After looking at Ida Sargent '11's winter travel itinerary, one might find it hard to believe that she has time to be a college student. With a visit to Anchorage, Alaska, a two-week stay in Hinterzarten, Germany, and numerous weekend escapes to places like Stowe, Vt., and Lake Placid, N.Y., this term, Sargent always seems to be on the move.
Anyone familiar with the success of Big Green skiers, however, knows that these trips are not mere vacation getaways. They are forums for Sargent to showcase her talent Nordic skiing.
Currently in the midst of her third year as a member of the Dartmouth women's Nordic ski team and her first as team captain Sargent has attained unprecedented individual success and has helped the team continue its historically high level of performance. The Big Green is undefeated so far this season in weekend carnivals.
Sargent has produced some of her best races this season, winning all but one of the carnival events she has competed in. Comparing her six carnival wins this season to the one she earned her sophomore year, Sargent has seen a noticeable difference in her skiing.
"I have more confidence this season than in years past," she said. "I had a good early start to the season, and those results kind of boosted my confidence."
One of those strong results was a third-place finish in the classic sprint race at the U.S. Cross-Country Ski Championships in Anchorage, featuring hundreds of other competitors.
Her high finish at the championships gave her the opportunity to travel to Germany to compete in the U-23 World Championships along with teammates Rosie Brennan '11 and Sophie Caldwell '12.
Sargent delivered another stellar performance, placing fourth in the freestyle event.
"I had never been to the Under-23 World's before, and I just went with the idea of seeing what would happen and just getting the experience," Sargent said. "The heats were really fun, and I had the chance to compete with other top skiers."
An Orleans, Vt. native, Sargent grew up in a family of skiers and put on her first pair of skis at age of two.
Her older brother Eben Sargent '05 and older sister Elsa Sargent '08 both skied on the Dartmouth Nordic team as well. Still, she did not always plan to follow in the footsteps of her siblings.
"I thought about doing my own thing and discovering other things," she said. "I pretty seriously considered going to the University of Utah, but I'm pretty glad I came here instead."
Sibling competition was ever-present while growing up because of the small age difference between herself and her sister, but as the Sargents aged they became closer and had more fun racing together, Ida Sargent said.
Ida Sargent didn't need the help of her talented family to catch the attention of head coach Cami Thompson, however, who already singled her out as a talented skier.
"I'm from Vermont, so I keep a special eye out in Vermont skiing," Thompson said. "It's a pretty small world in cross-country skiing, and Ida is a strong skier, so she wasn't hard to find."
Ida Sargent's impressive season is far from over. Currently sitting atop the NCAA Championship qualifying list, she is poised to travel to the University of Colorado in March to help Dartmouth earn a national championship.
Although the Big Green's last NCAA Championship victory came in 2007 before Ida Sargent came to Dartmouth she is familiar with the momentous event, as Elsa Sargent was a member of the winning team.
With the season winding down, Ida Sargent has only to compete in this weekend's carnival at Middlebury College before heading to her first NCAA Championships.
"Our focus is for everyone to ski like they've been skiing all season," Thompson said. "If she does that, she will do really well."
A biology major at Dartmouth, Ida Sargent has one more season before graduating, but she plans to continue skiing after college, she said.
Watching the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver has done a great deal to motivate her to continue, she said. Many Team USA skiers also competed at the U.S. Cross-Country Ski Championships. Ida Sargent also has a current Dartmouth Olympian to look up to, as Andrew Weibrecht '09 recently brought home the bronze medal in the super-G slalom event.
"Seeing [Weibrecht] who is a Dartmouth student and is taking classes here on the podium at the Olympics is really inspiring," she said. "It's a long ways away, but it would be awesome to compete [in the Olympics], so we'll see what happens."
