Big Green Teams
AROUND the Hanover area there is a handful of country stores dealing in everything from sandwiches, sweepstakes tickets, soft drinks (and some not-so-soft), and just about any commodity you might need on a Sunday morning when everything else is closed.
One place in particular also specializes in scuttlebutt. You know, rumors purported to be gospel relating all the "inside" information on the comings and goings around Dartmouth. Plant the seeds of secrecy and watch them grow faster than the first peas. It's a tribute to the lines of communication that flow through the doors along with a loaf of bread, a sixpack, a carton of cigarettes. Trying to keep a secret in Hanover, particularly when it concerns the arrival and departure of potential coaches, a department head or a groundskeeper, is a challenge of the first magnitude whenever you get within a quarter-mile of this particular emporium.
In a way, it adds some spice to the business of candidates-on-parade that occupies so much time around Alumni Gym as the search goes on for a new basketball coach and a new soccer coach. It becomes a game of planting an occasional tidbit of misinformation and then measuring the time it takes for the word to find its way home.
All this by way of introducing the fact that while there have been a couple of announcements relating to the staff changes in the athletic sphere, the quest continues for the persons who will take over the two head coaching positions that opened this spring. Barring a bulletin at the top of the page, you'll have to rely on Big GreenSports News (How's that for a modest plug for Dartmouth's favorite athletic newsletter?) or the press for the word. Then again, if you happen to be driving through Hanover on a Sunday morning during the next couple of weeks you may be the first to know.... (Rumors aside, we now know that the soccer coach will be Tom Griffith, North Carolina '64 and for the last three years coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. His 1973 team was ranked 13th in the nation.)
Like Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 and the Amateur Athletics Act of 1974, two pieces of federal legislation that are being discussed far more actively than whether Notre Dame will win the national championship again or whether Dartmouth can win the Ivy football title again the business of college athletics off the fields of play seems to consume an awful lot of time these days. Seaver Peters, the director of athletics, is beginning to show traces of gray hair that belie the fact that he's but 20 years beyond his undergraduate days at Dartmouth.
So it goes off the field. Let's get down to the measurable facts of performance in competition since we were together last.
At this writing, the only team that remains in competition is golf, which was headed toward the NCAA tournament at San Diego after a solid third-place showing in the Eastern tourney and an overall record of 11-3. While the summer term is in full swing, it's worth mention that there is no formal intercollegiate competition in the offing, although it's apparent that future reception of the year-round concept by other colleges may make this term of the most realistic periods for outdoor athletic events.
One season is as good as another for Tom Fleming, though. The sophomore from Brookline, Mass., made 1973-74 more than memorable with hie contributions to football, hockey and track The result of "Super Soph's" athletic achievements is the Alfred Watson Trophy as the College's outstanding athlete of the year.
Fleming was joined by senior Rick Woolworth from Lancaster, Pa., and Paul Dixon, the two-sport captain (hockey and golf) from Aurora, Ont., as the major year-end award winners. Woolworth won the Kenneth Archibald Athletic Prize as the best all-round athlete over a four-year period with equal regard for high academic standing (11 of 12 terms found him at dean's list ranking). He was captain of squash this year and has been a three-year standout in that sport and tennis.
Dixon is the seniors' Mr. Smooth. A pillar on defense in hockey, he was runnerup for medal honors in the Eastern golf tourney and won All-Ivy League recognition in both sports. Dixon's hockey teammate, senior Bruce Stuart from Calgary, Alb., won the Timothy Wright Ellis Award presented by the Class of 1955 to the person demonstrating the qualities of the late Tim Ellis. Stuart, although encumbered by a knee injury that required surgery a year ago, recovered to play hockey last winter on a limited basis. Coach Grant Standbrook noted, "YOu can't always judge a player in terms of goals and assists. Bruce is a perfect example."
The fifth year-end award, the Tirrell Physical Improvement Prize, was presented to a coed, Elizabeth Gay Shults from Little Rock, Ark. Starting in a presented education tennis class last fall, she went out for the women's squash team and moved up to the fifth position on the ladder by end of the season. One of her rewards is election as captain of her team next winter.
SPRING WRAPUP
In baseball Dartmouth finished with an 18.19 record that included an 8-6 record inthe Eastern League. A fifth-place finish inthe EIBL was an accurate measure of thecapabilities of Tony Lupien's 18th Dartmouth team and the kingpins of the campaign Mark Ditmar, Bob Whelan, Mike Draznik, and Jim Beaţie.
Ditmar, the captain-elect from Pittsfield, Mass., will be a Senior Fellow next year. He was the most honored member of this baseball team, winning spots as the second baseman on the All-EIBL and All-New England teams. He was consistent at the plate (.302 in the leadoff slot), virtually flawless in the field (handling 200 of 203 chances cleanly and playing a part in 23 of Dartmouth's 30 double plays), and generally was the instigator whenever the Green got something going.
Whelan, the departing captain from Darien, Conn., matched the Green record for home runs in a season (eight), while Draznik, the converted pitcher from Plainfield, I11., who moved to left field, led in runs batted in with 29 and had five home runs.
Beattie, the sophomore from South Portland, Me., was the most effective pitcher and came back from a mid-season letdown to post a 4-5 record climaxed by a four-hit, 1-0 win over Brown in the final weekend series.
John Kenfields's tennis team finished with a 13-9 record and the coach felt "we won every match I figured we could have won." Woolworth, captain-elect Andy Oldenburg from Cleveland, Ohio, and sophomore Rob Tesar from St. Paul, Minn., were the guns. Oldenburg was superb in doubles; he shared in a 16-9 record and was 16-10 in singles. Tesar climbed to the second spot in the singles ladder behind Woolworth. In singles he was 14-9 and in doubles he had a 19-5 record.
In lacrosse, the Green finished 4-9 as Union fell in the finale, 15-12, a win that came on the heels of a disappointing 6-4 loss at Harvard. That was a day when Dartmouth did everything except score enough goals. Defenseman Mike Shedlosky from Camp Hill, Pa., won the Tom Dent Award for contribution and joined Ed White from Marion, Mass., and middie Dave Cranshaw from Fayetteville, N.Y., in gaining All-Ivy mention. Goalie Jeff Bennett, a co-captain-elect (along with defenseman Dave Farmer), set an Ivy record for saves in a season and was a bulwark throughout the campaign.
Dartmouth's heavyweight crew never really got things together until the repechage (second chance) in the inter-collegiate championships at Syracuse. It was then that the Green came close to a peak performance, finishing third to M.I.T. and Syracuse, two crews that had beaten Dartmouth decisively earlier. This time the margin was two seconds to M.I.T. and a tenth of a second to Syracuse. The new heavyweight co-captains will be Jan Brink from Mill Valley, Calif., brother of Barry Brink, the All-Ivy defensive tackle on the undefeated football team in 1970, and Tim Whitney from Franconia, N.H. Mike Winer from Weston, Mass., is the new lightweight captain.
Coach Peter Gardner, incidentally, will coach the national lightweight crew this summer. He'll direct training here in Hanover and send the national oarsmen to the world championships at Lucerne, Switzerland, in August.
In track, javelin thrower Skip Cummins had his trip to the NCAA meet at Texas interrupted by the trauma of a death in his family. He qualified with a throw of more than 236 feet, then returned to finish in tenth place. He had taken seventh place in the IC4A meet earlier.
Two comparatively old records fell in the 880 and the mile relay this spring. Sandy Fitchet, a sophomore from Winnetka, 111., ran the 880 in 1:52.4 during the New England meet to erase Doug Brew's record, set in 1956, by nearly a second. In the mile relay, Dartmouth covered the distance in 3:14.3 during a qualifying heat at the IC4A meet.
Bob Spitzfadden. a senior from Cincinnati. Ohio, who led off that record relay performance, won the Harmon Trophy for outstanding distance running this year while weightman Curt Starr from Pittsburgh, Pa., and Chris Peisch from Burlington, Vt„ were elected co-captains of 1975 track. Peisch is also cross country captain.
On the women's scene, Chris Clark's tennis team won six of seven matches, while in lacrosse the Green had a disappointing 1-7 mark. Jill Shaw from Fairfield. Conn., was unbeaten in four singles matches and captain Anne Rasmussen from Rye. N.Y., had a 5-2 doubles showing. In lacrosse sophomore Brewer Doran from Montclair. N.J., repeated as the scoring leader with 19 goals.
In freshman-junior varsity sports frosh baseball had a 14-4 record, the most wins ever by a Green freshman team. John McKeon (.361) and John Carroll (.350) were the hitting leaders in an attack that supported able pitching by Mike Madwed (6-1), Carl Hanson (3-1) and lefty Dave DeMarco (3-1).
Co-captain Charley Adams had 14 points including 11 assists and Kevin Young added 10 goals among 13 points to lead the freshman lacrosse team, which posted a 3-6 record.
Lloyd Ucko demonstrated his tennis magic as New England and Eastern champion a couple of years ago. Now finished at Tuck School and wrapping up his second season as freshman tennis coach, Ucko guided his team to a 9-1 season built largely on a 22-3 record in doubles.
Can autumn be far behind? Junior MikeBrail executes the quarterback option during the one-dav spring football practiceconducted in Leverone Field House.
