Big Green Teams

Ski, Swimming, Hockey and Basketball Teams Sparkle in Clean Sweep of Carnival Sports Program

THERE IS NO team on the Dartmouth winter sports schedule that does not look forward to the privilege and pleasure of playing the Big Green over Carnival week-end, but if the myth continues to be proven that the Indian athletes are mighty hard to defeat with their pretty dates in the stands and some thousands of other spectators solidly behind the home forces, it may be that the opposition will begin to duck this assignment rather than hope for it.

This Carnival it was certainly true that the Dartmouth lads really didn't care to drop any decisions before their lassies, for the hockey team took the measure of a great Princeton sextet in an overtime thriller, 5-3; the basketball quintet ran away from Harvard, 53-31; the swimming team edged out Cornell in a thrilling, bitterly fought contest, 43-33; the skating team annexed the Eastern Intercollegiate title; and last but not least by any means, the varsity skiers took the Carnival team crown, 488.7 points to second place McGill's 473.1 points. Only the freshman hockey sextet lost over the entire weekend, and this defeat can probably be laid to the fact that few of the yearling stickmen were backed by the moral support of fair Carnival guests.

Then again there was something more to the varsity victories than the spectator color and charm, for with the exception of the quintet, all of the Green teams feared setbacks before and during the contests, and the Cowles-coached court five did not let up even against a foe that was not expected to be too dangerous until the result was more than settled.

It is difficult to select any one of the contests as the most thrilling to watch, in that all of them supplied fireworks enough for the Carnival crowds that gathered to watch the famed Indian teams in action.

Perhaps, though, the hockey contest with the Tigers offered the stiffest uphill fight that any of the teams were forced to make, and once more the men of Eddie Jeremiah gained a legion of admirers for the dogged exhibition they put on and for the manner in which they refused to admit defeat even when, as in the first and second periods, it appeared as if the Dartmouths had at last found their betters on the ice for the first time in two winters.

FIRST PERIOD ALL PRINCETON

There was actually little to cheer about in the initial period with the Tigers actually outfighting the Indians much to everyone's surprise. Not only did the Green seem a bit down, but the two point margin with which the Princetons entered the second period appeared to be too great a lead to give to such an excellent six and still hope to catch them before the final gong.

Old faithful Harpo Walsh finally put the Indians in the scoring column at 19.15 in the second period with an assist going to his side-kick of four college hockey years, Bud Foster.

To the complete delight of the fans, the Big Green came out of the dressing room for the third period with fire and determination showing on the faces of every one of the Dartmouth players. It wasn't very long in showing in the scoring column, either, with Walsh again scoring on a pass from Foster 22 seconds after the face off.

This, of course, brought the score to 2 apiece. The Tigers went ahead as Wyer sank a shot at 11.17. At this point sophomore Bob Campbell came through with one of the handiest plays seen in the Davis rink in as many years as the structure has been standing.

Sent to the penalty box for roughness, Campbell rushed out on the ice at the duration of his stay in the cooler, picked up the rubber on the ice, soloed down to the Princeton net, evaded three Tiger defensemen who held themselves in check waiting for the burly defenseman to pass out to an imaginary teammate, and dropped in a perfect low corner shot to tie up the contest.

And so the score remained three-all going into the overtime period.

Having twice come back the hard way to keep in the contest, there was no holding Jeremiah's cohorts at this point, and the Green finished going away with a hard earned 5-3 triumph.

There is still no telling how well the Indian six will defend its Quad League title with the uphill road yet to be taken as this is penned, but for this one exhibition the Dartmouth stickmen of 1939—win, lose or draw on the title—have marked themselves as a Dartmouth team that fulfills the ideal we all set for Dartmouth teams.

SWIMMERS COME THROUGH

One of the happiest wins in many ways during the Carnival was the first win of the season by the varsity natators over Cornell. It would seem that justice at last caught up with the Green swimmers, for this group has had more of its share of tough luck, more than its share of one- sided setbacks in payment for the fine spirit and will-to-win that has existed in the ranks of the swimmers this season.

Thus when the men of Sid Hazelton finally turned the corner, it was not something that they had not worked for with everything they as a group could put into the sport. In fact their win came after a dog-eat-dog fight that kept the fans in a constant uproar both from the close finishes in many of the races and from the total score board sheet that showed the two teams battling it out neck and neck from opening event to closing event.

To Captain Bob Cushman went the hero role, and justice once more seemed to be served. This senior swimmer has been a tremendous personality in the pool from the very beginning of the campaign, and if the honor of standing out had to go to one individual, here's one person who felt that fate picked a most deserving character.

Cushman's Frank Merriwell came in the very last event when as the anchor man in the 400 yard relay he made his start some 15 feet in the rear of his Cornell opponent, maintained his pace once and a half times up and down the pool and then, turning into the final length, caught his man and nipped him at the finish line in an exhibition of courage and fight that was really something extra special to write home about.

Without jumping around too much like a rabbit and yet still trying to cover the ground, the advance spread given this year to the rebirth of interest in the Dartmouth skating team and its competition at Carnival was well worth the time and effort spent on the doing.

For an intelligent change, the skating races this year were strictly intercollegiate in contrast to the usual hodgepodge of club skating. The meet turned quickly into a duel between the Big Green of Dartmouth and the Big Red of Cornell, with Viv Bruce, who is also a mean barrel jumper, as he displayed at Outdoor Evening, copping the 220 and 440, while teammate Paul Goodwin captured the mile and two mile distance events.

Encouraging both to those on the skating squad and its supporters was the fact that a goodly crowd collected to watch the races and it is not over zealous to state that in another year skating will be back where it belongs in the winter sports program.

Now, at last, to the skiing activities that this year supplied a closeness of competition that was different and proof beyond a doubt that there is, and always will be, tremendous interest in team scores no matter how true it is that skiing is on the whole an individual sport.

Coach Walter Prager burned the midnight oil trying to select his eight man Carnival team in order that Dartmouth would be at its best, and looking back it appears as if Walter not only selected well but fortunately as the results proved.

Leading off with his co-captains, Dick Durrance and Howie Chivers, Coach Prager backed these artists up with Johnny Litchfield, Eddie Wells, Bob Skinner, Percy Rideout, Charlie McLane, and Bud Little. The much admired Durrance made his last appearance on the Dartmouth Carnival team by taking first in the downhill and slalom, and a fourth in the jumping. Chivers duplicated his langlauf win of 1938 by winning the event over teammate McLane, and also took a first in the combined and a fifth in the jumping. In this way the two leaders paced their team as should be the case, and with Litchfield's winning point total in the jump, Dartmouth walked away with the five first places.

However, the team scores were such that no Dartmouth ski fan was able to relax until the meet results were posted on Saturday evening.

To the many people who believe that the Dartmouth ski team is merely a collection of skiers out to bring fame to themselves, the writer is proud to report that the skiers over Carnival showed just as much team spirit and team concern as any of the Big Green teams have ever shown. During every event it was most noticeable that the Indian representatives were pulling together for the whole team, and that there were so many evidences of the members sacrificing personal opportunity for the team title, that skiing as a group endeavor gained countless admirers. Nor should it be overlooked that this year Dartmouth depended on several newcomers to the Carnival team who came through in handsome fashion to make the win possible. McLane for one with his second place in the langlauf; Rideout with his fifth in jumping and fifth in the combined outdid themselves to keep the Indian out front. In fact there was none of the eight who did not push himself to the limit to better his usual performance in order that the McGill threat might be set aside.

Next year the story might be quite different in final results with Dartmouth graduating six of the eight skiers as opposed to the one or two men that McGill will lose. However if the Dartmouth skiers have now started on an era of team fight and cooperation as marked by the Carnival meet, the outlook is not nearly as depressing as it might be under the old era of unharnessed talent. Because there is always hope for any Dartmouth team that catches the spirit of working hard to attain its goal and hope for any Dartmouth team that can and will fight for its victories no matter what the particular circumstances might be in lack of outstanding material with which to face the opposition. That, at any rate, is the writer's one belief in intercollegiate athletics.

Aside from the Carnival encounters, the Big Green has had very little to do, what with the examination period taking away two weeks of the time since the last article. There was the thrilling two-point victory over Yale in basketball on the Saturday evening as the exams finished that saw Captain Roger (Moose) Dudis and Joe Cottone combine to sink shots in the last 28 seconds of play to edge out the win. Cottone made his tying basket from the foul circle, and with barely two sec- onds left in the game, Dudis followed a long shot rebound under the basket for the winning margin. The only word that adequately describes the excitement of this finish is, terrific! Following Carnival, Dartmouth again defeated the stubborn Yale five, 40-36, and once more the In- dians were forced to come from behind to edge out the Elis. Considering that Dart- mouth is in first place and Yale in last po- sition in the League fight, it presents some idea of the rivalry that the Eastern Intercollegiate League is putting on this winter. Tir .

FORMER DARTMOUTH STARS WITH AMATEUR CHAMPIONSOutstanding for the Boston Olympic hockey team this season are five former wearers ofthe Green. Left to right, they are Dick Leiuis '38, captain 1937-38; Paul Guibord '36, captain 1935-36; Frankie Spain '34, captain 1933-34; Junie Allen '36; and Jack Costello '37.

HOCKEY HERO Bud Foster '39, first-line center fromLeominster, Mass., who played a majorrole in the Carnival victory over Princetonand who was involved in both the goalswhich turned back Harvard, 2-1, in theBoston Garden on February 15.

STILL AT THE TOP OF THE HEAPThe Dartmouth ski team which maintained its intercollegiate laurels by winning theWinter Carnival meet for the fifth consecutive year. Left to right, Coach Walter Prager;John Litchfield '39, Auburn, Me.; Charles McLane '41, Manchester, N. H.; Co-CaptainHoward Chivers '39, Hanover; Co-Captain Dick Durrance '39, Miami, Fla.; Robert Skinner '40, Manchester, N. H.; Ed Wells '39, Hanover; Amos Little '39, Marlboro, Mass.;Percy Rideout '40, Ashburnham, Mass.; and Manager Parker Paul '39, Seattle, Wash.