After finishing ninth out of 17 teams at the ECAC Championships in the fall, the Big Green women's golf team is gearing up for it s spring season.
Co-captains Lauren Strickler '09 and Tory Sheppard '09 are two of the team's most successful golfers. Consistent and reliable, they often posted the team's top scores last year.
Returning golfer Katie Gulemi '11 is also a promising talent. Despite joining the roster relatively late last year, she placed sixth out of more than 100 golfers last spring at the William & Mary tournament.
The squad is particularly young this year -- four out of the eight players are freshmen. Leading the rookies is Kathleen Quirk '12, a standout in the fall tournaments.
MEN'S GOLF
The men's golf team ended its fall season with a fourth-place finish out of 44 teams at the New England Championships, but the golfers are looking to further improve this spring.
As the season will be mostly made up of two-day tournaments, the key to success will be consistently playing well both days, and getting all players to perform well at the same time, Rob Henley '09 said.
"A lot of times we play one good day and one mediocre day, and that doesn't help us get the best finishes," he said.
If the team performs well this season, it could win the Ivy League Championship and then make the national tournament.
"We were almost there in the fall, but not quite," Henley said.
Rookie Peter Williamson '12 has already stepped up to collegiate competition, playing excellent golf in the fall tournaments.
Alex Abate '09, the other senior on the team, anchors its leadership after coming back last fall from a season-ending leg injury in 2007.
BASEBALL
The defending Red Rolfe division champions have some big holes in their roster this season, after losing Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Russell Young '08 and the team's offensive leader Damon Wright '08 to graduation.
At first base, Mike Pagliarulo '09 will attempt to follow up on last year's breakthrough season, in which he hit .370, launched six home runs and was an All-Ivy selection.
Nick Santomauro '10 will be a big factor for the team, but more for his power at the plate than his talent in right field. Santomauro is a career .378 hitter and smashed 11 homers last season.
The Big Green also has depth in its pitching rotation, with co-captain Robert Young '10 and Jake Pruner '11 returning as starters and Ryan Smith '11 coming back at closer. Smith set a Dartmouth record last year with seven saves.
The team also boasts dependability behind the plate. Co-captain Jack Monahan '09, hit .271 last season with runners on base, and consistently limits steals with his strong arm.
The team will be the field for the first time on its brand new artifical turf field on April 1 against Siena College.
SOFTBALL
The Big Green women come to the field this year with a fresh new team ready to improve on last season's record of 13-25, 9-11 Ivy.
Returning to the mound is Devin Lindsay '11, who went 5-7 last season with 20 appearances, while the addition of rookies Hillary Barker '12 and Kat Hicks '12 gives flexibility to the pitching staff.
Co-captain Ashley Gleason '09 returns to third base as a solid offensive player who was a clutch hitter last year, swinging for two home runs, even while missing 14 games late in the season due to an injury.
Co-captain Christy Autin '10 will be continuing in her role as shortstop, and should be a big factor in the team's offensive power. Last season, Autin played in all 38 games for the Big Green and led the team with a .258 batting average.
The women are already 3-2 on the season after a run at the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament.
"As a team, we're looking fantastic," Autin said. "We proved something to ourselves, and to all the teams in Florida this weekend: that we're here to play. Even though we lost today, we have swagger and confidence and a lot of potential."
MEN'S TENNIS
The Big Green men's tennis season is already underway, as the team currently has a record of 2-7.
The team has thus far been inconsistent, especially in doubles matches.
The team's chances in the Ivy League look good. The men recently defeated Marist College, a team which beat Brown earlier in the season.
Captain Ari Gayer '09 is back on the courts after missing some time to an injury, adding on to a solid singles lineup of Dan Freeman '10, Stephen Greif '11, Curtis Roby '11 and Justin Tzou '10. The men hope to improve on last year's record (8-13, 1-6 Ivy).
WOMEN'S TENNIS
Depth will be key for the women's tennis team this season, and players from all class years have already begun contributing to the team's victories, a trend the taem will hope to continue movng forward this spring.
Co-captain Mary Beth Winingham '10 has been a solid performer in both singles and doubles spots.
Co-captain Jesse Adler '10 has moved up in the singles lineup to fill the hole left by Molly Scott '11, who is resting an injury. Adler has so far struggled to get the wins, but has been playing some tough sets.
The women will hope to improve on last season's 4-3 record in the Ivy League.
SAILING
Following a successful fall season, the women's sailing team rose to No. 8 in Sailing World's poll, as the team closed out the season with a fifth-place finish at the Atlantic Coast Championships.
Last spring, both the women's and coed squads narrowly missed qualification for women's nationals and the national championship semi-finals, respectively. "The number-one thing for us this season is to sail up to our potential at regattas," Ben Bier '10 said. "It's going to be hard for us to make nationals because we're such a young team."
TRACK
The men's and women's track squads will benefit from the addition of new faces this spring. Twenty freshmen have joined the ranks on the men's side, while the women's side brought in 18 since last year.
The indoor season provided plenty of opportunities for the rookies to make their marks, althoughboth teams boast a deep veteran contingent.
At the Valentine's Invitational in Boston two weeks ago, Ben True '08 broke the eight-minute barrier in the 3,000 meter event, becoming the third runner in Dartmouth's history to achieve that time.
On the women's side, Big Green's strong returners have the potential to build off of a successful 2008 campaign.
Following her first-place toss at the 2008 Outdoor Heptagonal Championships and NCAA qualification, Emily Daly '09 continued making strides toward her personal best during the 2009 indoor meets.
After breaking her own record in the pole vault event this winter, Natalie Todd-Zebell '09 will also look to make another appearance at the NCAA tournament. She currently shares the top clearance in the Ivy League this year with Cornell's Natalie Gengel at 12' 5.5".
In her final year as a multi-event athlete, Karen Woolley '09 entered the Heps with the top Ivy mark in the pentathlon in the winter, just seven points ahead of Harvard's Shannon Flahive.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
Fresh off resounding triumphs over the University of Vermont and the University of New Hampshire in the last two weeks, the No. 15 Dartmouth women's lacrosse squad will once again face the country's top-tier teams this season.
The Big Green will play host to No. 2 Syracuse, No. 8 Maryland and No. 11 Notre Dame in three of its toughest matchups of the year.
Following an underwhelming 2008 season, the players are gunning for an Ivy League championship and a bid for the NCAA championship.
The Big Green's quest for the conference title will be spearheaded by a strong sophomore class that capitalized on its minutes on the field last year.
Dartmouth will be looking to compensate for the loss of outgoing seniors, including former stars Kristen Barry '08 and Liz Spence '08, with the experience of the incoming underclassmen.
Katherine Chiusano '09 will return on attack as a top scorer for Dartmouth, after missing most of her junior year with a knee injury,
Julie Wadland '10, named to the women's national team pool by U.S. Lacrosse, will also return to goal, giving the Big Green premier talent on both ends of the field.
MEN'S LACROSSE
The men's lacrosse team will face a tough 15-game regular-season slate, including match-ups against Duke University and the University of Virginia, two of the Final Four teams last year.
Anchored by Andy Gagel '10 and Casey Hingtgen '10, the defense appears to have passed its period of growing pains, and should provide a spark for the Big Green this year. On the other side of the ball, Brian Koch '09 and Ari Sussman '10 will lead the offense. The two were the team's top assisters and consistent scorers last season.
Jimmy Mullen '09 has already played a pivotal role for the Big Green early in the season. His four goals, including the game-winner in overtime against Hartford earned him an Ivy League Player of the Week award last week.
CREW
When the Big Green crews take to the water this Spring, they will be looking to maintain Dartmouth's rising success during the 2008 season.
The lightweight first boat took home fifth place in the Eastern Sprints championships on May 17, 2008.
Two weeks later, the Big Green lights finished sixth at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship.
Dartmouth's first varsity heavyweight crew fell just short of qualifying for the petite finals in the Eastern Sprints, but managed to outrace its initial seeding and win the third finals.
The team then captured third place in third level finals at IRA regatta.
The lightweights will welcome back four of the eight rowers for the 2008-2009 campaign.
For the heavyweights, the underclassmen will join a varsity squad that returns 13 of the top 18 rowers from the top two boats.
Dartmouth's first varsity women's boat won a tight petite final in the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges Sprints, notching an overall seventh place finish among the 18 competing crews.
Dartmouth's season kicks off with a team training trip to Oak Ridge, Tenn., to row on Melton Hill Lake.
The men's crews will then hit the water against Holy Cross and the University of Delaware on Sunday, April 4 in Worcester, Mass., while the women's team will head south to take on Northeastern and Boston College in Boston, Mass.
EQUESTRIAN
Dartmouth's equestrian team fell short of a second straight Ivy League title last year in Ithaca, N.Y., tying with Cornell for reserve champion.
The championships also marked the last competition for the seven seniors on the team, including Daisy Freund '08, who qualified for the IHSA National Championships.
With three freshman riders, the Big Green had a positive fall showing as Dartmouth was never lower than fourth place in any show.
