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The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Women's lacrosse, baseball travel overseas during break

The Big Green women's lacrosse team visits a beach between matches during their winter break trip to Australia.
The Big Green women's lacrosse team visits a beach between matches during their winter break trip to Australia.

On Dec. 8, Dartmouth's women's lacrosse team set out on a two-week tour of Australia for the third time in the program's history.

The Big Green women had been raising money for the trip over the past four years through private donations and team fundraising activities. Ivy League rules forbid using Dartmouth's budgeted funds for such a trip.

After traveling for over thirty hours, the team arrived in Sydney. There, the Big Green women took in some rays on the beach, visited the Sydney Opera House and explored the Taronga Zoo.

The next destination was Cairns, where some of the players went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, while others tried out more extreme sports, going skydiving and white water rafting.

Alex Huestis '10 said skydiving near Cairns was one of the highlights of the trip.

"You could see the mountains and the Great Barrier Reef, which was amazing," she said. "Fourteen of us went and no one backed out, everyone who wanted to go jumped. Then we got to wait at the bottom and watch everyone come down, which was really fun."

Captain Katherine Chiusano '09 also said the Cairns trip was one of her favorite stops on their tour.

"Our trip to the Great Barrier Reef was definitely a highlight of the Australia experience," Chiusano said. "It was exciting to finally have the entire team together, after the juniors were off campus this past fall."

In addition to partaking in cultural and educational experiences, the team also competed against several international lacrosse teams, including the Australian National Team, which is preparing for the upcoming World Cup.

The team played seven games in four days in the southern city of Adelaide against both the Australian Elite and Developmental teams. The world-renowned Australian Elite team proved to be too much for the Big Green on offense, defeating Dartmouth in all three of their matches: 22-5, 20-8 and 18-4.

However, the Big Green came out very strong against the Aussie Developmental squad, Team Koala, defeating them in all four games by scores of 14-10, 18-11, 11-5 and 17-3.

"The Australians provided us with great competition throughout the seven games we played," Chiusano said. "By spending so much time together, we all began to connect both on and off the field. We gained valuable experience, which allows us to come into January with more preparation behind us than we would usually have coming into the season. The trip has left us with much excitement for what is to come."

With wins against the Australian Developmental squad and a great chance to come together as a team, many team members believe it is no coincidence that after the team's last two team trips in 2001 and 2005, they won the Ivy League Championship.

In another sunny, southern location, the Big Green baseball team embarked on an eight-day tour of the Dominican Republic on Dec. 11. It was the program's first-ever trip to the Domincan Republic.Dartmouth opened the tour with a 3-0 shutout of the New York Mets' academy team. Four Big Green pitchers threw a combined four-hit shutout, with co-captain Robert Young '10 getting the win. Sam Bean '11, Dave Turnbull '12 and Nick Santomauro '10 all scored runs for Dartmouth.

The Big Green went on to win their rematch with the Mets' academy team again the next night, that time by a score of 3-2. The game was highlighted by a number of outstanding performances from the team's freshmen. Kyle Hendricks '12, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels last spring, pitched a scoreless first inning and got the win. Jake Carlson '12 scored for the Big Green and Cole Sulser '12 got the save.

The Big Green were not as successful against the San Diego Padres' academy team, however, in a game arranged by Sandy Alderson '69, the CEO of the Padres. A strong Padres team defeated Dartmouth 13-2. Jim Wren '10 and Jake Carlson '12 scored for the Big Green.

Dartmouth then went back to the New York Mets' academy, facing the team two more times. The Big Green won both games, 4-0 and 8-2.

Dave Howard '82, the executive vice president of baseball operations for the New York Mets, arranged for Dartmouth to visit the Mets' first-class facility in the southeastern city of Boca Chica.

The Big Green men begin practice February 1. Trips to Duke University and Hofstra University are on the schedule, as is a spring break trip to California for eight games.

This spring is also projected to mark the opening of Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park, Dartmouth's new baseball facility.