With Mother Nature finally offering some help in the form of this week's foot-plus snowfall, the Dartmouth Ski Team is gearing up for another successful season. And although the EISA Carnival circuit does not get under way until the St. Lawrence Carnival on Jan. 18 and 19, the Big Green has been training and racing in preparation for the official Carnival season opener.
As in years past, Dartmouth's main competition for the Eastern championship will be Vermont and Middlebury, both of which have gained some strong first-year skiers. But the veteran Dartmouth team is also strong heading into 2002.
Leading the way for the Big Green is the women's Nordic squad, which returns everyone who skied during last year's unbeaten season.
After an undefeated season last year in the East, the Women's Nordic team looks better then ever. With no one lost to graduation in 2001 and two impressive freshmen, Liz Harrington and Chrissy May, already integrated into the team, this group holds the most promise for consistent, convincing Dartmouth victory this year. "It will be difficult picking the Carnival Team each week," women's Nordic coach Cami Cardenali said, "because the talent runs so deep in this bunch."
Cardenali could have worse problems.
The team is led by Alaskan seniors Kate Pearson and Erin Quinn-Hurst who qualified for the U.S. Ski Team Gold Cup in Park City, Utah last month and had strong showings against national competition. Along with Pearson and Quinn-Hurst, senior captain Sara Donahue was in Bozeman, Mont. for the U.S. Nationals during the first week of January. Also coming off strong 2001 seasons and looking good for the upcoming season are seniors Erin Morrissey and Louisa Hunker and junior Emily Chenel. With two newcomers, Harrington and May, making their presence known, this group should do its fair share of winning.
Ruff Patterson's squad of Nordic Men will feel the absence of first team All-American Scott McArt '01, but his skis, while huge, can be filled.
The team is led by senior captain Matt Cleveland who has been a consistent top-ten finisher in Carnivals and is a returning NCAA competitor. Patterson accompanied several other Big Green skiers to Nationals in Montana last week, including juniors Brayton Osgood and Tom Temple. Sophomores Andy Hunter and Matt Stevenson will also be regulars at this year's carnivals. Freshman Eben Sargent is the only new face on the Men's Nordic team this year.
Potential is probably the best word to describe Dartmouth's men's Alpine team this year.
After training camp in Vail, Colo., before Christmas, Coach Peter Dodge admitted that the Alpine men may appear to be "underdogs on paper, but we could very well surprise people again."
Senior captain Eric Reinhardt and sophomore Andrew Biggs both spent the summer racing in Australia, but the team's biggest loss is one of Autralia's finest. Senior Brad Wall is taking this winter off to compete at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics for his native Australia.
Dodge also pointed out that sophomores Roger Brown -- who won last weekend's USSA slalom at Burke Mountain -- and Matt Hoisington both "showed that they could win races last year so they could step up and fill Wall's shoes."
Also returning for their senior seasons with the Big Green are former NCAA team member Dawson Brown and G.W. Watts.
Freshman Eric Kankainen is the only addition to this squad, and he will be in the running for a Carnival team spot as well.
The Big Green women's Alpine team will definitely miss graduated All-Americans Gusty Swift '01 and Jeannie Eisberg '01, but an intense pre-season camp in Colorado and early season successes point to the probability that the adversity can be overcome. Senior co-captain Alison Keller '02 is back in action after rehab from a knee injury she suffered during last spring's NCAA competition. Senior co-captain Tracy Wilson '02 and Emily Copeland '04 are also onboard.
The standard-bearer, however, is former U.S. Ski Team member Megan Ganong '03 who captured the overall victory.
Sophomore Lindsay Lockhart '04 will no doubt provide some exciting performances again this season, and junior Kristine Lund '03 is also back, strong and psyched for the Carnivals to get underway. This group is tightly knit after skiing together last year, and since there are no new varsity freshmen this year, stories of Coach Bruce Lingelbach's new son, born on Jan. 2, will provide even more excitement at team events.
There will be a lot of action to keep track of over the coming weeks of Dartmouth Ski Team competition. This dedicated and talented group of athletes has always represented Dartmouth well at national, collegiate, and local levels, and this season should be no exception.
