First NCAA team title for Dartmouth in over 30 years
Good things come to those who wait.
With the NCAA team trophy firmly in her grasp, Lindsay Mann '07 celebrates as
the national champion ski team is introduced during an intermission at the
March 10 Dartmouth-Princeton men's hockey game. (Photo by Mark Washburn)
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After a 31-year NCAA team title drought, Dartmouth won the 2007 NCAA Men's and Women's Skiing
Championships on March 10, marking the first NCAA team title for the
College since 1976.
The Big Green had solid performances across the board from its men's and women's
alpine and cross
country teams, besting the University of Denver by 50 points. In the final
team standings, the Big Green stood atop the heap with 698 points; Denver was
second with 648; the University of Colorado, the 2006 champion, was third with
592.
"Just awesome ... great. I can't think of any other way to put
it," said Director of Skiing Cami Thompson. "I'm so proud of every
single one of the athletes. We knew coming into the championships that there
was an outside chance we could do it, and every single one of them performed as
well as they possibly could."
The championship capped an unprecedented undefeated season in which the Big
Green won all six Eastern Intercollegiate
Ski Association carnivals, including the Eastern championship at Middlebury
College on Feb. 24. Dartmouth's win was the first ski title since 1976, when
the championship was split with Colorado, and the first outright title since
1958. It was also the first time an Eastern school has taken the NCAA ski crown
since the University of Vermont won in 1994.
It was a quiet dominance by the Green, which for the first time in five
years did not win an individual title. But Dartmouth placed all of its racers
in the top 20 of 7 of the 8 races contested, building up valuable team points
and widening the margin against Western powers Denver and Colorado.
Dartmouth's cross country team, the strongest and deepest in years, was the
foundation for the success. The entire women's team, including Sara Studebaker
'07, and juniors Susan Dunklee '08 and Elsa Sargent '08, placed in the top 10
of the women's 5-kilometer race, with Sargent in 7th, Studebaker in 8th and
Dunklee in 10th. In the women's 15-kilometer classical event, two days later,
Dunklee finished 7th, Studebaker 11th, and Sargent 12th.
"Skiing is the type of sport where you have some good days and some bad
days, and it was just amazing that it all came together," said Dunklee.
"One of my goals going into the season was to win a carnival, and I had a
ton of seconds but no wins. But this makes up for it for sure."
The men's squad, meanwhile, held their own against the Western schools. In
the men's 10-kilometer freestyle, Ben True '08 took 8th place. Mike Sinnott '07
was 18th; Glenn Randall '09 was 23rd. After what they considered a
"disappointing" performance in the freestyle, the men turned it over
in the 20-kilometer classical race, with True in 4th, Sinnott in 8th, and
Randall in 17th place. True held the lead after three of four laps, but
couldn't quite hold on for a podium finish. "I was just trying to
ski," he said after the race. "I did a great job of getting a clean
start ... so we went right to the front and took control of ourselves, which is
nice to be able to do. And then we just went from there."
In Alpine racing, Evan Weiss '06 and Michelanne Shields '08 posted top-10
finishes in giant slalom, with Weiss finishing 2nd in the men's race and
Shields 9th in the women's run. Weiss, David Chodounsky '08, Lindsay Mann '07,
and Shields all finished in the top 10 in slalom: Chodounsky was 2nd and Weiss
8th; Mann was 4th and Shields 10th.
David Chodounsky '08 finished 2nd in slalom and 11th in giant slalom at the
NCAA Skiing Championships. (Photo by Mark Washburn)
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For Mann, the last Dartmouth racer down the hill on Saturday, the final race
of her collegiate career sealed the deal on Dartmouth's championship.
"This is my last race," said Mann at the finish line, "and
[women's Alpine coach] Christine [Booker] told me to just go for it and have
fun."
As one streak began, another ended for the Green. Dartmouth had taken the
past five consecutive NCAA men's slalom titles, dating back to 2002. But the
streak ended when Denver's Adam Cole edged Dave Chodounsky by four-100ths of a
second to take the crown.
"That's not a bad trade," said Men's Alpine Coach Peter Dodge '78
of losing the slalom streak but winning the overall title. "Dave lost by
four-hundredths. Brad Wall '02 won by one-hundredth back in 2003, so we've
gotten our share of close ones. We'll just start another streak, and Dave's got
another year."
In all, Dartmouth skiers earned a stunning 13 All America nods. With the
top-10 finishers in each event named All America, the Dartmouth tally included
Weiss and Shields in slalom and giant slalom; Chodounsky and Mann in slalom;
True and Dunklee in classical and freestyle cross country; Sinnott in classical
cross country; and Studebaker and Sargent in freestyle cross country.
By RICK ADAMS
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