abdur-Rahim once he graduates. "I think that after college, he will continue to improve, and he would have a shot to challenge for a spot on the 2008 Olympic team," he says. That's only if Abdur-Rahim pursues that dream.

For now, Abdur-Rahim isn't completely sure what his future holds. "It's hard to say because there isn't a set direction for track athletes to go after college, as in the NBA, NFL, etc.," he says. "So I hope I will be able to continue doing track, but it also depends on how I'm feeling after it's all over.

"I would like to be somewhere warm, and I would like to be able to do track and still work and support a family someday. But I guess I'll just try to take it one day at a time."

Huskies Trip Big Green

Dartmouth women's basketball team fell to three-time defending national champion Connecticut, 95-47, on Mar. 20 in an NCAA first-round battle. The Big Green shot 30.8 percent for the game against the powerful Huskies, who connected on forty of sixty-seven attempts for 59.7 percent.

UConn quickly found its rhythm and put together a 20-5 lead with eleven minutes to go in the opening half. The lead at halftime was 51-26 as Jeannie Cullen '06 helped the Big Green with nine points on three three-point baskets. After going one-for-seven from the floor in the first half, Elise Morrison '07 improved to three-of-six in the second. Along with a seven-of-eight night from the free-throw line, the 6' 3" center led Dartmouth with a team-high fifteen points. Cullen also was in double figures with twelve points.

Morrison, Cullen and Angie Soriaga '06 all had five rebounds apiece, while Soriaga added four assists and three steals.

Dartmouth, 17-11, entered the game with the fourteen seed, while the Huskies were third. Without a single senior on the roster, the Big Green earned a 12-2 Ivy League record, sharing the Ancient Eight title with Harvard.

Raising the Bar

A year removed from winning the Red Rolfe Division but falling in the Ivy League Championship series to Princeton, the Dartmouth baseball team was selected to win the whole league by Baseball America.

"I think it's an honor," head coach Bob Whalen says. "It's a reflection that we have good players in the program and that our team is a good one, but I would rather be selected at the end rather than predicted at the beginning. This raises the bar, and I think the players and coaches like to meet that expectation."

Whalen says 2005 might be the best year ever for the Red Rolfe Division, as Brown, Harvard, and Yale provide formidable opposition. Meanwhile, he still considers Princeton the cream of the crop in the Lou Gehrig Division.

The Big Green returns plenty of players who could help fulfill Baseball America's prediction. Senior second baseman Josh Bailey and sophomore center fielder Will Bashelor were each named second-team All Ivy, while senior catcher Brian Zurhellen and senior first baseman Jeff Speights were honorable mentions. On the mound, junior Josh Faiola was first-team All Ivy, while sophomore Stephen Perry was named to the second team, as well as Rookie of the Year.

"I expect what we expect every year," says Whalen, "to play well and extremely hard and, at the end, be in position to win."

Chodounsky '08 Wins NCAA Men's Slalom

Dave Chodounsky '08 became the fourth consecutive Big Green skier to capture the NCAA men's slalom title, winning the crown on Mar. 11 at Stowe, Vt. Chodounsky capped an impressive rookie season in which he won three slaloms on the six-race EISA carnival circuit, including the Dartmouth Winter Carnival slalom on Feb. 12.

He is the latest in a long line of slalom winners for the Green. Paul McDonald '06, now a member of the U.S. Ski Team, won last year. In 2003, Brad Wall '02 won at the Dartmouth Skiway, and Roger Brown '04 started the streak in 2002.

The four-peat is the longest string of wins in one NCAA ski event by one school since Dartmouth's Chiharu Igaya '57 and Robert Gebhardt '57 combined to reel off four straight slalom wins from 1955 to 1958.

For his win, Chodounsky was also named to the 2005 NCAA All America team. Other Big Green skiers named All America, based on top-ten finishes at this year's championships, were Erik Kankainen '05, sixth in the slalom; Christin Lathrop '03, tenth in the women's slalom; Liz Harrington '05, tenth in the women's 15-kilometer freestyle cross-country; Evan Weiss '06, ninth in the men's giant slalom; Alison Crocker '06, fourth in the women's 5-kilometer classical cross-country; and Courtney Calise '07, third in the women's giant slalom.

The Big Green finished in fifth place overall, an improvement from last year's eighth-place finish.

By JOSH KESSLER and RICK ADAMS

Scoreboard

(as of 3/28/05)

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