With the Big Green Teams
THE "schlump season," or the Ides of Mud, no longer exists for Dartmouth's spring teams. The Leverone Field House provides a snug home for the several squads till March exams are finished. Then four teams - baseball, golf, lacrosse and tennis - bus down to the Carolinas and Virginia, catching up on some needed sleep en route. The Dartmouth crew vacations at Kent, Conn., where the river ice, unlike the Upper Valley Connecticut's, is out. And the rugby club heads for the round of games and dances in Nassau.
As a result of the huge field house, Dartmouth lacrosse players can get a lot of running and practice in February and March. They are in condition before going south and this has been reflected in their recent records. Two years ago Coach Whitey Burnham's lacrosse team was in a three-way tie for the Ivy League title. Last year it cut that to a two-way deadlock (with Princeton). And there is much enthusiasm on the squad this season to win the crown alone.
Despite the fact that the Green lost two of its three top scorers plus two-year All-Ivy goaltender Brian Walsh by graduation, it again is one of the loop favorites. The main reason is muscle on the back line. Burnham has four able and sizable defensemen for three spots back there, all well known to the Dartmouth family. Captain Chuck Vernon, two-year letterwinner from West Springfield, Mass., is one. Then there are two football captains, outgoing Tom Clarke of Wellesley, Mass., and incoming Bill Calhoun of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., plus a lanky football end, Bob MacLeod Jr. of Malibu, Calif.
The battle among the latter trio for two starting jobs should provide the best action of the spring season. Clarke missed last season because of an ankle injury and MacLeod dropped back from his midfield post to grab the job from Calhoun. Now MacLeod is recovering from a football knee injury. He suffered it in the second game of the season, made an appearance for one play and caught a pass in the Princeton finale, then had the knee operated on by the New York Jets' surgeon in December. Bob has recuperated rapidly and is intent on regaining his starting lacrosse position.
Calhoun, not quite as big as MacLeod but faster, has come along well this spring. He may be following the same path he did last fall when he got a quick chance at offensive end due to others' injuries and never gave up the starting job again. Clarke must regain some speed to hold off the other two but he is the strongest of the three.
Junior Gary Rubus of Banning, Calif., is the boy who spent all last season on the bench keeping statistics while All-Ivy Brian Walsh played goal. Now Gary is getting his chance and he's good, quick, agile, intelligent.
At midfield Burnham has solid depth, which is well because these are the fellows who have to do most of the running in lacrosse. All-Ivy Bruce McKissock of Wynnewood, Pa., is the top returnee. In fact, he was the second highest scorer last year in both goals and total points. Burnham still was seeking the right combinations down south but he was pretty well sold on a first line of McKissock, junior Grant Monahan of Basking Ridge, N. J., and sophomore Bill Rich of Lexington, Mass.
The most promising rookie on the lacrosse squad is Bob McCormick of Baltimore, a boy who actually has more experience at the game than the majority of the veterans. A graduate of Gilman School, McCormick scored 42 points in only ten freshman games a year ago and he is right at home at right attack, stepping into the shoes of All-Ivy Lee Mercer.
While matters seemed to be breaking well for the stickmen, the Dartmouth baseball squad was trying to shake off the effects of losing its captain. Shortstop Bill Bower, a two-year letterman from Princeton, N. J., suddenly withdrew from college for personal reasons in February.
This caused a major realignment. First, a new election was held and outfielder Barry Machado of Fall River, Mass., replaced Bower as captain. Then Mickey Beard of Newton, Mass., who previously had been switched from second base to centerfield, returned to the infield at short. This gave a distinct football touch to the keystone combination since quarterback Beard's partner at second is sophomore Gene Ryzewicz of Springfield, Mass., the sensational broken-field runner on the gridiron.
Overall there are nine lettermen, a figure well suited for baseball, providing a good nucleus of experience. The veterans include first baseman Frank Ota of Torrance, Calif., third baseman Paul Mikus of New Bedford, Mass., rightfielder Bruce Smith of Louisville, Ky., Machado in left field, and pitchers Jim Shaw of Penacook, N. H. (Red Rolfe's hometown), Pete Barber of Williamsville, N. Y., and Bill Sjogren of Swampscott, Mass.
Starting sophomores other than Ryzewicz are catcher Ted Nixon of Minneapolis who is a converted first baseman, and Bob Thomas of Mifflinburg, Pa. Thomas is the clean-up hitter, a lefthander with a fine swing. He dislocated a shoulder in football but appears to have recovered.
The Indians finished second in the Eastern League last season but a lack of experienced pitching depth could spoil their start this campaign. Best sophomore hurlers seem to be Russ Wienecke of Tulsa, Okla., and Lou Highmark of Indianapolis.
The golf and tennis teams went south with high hopes. Led by Dave Goldstein '66 of West Hartford, Conn., whose dad, Dr. Max Goldstein '39, also played for Coach Tommy Keane, the golfers have five lettermen plus sophomore Ken Kotowski, former Massachusetts junior champion and semifinalist in the Massachusetts Amateur, from Melrose.
Tennis suffered a blow when junior Bill Kirkpatrick of Kalamazoo suffered an achilles tendon injury while playing basketball and was lost for the season. However, southpaw Chuck Hoeveler of Southport, Conn., elected captain although only a junior, is one of the best in college circles, having gone to the finals of the New Englands last May.
BIG GREEN BITS: Highlight of the winter season was the Eastern championship won by Coach Al Merrill's ski team. Dartmouth skiers won three of the four individual titles: John Meek Jr. of Hanover won the downhill race; Skip Bryan of Stowe, Vt., took the slalom, and Jim Speck of Bethesda, Md., won the jump. The team passed up the NCAA championships at Crested Butte, Montana. This was not because of the controversy between the Ivies and NCAA, which had not been resolved at the time of the National Ski Event, but because of schedule conflict with the academic program and lack of time to adjust to the high altitude of the NCAA site.
Another strong finish was provided by the wrestling team which won second place in the New England championships. This was the best performance in history for the Green grapplers. Senior Evan (Pat) Woodworth of Winona, Minn., became the second Dartmouth wrestler to win a New England title when he won the 191-pound division. Runner-up honors were taken by Captain John Keane, Huntington, N. Y., at 145; Jack Christ of Collingswood, N. J., at 115, and heavyweight Wally Buschmann of Lewiston, Me.
The lone bright spot in the basketball picture (3-21 record) was that only one senior, Chris Kinum of Glen Ridge, N. J., was on the squad. Juniors Pete Dunlop (14.2 avg.) of Westwood, N J., and Gunnar Malm (13 avg.) of Naperville, Ill., were the leading scorers. ... And the freshman basketball team showed considerable promise. The yearlings were off to a slow start, losing two of their first three games, but then came on with a rush to win nine of their last 11. Making the overall record of 12-5 even more attractive was the fact that this freshman five had the knack of winning the close ones. All six games that were decided by four points or less were won by Dartmouth. Victims included Harvard's best freshman five in years and the Boston College unit. .. . Top varsity prospec include Captain Dick Felmeister of Scotch Plains, N. J., John Mathias of Oak Park, Ill., Mike Neal of Indianapolis, and Bob Sturgis of New Milford, N. J.
Dartmouth's infield as the team headed south included Ted Nixon, converted fromfirst base, catcher; Paul Mikus, third base; Mickey Beard, shortstop; Gene Ryzewicz, second base; and Frank Ota, first base, in the usual l to r order.
