After a testing and successful season on the EISA carnival circuit, the Big Green skiers will move on to bigger and better things. The top skiers on the Dartmouth Ski Team head west to Bozeman, Mont., for the NCAA Championships, where they will challenge the nation's best skiers for national recognition.
Alpine races will be held at Bridger Bowl while cross country races will be held at Bohart Ranch beginning Wednesday and continuing through Saturday.
Three skiers from each team will compete in Bozeman.
Coach Cami Thompson and her weapons from the women's cross country team have had a remarkable season.
Jessica Smith '99, who missed the first two carnivals because she was racing in the World Junior Championships, was elected to the All-East Nordic Team, and teammates Abi Holt '99, Barb Jones '99 and Chris Shaner '99 were named to the 2nd Team All-East Nordic.
In total, the Big Green was recognized with 11 All-East awards,second only to the Vermont Catamounts who totaled 15 this season.
Smith won three of the classical-style carnival races this season. Jones finished in the top 10 in all but one race while Holt finished in the top 10 of every race. This is Holt's third trip to the NCAAs, and last year she had two top-15 finishes.
Jones had two All-American finishes at the NCAA Championships last year.
On the men's side, Patrick Cote '98, Scott McArt '01 and Stephen Donahue '99 will compete in Bozeman. Donahue and McArt were named to the 2nd Team All-East Nordic.
Cote finished every carnival race by placing in the top 15, while McArt, who finished four races in the top 10, had his best finish at the Williams carnival, where he placed third in a freestyle race.
Donahue finished second at the UVM carnival, and was in the top 10 of every race he finished. This will be his second trip to the NCAA Championships.
The women's alpine team enjoyed success from one veteran champion and one newcomer this season, and both were named to the All-East Alpine Team. Former USST member Jen Collins '99 won the NCAA Giant Slalom last year, and placed fourth in the Slalom.
This year, she won two giant slalom carnival races. Despite a weak wrist, her slalom performances include several second places. Collins has high aspirations for the NCAAs, top-five finishes in both events, and she says she will need to take risks to achieve them.
Coach Bruce Lingelbach is delighted with the success of rookie sensation Gusty Swift '01, who has four top-10 giant slalom finishes, including a win at the Williams carnival. Her slalom skills are just as strong, and when she finished races, she was always in the top five.
On the men's alpine side, captain David Viele '98 has had quite a remarkable season. His lowest finish this year was a fourth place, and discounting that finish, he won or placed second in all his races (a disqualification negated his dominance at the Dartmouth Carnival).
Andrew Pennock '99, who was named along with Viele to the All-East Alpine Team, had top finishes in nearly every race. He ended the carnival season by winning the Williams Slalom and taking second in the slalom at Middlebury College. Last year Pennock skied to an All-American eighth place in the slalom at nationals.
In Bozeman, the Alpine skiers will race in both the giant slalom and slalom disciplines.
The Bridger Bowl courses are at a much higher elevation in comparison to most Eastern courses. The vertical drop of the giant slalom course will be 307 meters, and that of the slalom will be 198 meters for the men and 168 meters for the women.
The cross country races at Bohart Ranch will be held on gradually rolling terrain, and some of the races will includes some double loops of particular courses.
The cross country skiers will compete in classical (women-5K, men-10K) and freestyle races (women-15K, men-20K). The freestyle races will feature mass starts.
Perenially, the NCAA Team Championships are captured from a school fron the western half of the nation.
The western schools most capable of giving the Big Green Skiers a hard time in Montana are Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Denver.