Over 260 readers voted to determine the winner of The Dartmouth Sports Awards’ prize for best female athlete. Big Green field hockey’s Ali Savage ’15 took this year’s prize with an impressive 42 percent of the votes.
Savage locked down her place in Dartmouth’s field hockey annals with a stellar senior season, leading the Big Green with 10 goals and 27 points. There’s a significant margin between Savage and her teammates, as no other member of the field hockey team scored more than four goals or 15 points. Savage’s prowess in the clutch also set her apart from all other competitors for the title of best female athlete. Savage scored five game-winning goals for the Big Green in 2014, which accounted for all five of the Big Green’s victories this season and led among women in the Ivy League.
This season capped off a career of excellence for Savage. She was the first three-time consecutive unanimous all-Ivy first team selection in the College’s field hockey’s history and is one of only six athletes in program history to receive three first-team all-Ivy nods in her career. Savage is the second-leading goal scorer in Dartmouth history with 47 goals, and she also ranks second in career points with 119. Savage led the team in goals in each of the past three seasons.
Savage’s play is far from one-dimensional, as she has powered the Big Green with her passing as well. Savage finished second on the team with seven assists this year and places fifth on the team’s all-time assist list. Savage also took more shots and had more shots on goal than any member of the 2014 Big Green.
The Big Green finished tied for fifth in the Ivy League this season, a repeat of the team’s fifth-place finish in Savage’s junior season. The team’s most impressive finish came in Savage’s breakout sophomore season when the Big Green finished second in the Ivy League, just one game behind perpetual field hockey power Princeton University.
Savage also received national recognition in the fall, as she was one of 38 seniors named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Senior Game. She was the only Big Green selection this season and one of just four Ivy seniors named to the team. Four Big Green seniors have been named to this team in the past five years.
In winning the best female athlete award, Savage beat out fellow nominees Kristen Rumley ’15 (softball), Taylor Ng ’17 (tennis), Katie McEachern ’16 (softball) and Dana Giordano ’16 (cross country, track and field). In last year’s inaugural D Sports Awards, lacrosse goalie Kristen Giovanniello ’14 took home the prize.
Read the sports section this Friday to find out the nominees for best moment and best freshman athlete.
