"I am really excited about our team this year, and I think we are a really strong team," said Courtney Hammond '11, who finished last season ranked first in the giant slalom and won the Eastern Intercollegiate Skiing Association Rookie of the Year award.
The women's alpine team has already found success this year, with Hammond, Hayley Jones '10 and Christine Roberts '10 finishing 1-2-3 at the TD BankNorth Eastern Cup slalom on Monday, Jan. 20.
Patrick O'Brien '10 said this year's men's team is the strongest he has seen during his three years at Dartmouth.
"We push each other hard during practices and races, and I think the results will reflect that this upcoming season," he said.
Last season, the women's cross country ski team claimed the title in the classical event at the 2008 NCAA championships. The 2009 team will try to match that performance, despite the loss of All-Americans Elsa Sargent '08 and Susan Dunklee '08 to graduation. There are several strong skiers with the potential to step up in their place, including Sophie Caldwell '12, who has already made a name for herself this year. Caldwell will be representing the United States in this year's World Junior Championships in Praz de Lys Sammand, France, from Jan. 28 to Feb. 6.
The men's squads also have a lot to live up to after several success stories last year.
The biggest, of course, was Glenn Randall '09, who won the men's 10-kilometer freestyle race at the NCAA skiing championships in Bozeman, Mont., becoming the first Dartmouth skier to win a NCAA cross country skiing title since Ned Gillette '68 won one 41 years ago. Randall won the title with a time of 30:37.3, 11 seconds better than second-place finisher Marius Korthauer of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
In May, Randall, who also runs cross country in the fall and track in the spring, received the Alfred E. Watson Trophy, presented to the year's best male athlete at Dartmouth at the annual Celebration of Athletic Excellence banquet.
Last year, 11 Dartmouth skiers were named All-Americans, and 13 Dartmouth skiers were named to the All-East team. The Big Green finished fourth at the 2008 NCAA skiing championships.
This weekend, the Big Green will look to capitalize on its training since the end of last season to get this season off to a good start.
"The kids on the team know how much work we have done for preparation all summer and fall," O'Brien said. "Having good results this weekend is important to reaffirm that all the work is paying off."
The men's alpine team, captained by Rusty Heise '09, will have a lot of new talent this year, as eight freshmen join the team. Though they may be strangers to the team, some of the additions are not strangers to each other.
Both Trevor Leafe '12 and Luke McLaughry '12 attended Burke Mountain Academy in East Burke, Vt., together. Mike Dea '12 and Braden Long '12 both come from Ontario, and Peter Ankeny '12 and Justin Samuels '12 call Minnesota home. In addition to the eight freshmen, Mitt Coats '09, a former member of the U.S. Ski Team, returns to ski for the Big Green after a two-year break.
The men's cross country team welcomes back Ben True '08 and Ben Koons '08, two skiers who were not with the team last year. True, a two-time All-American, trained last year with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Olympic Development Team. Koons, a two-time All-East skier, spent last season recovering from a knee surgery.
After this weekend, the Big Green will attend carnivals at the University of New Hampshire, University of Vermont, Middlebury College, and its own Dartmouth Carnival, before the EISA Championships Feb. 27-28 at Colby College. Finally, the skiing season will come full circle as Bates will host the 2009 NCAA skiing championships in March.
