The 2012-2013 season proved successful for Dartmouth athletics, with multiple teams outperforming expectations to stand at or near the top of their leagues. Particular standouts included the men's baseball and soccer teams, as well as the women's track, lacrosse and softball teams. Men's rugby, a club team, also had a stellar season.
Dartmouth baseball won the Red Rolfe Division of the Ivy League before falling to Columbia University in the Ivy League championship series. This season marked the sixth straight in which Dartmouth took the division title.
Dartmouth had eight players named to the All-Ivy First Team, the most ever by a single team in league history. Joe Purritiano '16 was honored as Ivy League rookie of the year, the first Dartmouth player to win this award since 2010.
"Throughout the year we did all that we expected and did everything we could except for that last day of the year in the Ivy Championship Series," outfielder Jeff Keller '14 said. "I look back at our opening weekend at the Metrodome when we went 3-0 against three bigger conference schools. That was big for our program and confidence and something we'll never forget."
Dartmouth's men's soccer turned in a stellar performance. Though the team failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament, they placed second in the Ivy League after scoring a buzzer-beating goal to defeat Brown University in the final game of the regular season.
The team led the Ivy League and placed 21st in the nation for attendance, a testament to Dartmouth's devotion to their soccer squad, Kevin Dzierzawski '13 said.
"We didn't meet the expectations that we had coming into the year," Dzierzawski said. "Even though coming in second in the Ivy League is good, we obviously wanted to win the Ivy League and make the NCAA tournament. The biggest crowns on the season for us were beating Brown with the buzzer-beating goal on national television and getting Coach Cook his hundredth win as Dartmouth head coach against Missouri State down in New Mexico."
The men's rugby team took the Ivy League title for the sixth consecutive year to cap off another stellar season. The team competed in two national championship tournaments in 15s competition, including the Varsity Cup and the Division-IAA cup. In 7s competition, the team once again qualified for the Collegiate Rugby Championships, which the Big Green has won the last two years. The championship will be held in June.
"This was a bit of a transitional season," Quinn Connell '13 said. "We lost a lot of our great seniors last year and we were bringing a new coach in. There was a bit of a question mark over this season initially, but we had a great Ivy season and saw better competition than we've seen in recent years."
Dartmouth's women's teams also performed admirably over the year.
The softball team won the North Division before falling to the University of Pennsylvania in the Ivy League championship series. Dartmouth's Kristin Rumley '15 won pitcher of the year and Katie McEachern '16 won rookie of the year in the Ivy League.
In the regular season, the women's lacrosse team placed third in the Ivy League behind Penn and Princeton University. This could have proved a disappointing result for the season, but the Big Green received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, where they exceeded expectations.
After defeating Boston College 11-8, Dartmouth fell in the second round to Syracuse University by a score of 21-8. The Big Green advanced further in the NCAA than any other Ivy League team.
Senior midfielder Courtney Bennett '13 also earned individual honors after being named a third-team All-American by multiple organizations.
Dartmouth's women's track and field team, led by Abbey D'Agostino '14, had a remarkable season. The team placed a middling fifth at the Heptagonal Championships, but a number of Big Green athletes set personal and Ivy League records at the meet.
D'Agostino broke her own Ivy League records in both the 1,500 and 5,000-meter events while routing the competition. Additionally, Janae Dunchack '14 placed second in the heptahalon with a season-best score and Megan Krumpoch '14 won the 400-meter hurdles.
"It's definitely been a really exciting season for us," D'Agostino said. "A lot of talent has been realized across a lot of different events. We always talk about how one person's success can be contagious, and I think we've all been very excited to compete this season. Our runners have surprised themselves, taken risks and learned that they were definitely ready to kick it up a notch."
