Veteran ice hockey assistant coach Dave Peters has recently been promoted to the position of Big Green assistant head coach, and long-time assistant coach of women's crew Rick Gherst will head the novice women's team in the fall. A new addition to the Dartmouth coaching community is Leah Foster, who was recently hired as the assistant women's basketball coach.
Foster attended St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, where she was a four-year member of the women's basketball team and was captain during her senior year. She earned various accolades for her basketball skills, and was named to the second team All-Heartland Conference during her junior year. She was an Arthur Ashe sports scholar her senior year.
Foster has spent the past two years as an assistant coach for the Texas State women's basketball team, during which time she helped lead the Bobcats to a Southland Conference regular season title. At Texas, Foster's responsibilities included recruiting, camps and player development.
Foster cited the outstanding reputation of head coach Chris Wielgus and the Big Green's tradition of success as reasons for her switch.
"Coach Wielgus has a stellar reputation among her colleagues and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to be mentored by her," Foster said in a press release. "I am confident that my contribution to this program will continue to advance the winning tradition at Dartmouth that she has established."
Foster joins Mary Gleason in the position of assistant coach.
The Big Green women's basketball team has won the Ivy League title three out of the last four years, making Dartmouth the all-time leader in Ivy League women's basketball titles with 16.
Newly-appointed women's novice crew head coach Rick Gherst has been involved with Big Green women's rowing since 2006, when he signed on to be a varsity assistant.
"It's really exciting to think about getting to have a freshman group and being able to instill my passion for rowing onto them," Gherst said.
While excited for his new role, Gherst cited the challenge of coaching beginners as one of the biggest differences in his new position.
"As a freshman coach, especially on rowing, half the team is recruits and half, if not more, are walk-ons," he explained. "I will be responsible for basically teaching the kids everything they'll know about rowing, and that's a very different responsibility."
Before becoming involved with coaching, Gherst had an impressive career as a coxswain in both collegiate and national competitions. His boat competed in the 1996 World Championships in Strathclyde, Scotland.
Gherst began his coaching career at the University of Vermont, his alma mater, in 1997. While at Vermont, he coached the novice women for one season before becoming head coach in 1998.
In 2002, Gherst turned his focus to University of Rhode Island rowing. In the six years he spent as the Rams' head coach, Gherst lead the team to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Invitational and to a medal at the New England Championships.
Gherst hopes to contribute the same type of success to Dartmouth rowing. "My goal for the season, very basically, is to put together a group of women that are going to be able to add to the varsity program for three or four years to come."
No stranger to the Big Green men's ice hockey program, assistant coach Dave Peters, after nine years with Dartmouth, was recently appointed assistant head coach, distinguishing him from fellow assistants Brendan Whittet and Ed Walsh.
Peters graduated in 1982 from Boston College, where he was a member of the first Eagles' ice hockey team to win 25 games.
Peters began his coaching career at Kent State University in 1990. During his three-year stretch as top assistant coach, Kent State was ranked ninth in the country in scoring.
In 1993, Peters began work at Providence College, where he served as top assistant and recruiting coordinator. During his time at Providence, Peters helped the team to a Hockey East Championship and a trip to the NCAA ice hockey tournament.
As recruiting coordinator at Providence, Peters helped to recruit 10 future NHL draft picks in his five years in the position.
After his time at Providence, Peters became the head coach and general manager of the Danville Wings, a junior hockey team which accrued a North American Hockey League Championship and finished third in the nation under Peters' administration.
In his time at Dartmouth, Peters has recruited an All-American forward in each of the last four seasons, along with numerous players who have ended up in the NHL. In 2004, three of the top 100 NHL draft picks were former Dartmouth players.
