Sports

There always are question marks about the football team and its upcoming season. How is the offensive line? Is everyone healthy? What does the backfield look like? For once, Coach Joe Yukica won't have any questions about the punting and kicking games. The kicking duties probably will fall at the capable right foot of sophomore Craig Saltzgaber. And punting? Yukica has the rare luxury of two first team, All-Ivy punters to pick from, seniors John Corbett and Rick Bayless.

"Our kicking game is very strong," Yukica said, "with a promising young kicker and two veteran punters."

Saltzgaber, or Gaber as he is known to his friends, is an All-Conference, AllStater from Ridgefield, Connecticut. He is an outspoken athlete who candidly admits that he marches to the beat of a different drummer a characteristic commonly associated with kickers and goalies.

"I think all kickers are a little offbeat," he said during a break from his summer job. "In fact, it's almost a necessity. For a kicker, it's hit or miss. You come into the game cold off the bench, with the entire crowd staring at you. And you might appear on the field only 30 times an entire season."

Saltzgaber spent last spring in a Dartmouth aerobics class, the only male in a throng of 60 women. He's taken some good-natured ribbing from the football staff but counters by pointing out how much he's improved his flexibility and extension.

The sophomore feels he must make a good impression on the coach and his teammates right away. "I have to strive for top form," he explained. "And I have to gain Coach Yukica's confidence early so he won't hesitate to use me." As a member of the Pea Green squad last fall, Gaber went six-for-seven in field goals including a 48-yarder vs. Brown and 13-of-13 in PATs.

Earlier this summer in his new hometown of Portland, Oregon, Gaber began working out at a local high school field. At the other end he spotted three "good-sized guys" working out. "I figured they were Portland State or Oregon players." One of the three spotted Saltzgaber's green cap. "Is that a Dartmouth hat?" he asked. "Yup," replied Gaber. There was a moment of silence while the pair sized each other up. 'Are you Saltzgaber?" asked Rick Bayless. "You Bayless?" answered Gaber. The two have been working out since in the company of Rich Durante '84, a running back, and pitcher Craig Colyer '83.

John Corbett '84 spent part of his summer in Africa before hitch-hiking through Australia. Back home in Denver, Colorado, last year's All-Ivy punter is working out, attending Tae Kwon Do judo classes as part of his routine.

He has an unorthodox style that resulted in a 39.1' average in 1982 and a long of 54 yards against Columbia. "The coaches have tried to teach me technique," he said ruefully, "but now we just concentrate on a few things like timing and catching the snap."

Corbett also is a talented linebacker, weighing in at 205 and standing 6'1". "I didn't even practice punting last summer after Rick's great year," he said.

But as Bayless tried gamely to fight off nagging injuries, Corbett "got in rhythm." Does Corbett consider himself a linebacker or punter? "I see myself as a linebacker," he replied firmly. But then there's a slight pause. "Who also happens to punt."

Back in Portland, Oregon, there's Rick Bayless working in a plywood plant and sticking to a practice routine that includes running, lifting, and kicking. After agiorious sophomore season that culminated in All-Ivy honors and a 39-3' average, Bayless experienced both pain and frustration as a junior with persistent knee and ankle injuries.

"When it rains, it pours," he said. "A recurring problem like that is depressing, but it hasn't altered my confidence. And I feel fine right now."

A softspoken economics major, he possesses the finest technique of any punter in College history. "John, for example, has a lot of real raw power. But I think my technique has helped me. And the bottom line is whether or not you can kick."

Is there a pro career on the horizon? "If the opportunity presents itself, I'd be a fool not to try it," said Bayless. But first comes the matter of the 1983 football season. "There are a lot of good teams this year, and we're going to be strong." Does Bayless secretly yearn for another Ivy championship ring?

"I don't really care about that," he answered. "But I want to win the Ivy title outright no more ties. That's what's motivating me."

There are other outstanding athletes to keep an eye on this fall. One sure to attract ttention is rangy Tom Heise '84, the soccer team's stalwart sweeper who has never missed a second of any game in his varsity career. The senior co-captain, who shares those duties with fullback Paul Bayer '84, gained second team All-Ivy honors the past two seasons. For the women, there's spunky Estey Ticknor 'B5, the keeper who earned five shutouts last year and made an incredible 29 saves against Plymouth State.

When field hockey gears up on Red Rolfe Field, midfielder Paula Joyce '84 is a mainstay. She is one of only five Dartmouth athletes to captain two sports, the other being ice hockey.

And although Jim Sapienza '85 may sound like a one-man band for the croscountry team, junior Mike Fadil and sophomore Frank Powers will be in close pursuit all season.

Sapienza earned All-America honors last year and won the Heptagonal championship, the first Big Green runner to do so since Stanton Waterman in 1948. Women's cross country could be on the upswing with a freshman called Moira Teevens, certainly a blue-blood name in Dartmouth athletics.

The ultimate success of Joe Yukica's '83 football team may well fall on the toe of soccer-style kickerCraig Saltzgaber) shown here with quarterback Mike Caraviello doing the holding.

Big Green men's soccer is counting on more scenes like the one above, in which Tom Heise (No. 20),celebrates a score with teammate Randy Slayton.