STRONG, Fast, Magnificent
Six Women have taken their sports to levelsthat Greeners had not imagined before.
Dana Chladek '85
ATLANTA'S SILVER KAYAKER
This former Ledyard Canoe Club president became the first American woman to medal in her sport when she paddled to a bronze in the 1992 Olympics. Four years later, coming back from rotator-cuff surgery, Chladek capsized in Tennessee's raging Ocoee River and ranked dead last. But her nothing-to-lose second run was nearly perfect good enough to earn her a silver medal.
Gail Koziara Boudreaux '82
BEST IN THE LEAGUE
No single player dominated Ivy League basketball like this Rhodes Scholar finalist. In her 89-game collegiate career, Boudreaux scored more points (1,933) and snagged more rebounds (1,635) than any player in league history male or female. In 1979-80 she led the nation in rebounding. Oh, and thenthere were her other sports. Shot putting: She became the first Ivy athlete ever to win four consecutive titles in one event. Discus: Two consecutive national titles at the Women's Track and Field Championship. High jump: Tied for third. Javelin: Fourth (shelearned the sport the day before the event). Boudreaux graduated cum laude and became the first Dartmouth woman to win an NCAA postgraduate scholarship.
Diana Golden '84
GOLDEN RULES
"Perhaps more than any other athlete, Golden brought crossover credibility to the disabled sports movement," Sports Illustrated said of her. Powder magazine wrote: "Diana Golden will no doubtbe remembered as one of the most gifted athletes, disabled or not, in the history of skiing." Who's to argue? Golden won 19 national titles, ten World Gold medals, and, in 1988, an Olympic gold for the Women's Disabled Exhibition Giant Slalom. Her regular participation on the U.S. Ski Association Eastern Cup tour secured permanent spots for disabled skiers on the regular team. In 1991, President George Bush anointed her alongside Chris Evert, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Martina Navratilova with the Flo Hyman Awardfor national athletic achievement.
Judy Geer '75, TH '83; Carlie Geer '80
PULLING TOGETHER
Consider them individually, and they are two of Dartmouth's all-time best athletes. Judy, an early transfer from Smith, became the College's first female Olympian in 1976. She made the team in 1980 and again in 1984. Sister Carlie joined the team in 1980 In '84 Carlie became the first woman Greener to medal at the Summer OlymPics, taking home a silver in women's single sculling. While the two showed fierce sibling rivalry in the single events, their dual prowess in the Henley Royal Regatta. That same year, in the world 1981 they became the first women to compete in the 142-year history of the Henley Royal Regatta. That same year, in the world championships, they were dubbed best in the West after finishing fifth behind government-subsidized East Bloc teams.
Leslie Thompson '86
TOP NORDIE
The first Dartmouth woman to compete in the Winter Olympics, Thompson is part of a continuum of Dartmouth Winter Olympians dating back to the 19205. The Nordic skier had three All American seasons at Dartmouth, won ten national titles, and competed in three Olympics and five World Championships. Thompson "has had some of the best international results of any U.S. skier," Cross Country Skier Magazine wrote of her. In 1995, as the nation's top-ranked skating skier, Thompson showed her versatility by earning World Cup points in a classical race.
