While some students have decided to be more relaxed abouttheir studies this summer, many Big Green athletes remain intense about their workouts.
Though summer training is optional, players feel the pressure to continue intense workouts so Dartmouth will excel come competition time.
"We lift four days a week and we run three days a week," football stand-out Brian Larsen '97 said. "Because they're so dedicated and committed to making Dartmouth football great, everyone on the team chooses to put their all into it."
NCAA rules dictate the specific dates teams can begin official practice.
For fall sport athletes, official practices will not begin until Aug. 25, so until then Big Green athletes will use personal workouts and captain practices to prepare.
"We're not allowed to have any team organized practice so we send out a summer conditioning manual to the guys," men's soccer Assistant Coach Jeff Cook said.
"There's not enough time in pre-season to get fit," Cook said. "If they waited until preseason, the season would be over before they were able to get to that level."
Noah Waterhouse '97, wrote in an electronic mail message that the men's soccer summer workout program consists of long distance running, interval sprinting, and lifting.
According to Waterhouse, members of the men's soccer team play as much as possible with other students who are on-campus this term, adult leagues in the area and the women's team. Women's soccer has many members this term.
Jenna Kurowski '97, a women's soccer player, said she is conditioning hard this summer.
She said in addition to running intervals and lifting weights, the team is also playing pick-up games on Sachem field a couple of days a week.
Women's basketball player Sally Annis '97 said her summer schedule is pretty basic. "I lift, I run, I shoot and I play," she said. She said there is structured weight lifting and running, but playing is just pick-up.
Summer conditioning is important because often players are just practicing not building strength during the regular season.
Women's basketball head coach Chris Wielgus emphasized the importance of summer training.
"They'd be physically hurt if they didn't condition," she said.
"Championships are not won in noisy Leede Arena," Wieglus said. "They're won in the quiet of the summer."
Wieglus said the players who are not on this summer send her weekly accounts of their training schedule.
"For the few of us who are here, we lift four days a week and play pick-up games whenever we are able to have all our schedules coincide," men's basketball player Brian Gilpin '97 wrote in an electronic mail message.
Men's basketball has had some excitement added to their routine since graduates James Blackwell '91, Crawford Palmer '93 and Greg Frame '94 have joined Big Green players for pick-up games.
Blackwell has played professionally in the NBA and CBA, while Crawford plays professionally in France. Frame, a stand-out one year ago for the Big Green, will be the new head coach at Deerfield Academy.
"They have livened up the games and brought insight and guidance to our off-season training," Gilpin wrote. "The level of competition has been quite intense."
Finding enough people to workout with is sometimes a problem since many athletes are not on the Dartmouth campus during the summer.
For the women's volleyball team, only three players are on, but this does not deter the Big Green athletes who will often be found playing doubles or triples, according to Janene Ashford '97, a member of the team.
"We train six days a week," Ashford said. "We try to play ay least twice a week."
Some athletes, like diver Deb Uchtman '97, said their workouts are somewhat lighter.
Cross country runner Kelly Roda '97 is definitely getting some exercise this summer. "We're doing six miles a day," she said. "By the end of the summer we're doing sixty-mile weeks."
Ultimately,the majority of Dartmouth athletes willworkout five days a week preparing for next year's seasons and strengthening to prevent injuries.
