The freshmen distance runners have already made solid contributions to the team this year. Arianna Vailas '14 took second place in the mile event at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in late February and Monica Adler '14 holds a Dartmouth indoor track record in the 1000-meter run.
Walk-on runners, including Catie Meyer '14 and Katelyn Walker '14, have earned points for the Big Green in events in both the indoor track and cross country seasons.
Co-captain Chrissy Supino '12 said the entire team has noticed the strength of the freshman class, and she is excited to see the younger runners mature as athletes in future seasons.
"They're out-performing upperclassmen," she said. "They're bringing a lot of good energy to the team and each other. They're really motivating everyone to be faster and be better in a good way, because we're a team and we can do this together."
With the strength and quantity of the freshmen runners, the Big Green is sure to improve as it heads forward in the outdoor season, members of the team said.
"People have been shedding 10 or 20 seconds off their high school personal records," Walker said. "The distance half of the team is definitely going to be scoring a ton of points."
The skills and drive of many freshmen runners have encouraged many team members to be optimistic about future seasons. Although the women's team has struggled in various competitive meets in the past, many runners said they believe the freshman class has the potential to put women's track back on the map.
"We weren't really as successful or competitive in past years, but everybody's improved so much in the past year," Walker said.
Several freshmen distance runners said the team's camaraderie is a major contributor to the freshmen's easy integration into the group.
"Everybody told me at college you wouldn't get the same team feeling you get in high school, but I found it to be completely opposite," Vailas said. "I've had an incredibly welcoming team it's really like a home for me. It's just amazing to be in a place where everyone wants to be better not only for themselves, but for their team."
Meyer said she was unsure about joining the track team when she arrived at Dartmouth, but easily made the decision after spending time with the team.
"I was unsure if it was a good decision because joining a varsity sport is a big commitment, but everyone was really nice and welcoming so the team was definitely the deciding factor," she said.
Team members also pointed to the arrival of new assistant coach Mark Coogan, who works primarily with the distance team, as having a major impact on their success.
"He's had a huge influence on all of us," Adler said. "We were all kind of worried coming into this year because we didn't know much about him, but he's fit in really well and he's really excited about the team and the program."
The upperclassmen have also been very supportive in helping the freshmen quickly reach their potential, according to Meyer.
The freshmen runners are not just teammates, as many of the athletes are close off the track. Long bus rides to away meets and lengthy practice sessions established bonding time for upperclassmen runners and rookies alike.
"We hang out together, we eat dinner together, we study together it's like a big family," Walker said.
Supino said the freshmen are fun and outgoing, and have quickly made friends with older members of the team. In previous years, the upperclassmen had to push the younger runners to talk to people, Supino said.
Supino also emphasized a key point about the freshmen's personalities.
"They are so loud," she said jokingly.
Supino said she is optimistic about the future of the track program at Dartmouth, due to the leadership many rookie runners have already displayed.
