At this year's edition of the New England Championship, approximately 35 schools from Divisions I, II and III bring teams ranging in size from two or three athletes from some of the smaller Division III schools to 60 athletes for the Dartmouth squad.
Men's head coach Barry Harwick is optimistic about his squads' chances this weekend.
"Both the men's and women's teams should do well," he said. "We will be one of the larger contingents and many individuals have chances to do well and win individual events. As a team, we have a good chance of finishing towards the top as well."
The track team is one of only two spring sports still competing, along with crew. Many of the biggest track meets come in the month of May, when most other varsity sports have finished.
"The season has gone well," Harwick said. "One of the goals this spring was to improve on our results from the winter season, but at the end of April, as most other spring sports finished their seasons, we were just preparing for our biggest meet, so hopefully, we have more success to come."
The women's team also looks strong going into this event, at least when taking into account the seeding of each individual event.
"As a team, when you look on paper, things seem to fall in a certain order," women's head coach Sandy Ford-Centonze said. "The events we're entered in, we have people in scoring positions [if events finish according to seed]. Our women have a very good chance of being in the top three."
Many will be looking to see the results of star Ben True '08, who won both the 1,500m and 5,000m race at Heptagonals and the 1,500m at last year's New England Championship. This year, he will be competing in the 800m race, as he works on his speed in an effort to improve his chances in the 1,500m at the NCAA Regional, May 25-26 at the University of Florida.
On the women's side, Lilly Bertz '07 and Natalie Todd-Zebell '09 both figure to do well in the pole vault, Jamila Smith '06 looks good in the throwing events, and Karen Wooley '09 should lead the way in the 400m hurdles.
The privilege of hosting this year's event gives the Dartmouth team a chance to show off their new state-of-the-art track facility installed last summer, along with the new football field turf.
"Everyone's genuinely proud of the new facility and excited to compete here," Harwick said.
"The team is excited to show their stuff in front of their roommates and friends," Ford-Centonze said. "We're one of the only teams still competing, and so it's a great opportunity for other student athletes to come see the team."
Hosting, however, is not only an opportunity for the fans in Hanover, it also could turn out to be an advantage for the Big Green.
"The added advantage is that we're at home, not to say that the track is any faster for us, but we don't have to travel, our athletes get to sleep in there own beds, and they get to maintain essentially their normal routine," Ford-Centonze said.
Ford-Centonze emphasized the fact that the Championship includes athletes from Divisions I, II and III.
"In events with competitors from all three divisions, everyone expects the Division I team to be on top," Ford-Centonze said, "But the division II and III teams are looking to slay the dragon, so to speak."
Any chance of a letdown is unlikely coming off of last week's Heptagonals, where Big Green athletes set 15 personal bests.
Thursday, the first five events of the men's decathlon were contested, and Friday the decathlon continues along with trials for numerous races and field events, which continue on Saturday.
