Skiing

Coach Al Merrill, now in his second year at the helm, admits he faces a major rebuilding task this winter (see "Coaches Corner"), and Dartmouth is expected to have some difficulty in defending its Eastern and National Ski Championships.

The first real test will come at the Dartmouth Winter Carnival (Feb. 7-8), but meanwhile the Dartmouth skiers are competing individually in a series of eastern races. In the Franconia Ski Club's preseason Giant Slalom Race, Dartmouth's alpine and now U. S. Olympic Team alpine coach, Bill Beck, won first place and because this was his third consecutive winning of the event he retains the Joel S. Coffin III Memorial Trophy. Brooks Dodge had retired the other Coffin Trophy back in 1955. Other Dartmouth skiers were Dave Britton, who finished sixth, Dave Harwood in ninth place, and Frank Noel tenth.

In the January invitational cross-country race at Jackson, Captain Dick Taylor came in third, with Frank Noel seventh and Pete Ryland eleventh. On the same weekend, at the Mt. Whittier Giant Slalom, Dave Britton finished sixth, with Jim DeLong, Rog Hackley and Pat Hartley close behind.

In the most recent weekend of action, Dartmouth's four-man relay team of Captain Dick Taylor, Pete Ryland, Frank Noel and John Capper won the Hanover invitational cross-country relay race over thirteen other teams. In the invitational jump on Sunday, Bookstrom, Taylor, Noel and Don Peterson placed third through sixth, in that order, in the Class B competition.

With Harwood, Smith, Gebhardt and Ceely graduated and Dave Vorse training for the Olympics, Coach Merrill must rely on a small nucleus of veterans and some sophomores and reserves.

Captain Dick Taylor, Don Peterson and John Capper are top Nordic competitors, Dave Britton is outstanding in downhill and slalom, and Frank Noel is a strong four-way contestant. Sophomores Art Bookstrom, Jim DeLong and Dick Nordhaus are all likely four-event candidates, with John Stowell rated highly in the alpine events and Skip Bean as an excellent Nordic contender.