Rugby
Women’s rugby concluded the 2017 7s season with the USA Rugby College 7s National Championship from May 20 to 21 and the Collegiate Rugby Championship 7s from June 2 to 4. The Big Green lost in the semifinal of each.
In pool play at the USA Rugby championship, the Big Green defeated University of California, Davis 19-14 and Montana State University 36-12, losing to Lindenwood University 31-0. The 2-1 record placed the Big Green in second place behind Lindenwood. The Big Green downed Penn State University 20-14 in the quarterfinals but could not get past Life University in the semifinals, losing 33-10 and falling into the third-place match. The Big Green was blanked 31-0 by Central Washington University, finishing the 12-team tournament in fourth. Lindenwood secured first place with a 31-12 win over Life.
The Big Green flew out of the gates at the Collegiate Rugby championship, finishing pool play 3-0 by defeating National Small College Rugby Organization 24-7, University of Delaware 27-5, and Temple University 24-0. In the quarterfinals, the team claimed a 14-7 victory over the National Small College Rugby Organization All-Stars thanks to converted tries by Rachel Hand ’18 and Becca Jane Rosko ’20. But in the next game, Life University stopped Dartmouth short of reaching the finals, falling 26-5. With a 24-5 defeat to Pennsylvania State University in the third-place match, the Big Green settled for fourth.
Rowing
The men’s lightweight and heavyweight crew teams wrapped up their seasons earlier this month at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship Regatta at Gold River, California
The heavyweight team capped off a standout season with a performance that earned it the Clayton Chapman Trophy, awarded to the most improved team at the regatta. All four crews advanced to the petite finals. The varsity eight and second varsity crews took third, while the third varsity and varsity four finished fourth and sixth respectively. Dartmouth finished ninth overall, a substantial improvement from its 14th-place finish last season.
The lightweight team made its first appearance at IRAs since the 2014 season. Both the 4+ and 4- boats advanced to the Grand Final, where a third-place finish from the 4+ and a sixth-place showing from the 4- propelled the team to an 8th-place overall finish.
Track and field
The Big Green sent 14 athletes, five women and nine men, to the NCAA East Regional from May 25 to 27. Helen Schlachtenhaufen ’17 led the way for the Big Green, advancing to the national championship on the strength of her first-place finish in the 1500-meter run.
On top of Schlactenhaufen’s success, the women’s team showed signs of a promising future with freshmen Julia Valenti ’20 and Cha’Mia Rothwell ’20 turning in impressive performances. Valenti finished 31st overall in the pole vault, clearing a 3.95-meter bar, while Rothwell narrowly missed qualifying for nationals in the 100-meter hurdles. At nationals, Schlachtenhaufen finished 16th overall with a time of 4:20.43, narrowly missing a spot in the championship race.
None of the nine men competing at the NCAA regional meet advanced to the national championship. Max Cosculluela provided the highlight of the day, clearing 5.15 meters in the pole vault to break his own Dartmouth record. Justin Donawa ’19 just missed qualifying for nationals, finishing 17th in the triple-jump with a jump of 15.43 meters. Connor Clark ’17 ran a 15:43.70 in the 5000-meter run, good for 43rd. Lucas Ribeiro ’19 threw for 50.10 meters in the discus, placing him 42nd on the day.
Sailing
From May 23 to June 1, the College of Charleston played host to sailing’s three national championships. Dartmouth advanced to the finals of the coed and women’s national championships, held on the Cooper River in Charleston Harbor.
The 18-team women’s western semifinal was raced in poor conditions on May 23 and 24, with a thunderstorm interrupting racing on the first day and 30-knot winds forcing some capsizes on the second day. Nonetheless, the Big Green finished in fifth and advanced to the championship. At nationals, Dartmouth finished seventh, with Yale University taking home the crown ahead of runner-up Boston College and third-place U.S. Coast Guard Academy. The Big Green’s B-division sailors had a particularly good showing in the championship, including four first-place finishes in 18 races.
On May 30 and 31, the coed team sailed in the eastern semifinal, with warm temperatures and a light southwesterly wind. The Big Green finished eighth, just good enough to advance to the national championship on June 1 and 2. All competitors fought a strong ebb current on both days of the championship. The Big Green sailors, in third after the first day of racing, held on to that position to take the Metropolitan Sailing League Trophy behind host Charleston and Yale University.
