M a r c h 25, 2008 • Vo l . 52 No . 7 a NEWSlETTEr oF ThE DarTMoUTh aThlETIc SPoNSor ProGraM Women's Basketball Earns 16th Ivy League Title En Route to Fourth- Straight Postseason Appearance Back in November, no one would have expected up a showdown for the ages as the league’s win- that the Dartmouth women’s basketball team (15- ningest programs – Dartmouth with 16 titles and 16, 11-3 Ivy) would be playing in mid-March. But Harvard with 11 - would play in the first game. head coach Chris Wielgus’ young squad rose to All three teams headed to a neutral site, the challenge and added yet another Ivy Champi- Columbia’s Levien Gym, for the two games. On onship banner to the crowded Leede Arena wall. Friday night, a brilliant and balanced first-half The naysayers appeared to be correct when the shooting performance and late game defensive Big Green lost a pair of road games at Columbia stops gave Dartmouth a thrilling 68-62 win over and Cornell on Feb. 15-16 to drop to 5-3 in con- Harvard. The Big Green utilized the balanced at- ference play. However, the Big Green responded tack that has been present in all of its good wins, with six-straight wins including revenge against led by Schram’s 15 points and a nine-point, eight the Lions and Big Red to put itself back in the title assist, seven rebound outing by senior Kristen picture. Craft (Marshalltown, Iowa). As is generally the case in the Ivy League, the Dartmouth had a day to rest its muscles and stage was set for a dramatic closing weekend. gameplan before its Sunday showdown with Cor- Harvard was in the driver’s seat at 10-2 while nell. Though the Big Green came into the contest Dartmouth and Cornell stood at 9-3 and hoping riding a seven-game winning streak, it was the Big for a break. Each team took care of business for Red’s day. Cornell hit big shots inside and out to itself. Dartmouth rode the play of first team All- build an early lead that Dartmouth would never Ivy guard Koren Schram (Batesville, Ark.) to wins recover from in a 64-47 loss. at Yale and Brown while Cornell topped Penn and “We took good shots, but defensively we Princeton at home. All eyes were on New Haven, were a step slow, I thought,” said Wielgus after the Conn. where Harvard and Yale battled down to loss. “We’re a very athletic team, we play really the wire. After many anxious minutes, the final good defense, but we were a step slow today.” came across – Yale 64, Harvard 58. The Big Green Dartmouth was awarded a consolation could finally celebrate as Yale did it the biggest favor of all, putting Dartmouth, Cornell and Harvard prize, however, when it received the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the Women’s NIT. That made for the into a three-way tie at 11-3, all Ivy Champions. program’s fourth-straight postseason appearance, a first in both Dartmouth and Ivy League history. And so Dartmouth, once left for dead after going 3-11 against a brutal nonleague schedule, with Dartmouth ran into an impressive Vermont squad (24-8) who had much to prove after being upset eight freshmen and sophomores on its roster, had earned a share of its 16th Ivy League Championship in the America East tournament. The Big Green stormed back to take a 13-11 lead after being down and third in the last four years. 11-3, but the Catamounts hit the gas and went on a back-breaking first half run to go up 18 at the half. “I’m so proud of my team and their accomplishments,” Big Green coach Chris Wielgus said. “They Dartmouth would never cut the lead below single digits and Vermont took a 69-50 win. have done a remarkable job throughout the season. I’m so proud of how far they’ve come.” Dartmouth was certainly disappointed in the final two games of the 2007-08 campaign. Though For the second time in the last three years, the Ivy League would need to conduct a three-way when all is said and done, the Big Green made a remarkable journey during the course of its 31-game playoff to determine who would represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament. Luck was on season and it brings back 11 players and three starters from this year’s Ivy League Championship team the side of Cornell, first time Ivy Champs, when it received a bye after a random coin pull. That set when it goes for number 17 next year. – (Dara Ely) Randall Wins NCAA Men's Cross Women's Hockey Ends Run in NCAA Country Ski Championship Tournament Dartmouth junior Glenn Randall (Collbran, Colo.) became the first Big Green skier in 41 years to claim After the Dartmouth women’s hockey team watched an overtime ECAC Hockey Championship game an NCAA cross country ski title, winning the men’s 10-kilometer freestyle race at the NCAA Men’s and between Harvard and St. Lawrence, the Big Green hopped on the bus not knowing its fate with the Women’s Skiing Championships March 5 in Bozeman, Montana. NCAA Tournament committee. Somewhere between Concord and Hanover, the Big Green got its an- Randall, whose previous best NCAA finish was fifth in the freestyle in 2006, won in 30:37.3, 11 swer. Dartmouth was going back to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the last eight years. seconds better than pre-race favorite Marius Korthauer of Alaska-Fairbanks. “Getting the call was exciting,” said head coach Mark Hudak. “Knowing how close it was with “This is really special for me,” said Randall, who learned to ski high in the Colorado Rockies. “It’s a Clarkson. The other exciting thing was that we did a great job in those last 11 games and I believe that really tough course with a lot of long, grinding uphills. I happen to like long, grinding uphills.” we definitely earned that eighth spot.” Randall led the race from wire to wire, leading at the first interval in 14:34.1. “At around a kilometer- Dartmouth had been on a roll despite falling in the ECAC Hockey Semifinals as the Big Green and-a-half, I heard I was in second place. Then, at about half way, I was told I was leading. From there I finished an 11-game stretch going 7-1-3 dating back to its loss to Harvard on Jan. 27. Hudak believed just tried to ski my race.” that one of the reasons the committee chose his team over Clarkson was the head-to-head. “I knew he had a shot,” said Dartmouth men’s cross country coach Ruff Patterson. “This course was “It was one of those things where it was in the committee’s hands,” said Hudak. “We knew the built for Glenn. We’re at altitude, and it’s one tough course. He really shines in these conditions.” criteria and we were ahead of them in head-to-head and had a significant advantage in strength of Randall becomes the Big Green’s first NCAA cross country champion since 1967, when the race schedule.” was won by 1967 graduate Ned Gillette. The Big Green drew top-seeded Harvard in the opening round of the tournament and fell to Dartmouth, the defending national champion, finished fourth in the final team standings – best the Crimson 5-1, but many people believed Dartmouth would not be around come among Eastern schools competing in the Championships. The University of Denver stood atop the NCAA Tournament time. team standings with 649.6. Colorado was second with 619, Utah was third with 550, just four points Sophomore Sarah Parsons (Dover, Mass.), voted the team’s Most Valuable better than the Big Green with 546. This is the fifth-straight year that the Big Green has finished in the Player by her teammates, you could say put Dart- mouth in the position to top five. make the NCAA Tournament. She finished the sea- son with a career-long “A few years ago we would have been delighted with fourth place,” said Big Green head coach Cami 12-game point streak with eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points Thompson. “But college skiing changes so much from year to year. We weren’t quite as solid this year as during the streak. we were last year, but we had some great performances. And with the athletes we’ve got returning next “Sarah is only a sophomore,” said Hudak. year, the future looks very good.” and sometimes that is a challenging year, In addition to Randall’s national championship – Dartmouth’s 34th NCAA individual ski title – the with different responsibilities but she had a Big Green also garnered six All American nods: Randall; senior David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, great second half by adjusting.” Colo.), who finished third in men’s slalom; and seniors Elsa Sargent (Orleans, Vt.) and Susan Dunklee Parsons also posted six multi-point (Barton, Vt.) and freshman Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah), who all notched top-10 finishes in cross games, including a two-goal game and country. Brennan is Dartmouth’s only double All American this year, with top-10 finishes in both the the game-winner with 24 seconds left in freestyle and classical technique races. the opening round of the ECAC Hockey Chodounsky, who won the NCAA men’s slalom as a freshman in 2005, closes out his stellar Dart- Tournament.