Prager Resigns, Merrill Ski Coach
IN late September the resignation of Walter Prager as Dartmouth ski coach and the appointment of Allison Merrill to succeed him were announced by John A. Rand '38, executive director of the Dartmouth Outing Club.
Prager came to Dartmouth in 1936 and has coached Big Green ski teams ever since except for time out during World War II to serve with the 87th Mountain Infantry and a one-year leave of absence in 1948 to serve as co-coach of the U. S. Olympic Team. His Dartmouth ski teams have become internationally known during the past 20 years. Prager-coached skiers have been on every American Olympic and F.I.S. team, and have captured most of the major skiing meets in this country.
Prager already had a reputation as one of the world's outstanding skiers before coming to Dartmouth. His records included winning two F.I.S. downhill races, the Parsen Derby, the Arlberg-Kandahar Downhill and Slalom, and the Grossglochner race. Prager's future plans are indefinite, but latest reports indicate he will manage a Norse House ski shop at Mt. Snow, near Brattleboro, Vt.
In Al Merrill, Dartmouth has found the best possible replacement. A graduate of Hebron Academy, he captained the University of New Hampshire ski team and was Eastern cross-country champion and number one alternate on the U. S. Olympic team in his senior year. From 1947 until 1956 he coached skiing and taught at nearby Lebanon High, where his ski teams captured six Eastern titles and were among the outstanding school teams in the nation. Merrill also coached the Alpine and Nordic squads of the U. S. Eastern Association junior ski teams for three years. In 1954 he was coach of the U. S. cross-country and Nordic combined F.I.S. team, and in 1956 of the U. S. Olympic cross-country skiers. This past summer Merrill did preliminary work on cross-country trails at Squaw Valley, California, site of the 1960 Winter Olympic games. Last winter he was appointed Dartmouth's assistant ski coach under Prager.
Walter Prager (r), who resigned as ski coach, with Al Merrill, appointed to succeed him.
