Limited Things to Do

Harriott Meyer scored the winning goal in Dartmouth’s first victory over the Yale field hockey team, was a member of the initial NCAA women’s national champion ski team, and captained the Big Green tennis team as a sophomore. She was also the recipient this fall of the Outstanding Woman Athlete Award, given by the Class of 1976.

“I’m obviously excited about it,” says Meyer, a senior. “It’s kind of neat to get an award for something I’ve always en- joyed. I definitely haven’t been the most outstanding participant on any team, but I’ve tried them all and have done my best.”

She received the award and a con- gratulatory kiss from President Kemeny between the halves of the Dartmouth- Cornell football game. Also honored at halftime was former all-America halfback Bob MacLeod ’39, who was admitted to the National Football Hall of Fame.

“It’s a breakthrough for Dartmouth to recognize women’s sports, which I think are definitely getting on a par with the men’s teams. We’re out there on the prac- tice fields every afternoon just like the men and we’re finally getting the recognition,” says Meyer, a resident of Woodstock, Ver- mont.

Meyer has earned a field hockey letter in all four years at Dartmouth, serving as co- captain this season. The game-winning tally in this fall’s 2-1 Yale game was her first goal at Dartmouth. “I’m a defenseman so I don’t usually score. But this year I was put in a position to be a lit- tle more offensive so I’ve had more oppor- tunities. It was my lifetime goal in field hockey,” she explains.

“She’s a very unassuming player,” ac- cording to field hockey coach Mary Corrigan. “But she’s a real backbone of the defense. I think her experience and success in skiing has helped her success with field hockey. She’s done a great job as captain this year and was player-of-the- game against Brown.”

Meyer will be shifting her attention to cross-country skiing this month as she prepares to rejoin the women’s ski team. “Cross-country takes quite a lot,” she observes. “At the end of the hockey season I will probably have to train very hard to get to a level where I want to be. You have to perform more specific skills, such as roller skiing and hill-bounding with poles.”

She concentrated on alpine events as a freshman, took the winter term off sophomore year and switched to cross- country skiing last winter. “I like hockey because it’s a team sport, but then I really enjoyed the cross-country skiing last year. I’ve skied all my life.” She honed her cross-country skills during a term off in her sophomore year by commuting from nearby Woodstock to Hanover once or twice a week to work out with the ski team. The training obviously paid off. Meyer finished third in the individual NCAA cross-country competition, and her relay team finished second as Dartmouth cap- tured the national championship at Stowe, Vermont, last March.

A biology major, Meyer admits that combining sports and academics can be hectic at times. “But for me it’s kind of an escape and it helps me,” she says. “I couldn’t spend an entire afternoon study- ing in the library. With studying and sports there definitely are a limited number of other things you can do, and I think there are some aspects of Dartmouth that I have missed out on.”

Meyer will have earned eight varsity letters by the time spring term rolls around. But for once she won’t be going out for a sport. “The only term I’ve been here without playing a sport has been dur- ing the summer. So I’ve decided to take off spring senior term” maybe to catch up on some of the things she thinks she’s missed.