Specialist

NICK LOWERY'S kicking career began when he was a fourth-grader at a private school in London. "I saw the guys putting a rugby ball down and kicking it, and I discovered that I was good at it right away," recalls the 21-year-old senior, whose father worked at the United States Embassy there from 1965-67. "Soccer and rugby together helped me get started."

Lowery, the Dartmouth football team's soccer-style kicking specialist, didn't pick up kicking again until he was in the eighth grade in the Washington area, but he's been with it ever since. "My first field goal came in the ninth grade. It was a 32-yarder. It was a spiral and was the funniest thing you ever saw in your life," quips the six-foot four-inch 185-pound all-Ivy player from McLean, Virginia.

Dartmouth's opponents have found little humor in Lowery's foot, however. He has not missed a point after touchdown in two varsity campaigns - 7 for 7 in 1975 and 28 for 28 in 1976 - and has kicked 15 of 23 field goal attempts while wearing a Big Green uniform. He kicked 8 of 8 threepoint attempts last season as he topped the team in scoring with 52 points. He is fourth on the career kick-scoring leader list and needs 55 points, in itself a potential season record, to pass Bill Hay '67 and Pete Donovan '70 and tie leader Ted Perry '73 with 135 points. "But I'm not going to be worried about it too much," says Lowery.

His long legs and long straight muscles give him exceptional range with his kick, which he likens to a golf swing. He has already booted seven field goals over 35 yards and has logged three of the seven longest field goals in Dartmouth history: 51 yards against Harvard in 1976, 49 yards against the Crimson in 1975, and 43 yards against Pennsylvania in 1975.

Jim Robertson's record 55-yard field goal against Cornell in 1919 may be in danger this autumn. "I feel stronger this year," says the lanky Lowery, whose towering kickoffs were landing up to two yards deep in the end zone last season. "My goal this year is to kick a few field goals on kickoffs. With a wind I've made some 60-yarders in practice." As a sophomore he was unsuccessful with a 62yard field goal attempt against Pennsylvania in the rain.

There's more to kicking than lacing your football shoe. Lowery's daily training regimen includes 25 minutes of muscle stretching, a two-mile run, 15 minutes of dribbling drills with a soccer ball, 20 minutes of form kicking (field goal kicking at a light post for direction improvement), 25 minutes of regular kicking, and 15 minutes of weight lifting. He also spends 15 minutes a day on positive thinking. "The ability to concentrate is really important," says Lowery, who credits mental improvement as the key to his success.

Lowery is a professional football prospect and has discussed that possibility with his next door neighbor in McLean, Supreme Court Justice Byron White. The "Whizzer" from Colorado, who led the National Football League in rushing as a rookie with Pittsburgh, has apparently counseled Lowery that there's more to life than professional football. "I think I'm probably going to play for a few years, but I wouldn't want to make a career out of it," says Lowery.

One of Lowery's biggest fans doesn't see him play very often. Twin sister Ann is a student at Stanford. The family stands tall: Lowery also has 25-year-old twin brothers who are six six and six two and a half. Ann's height is an obvious question. "Oh, she's only five seven," says Lowery. "Just right."

Nick Lowery gets carried away after his last-play field goal beat Holy Cross, 17-14.

THE SCORES (through September 24) Football Dartmouth 14 Princeton 11 Dartmouth 17 Holy Cross 14 Soccer Dartmouth 3 Princeton 2 Dartmouth 1 Middlebury 0 Field Hockey Pennsylvania 1 Dartmouth 0 Men's Cross-Country Third at Bates Invitational