In what has now become routine for the Big Green, Dartmouth sent six skiers to the Black Forest in Hinterzarten, Germany, to compete in the Junior Nordic Worlds Championships, U-23 Nordic Worlds and Biathlon skiing competitions.
The races begin today and end Sunday, Jan. 31.
Of all the American universities whose skiers qualified for these events, no school had as many athletes as Dartmouth. Alaska Pacific University renowned for its Nordic Skiing Center is sending the second-highest number of athletes, with three competitors making the trip to Germany.
The U.S. Junior Worlds team is composed of 12 athletes three of whom are Dartmouth students. Sophie Caldwell '12, Eric Packer '12 and Sam Tarling '13 are participating in the Junior Nordic Worlds Championships, while Ethan Dreissigacker '13 qualified in the biathlon.
Big Green skiers make up one third of the six members chosen for the women's U-23 division team. Ida Sargent '11 and Rosie Brennan '11 are both competing in the U-23 Nordic Worlds Championships.
In its last race before leaving for Germany, the Dartmouth women's Nordic ski team swept the top five places at the St. Lawrence Carnival in Lake Placid, N.Y. The victory was a testament to the tradition of success in Dartmouth skiing.
"We were undefeated in Eastern carnival races [last year], so it'd be nice to repeat that again," Sargent said.
The competitors are hoping that their success on the East Coast will carry over to the competitions in Germany.
Last year at Junior Worlds, Caldwell placed in the top 20. This year, she hopes to break the top 10 or at least improve upon her standing from the previous year.
Brennan will be competing at U-23 Nordic Worlds for the first time, and said that she doesn't have a results-specific goal.
"I don't want to be too far back," Brennan joked.
To qualify for their respective competitions in Germany, the skiers had to compete at the U.S. National Championships in Anchorage, Alaska.
While currently focusing on the competition in Germany, Sargent was also under consideration earlier this year for the U.S. ski team competing in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
"It looks like I'm not going to the Olympics, with only eight spots for men and women combined," Sargent said. "I was close, and it's exciting to be close. Hopefully in four years I'll make it. I want to ski as fast as I can and have a really fun trip [in Germany.]"
Sargent isn't the only one with Olympic aspirations, as Brennan said she would like to wear the American flag as well. Brennan is a relative newcomer to the world skiing stage in comparison to most of her teammates having only started skiing in high school. Both Sargent and Brennan qualified for World Cup last year.
Head coach Cami Thompson said she is supportive of their Olympic aspirations and added that she thought all of their goals are attainable.
"I think they all have a chance," Thompson said. "They are certainly in the range of doing so."
Thompson also noted that this was an exceptional year for Dartmouth, because so many athletes are going to Germany. In the past, only one or two qualified.
Competing at such a high level doesn't come without sacrifice, however. The skiers have been skiing competitively for eight to 10 years, on average, and currently clock around 600 to 700 hours of training annually. The athletes often have practice twice a day.
"I've been skiing since I could walk, around age two," Sargent said. "I was competitively skiing at age five."
Skiing is often a family affair, and Sargent and Caldwell are no exception to the rule. Eben Sargent '05 and Elsa Sargent '08 were also on Dartmouth's ski team, while Caldwell's younger sister Isabel has been recruited by Thompson as an addition to next year's team.
Competing on the international stage, Dartmouth skiers often face additional challenges. Most of their competitors are not in college and work on a part-time basis at ski schools in the western United States. Several of the skiers in the Juniors division are also high school students.
"There are some non-NCAA schools where you can ski more," Brennan said. "Dartmouth definitely has the best showing from a full college."
Dartmouth's high academic standards are another challenge to the skiers, Packer said.
"It's tough to balance school, going to professors telling them you're not going to be in class for two weeks," he said. "But they're really understanding, and they make it work."
The administration is often crucial in facilitating the athletes' desire to be world-class competitors as well as good students.
"We've had good academic advisors," Thompson said. "They're motivated to make sure [the athletes] are getting the right classes, but occasionally it comes down to a tough decision."
Sargent herself decided to take a gap year between high school and Dartmouth in order to focus on skiing, although she said school now lends a balance to her training.
"Skiing at Dartmouth was the best option," said Sargent. "It is one of the best, if not the best, places for women's skiing."
Caldwell, who is currently attending Junior Worlds for the third time, added that she appreciates being a student as well as a competitive skier.
"I took the Fall off to train for skiing out west," Caldwell said. "I like having the balance. It's hard to just be skiing, but it is tough [to be a student-athlete] it's a lot of work to make up."
The strong team dynamic is also crucial to competitive skiing, although it is an individual sport, Packer said. A team with a sense of unity often has the advantage in races, according to Paker.
"We try and create windows to help each other to get around skiers," he said.
Caldwell concurred, saying that no matter where the race is, the Big Green athletes tend to group together and train as a team.
"We are all competitive, but we all want each other to win," said Caldwell.
Thompson added that this year's group was one of the strongest she has ever coached.
One of the ski team's main goals this year is to recapture a prize last won in 2007 the NCAA Division-I title.
"[Winning an NCAA title] was always a far-reaching goal, but after 2007 it seems like what we should be doing," Thompson said.
Dartmouth easily tops the Ivy League and is the clear East Coast powerhouse when it comes to skiing, so the NCAA is always on Dartmouth's radar, according to Brennan. Especially after last year's disappointing final ranking, the team hopes to finish the year as the national champion.
"We had a terrible year last year, [ranking] seventh," said Thompson. "But we'd like to think we're among the top schools without scholarships. Generally, we rank in the top five."
The challenge, according to Caldwell, is the level of competition in the west, with states like Colorado providing a serious challenge.
"Everyone just has to have the perfect race at the NCAAs," Caldwell said. "Western schools are our biggest competition, and we don't see them until then."
As for the Big Green's recruiting, Thompson believes that Dartmouth doesn't really need advertisement.
"It's a pretty small world, so we know the coaches across the country," said Thompson. "The program speaks for itself an Ivy League education and a place to ski."
Beyond the Junior Worlds and U-23 competitions, there are only a few more rungs to climb before reaching the highest level of skiing competition. The National Development team, for which Sargent nearly qualified, is one of those upper levels.
When it comes down to it, Thompson's aspirations are beyond success in the rankings.
"The women's team has won an event the past few years [at NCAA's], so I'd like to see that again," she said. "I want everyone to just feel good about their season."
The NCAA finals will be held March 10-13 in Steamboat Springs, Colo., and will be hosted by the University of Colorado at Boulder.
When Dartmouth's athletes return to Hanover, their next competition will be at the University of Vermont Carnival Feb. 5-6 at the Trapp Family Lodge, while the Big Green will host its own carnival Feb. 12-13.
