Dartmouth's Randall wins NCAA men's cross country ski championship

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Bozeman, Mont. ? Dartmouth junior Glenn Randall (Collbrun, Colo.) became
the first Big Green skier in 41 years to claim an NCAA cross country
ski title, winning the men's 10-kilometer freestyle race at the NCAA
Men's and Women's Skiing Championships today.

Randall, whose previous best NCAA finish was fifth in the freestyle
in 2006, won in 30:37.3, 11 seconds better than Alaska-Fairbanks'
Marius Korthauer. Colorado's Jesper Ostensen was third, 24 seconds
off of Randall's pace.

“This is really special for me,” said Randall, who learned to
ski high in the Colorado Rockies. “It's a really tough course with a
lot of long, grinding uphills. I happen to like long, grinding uphills.”

Randall led the race from wire to wire, turning in the fastest first
lap of 14:34.1. “At around a kilometer-and-a-half, I heard I was in
second place. Then, at about half way, I was told I was leading. From
there I just tried to ski my race.”

“I knew he had a shot,” said Dartmouth men's cross country coach Ruff
Patterson. “This course was built for Glenn. We're at altitude, and
it's a tough course. He really shines in these conditions.”

Randall becomes the Big Green's first cross country champion since
1967, when the race was won by 1967 graduate Ned Gillette.

Other Dartmouth finishers in the men's race were freshman Nils Koons
in 30th place and junior Patrick O'Brien in 31st.

In the women's 5-kilometer freestyle earlier Wednesday, freshman
Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah) earned All America honors by placing
sixth in the race, won by Colorado's Maria Grevsgaard in 17:09.8.
Grevsgaard's teammate Lenka Palanova was second, followed by Denver's
Annelise Bailly. For the Big Green, senior Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.)
was 12th; senior Elsa Sargent (Orleans, Vt.) was 19th.

Randall's win was a big jump start for the defending NCAA team
champion Big Green, which stands in third place after one day of
racing. Colorado leads with 186 points; Northern Michigan is second
with 153. Dartmouth, Middlebury and Denver are tied for third with
143 points.

Competition turns to Alpine racing Thursday at the Bridger Bowl ski
area, with men's and women's giant slalom races. For complete NCAA
race results, see < http://www.ncaa.com/skiing/default.aspx?id=412>


Dartmouth junior Glenn Randall gets a finish- line hug from Coach Ruff Patterson after Randall won Wednesday's NCAA championship in the 10-kilometer freestyle cross country race.	Dartmouth junior Glenn Randall on the course during Wednesday's 10-kilometer freestyle cross country race at the NCAA skiing championships. Randall became the first Dartmouth skier in 41 years to win an NCAA cross country title.	Dartmouth junior Glenn Randall atop the medal stand after winning the 10-kilometer freestyle cross country race at the NCAA skiing championships.

photos courtesy of Kelly Gorman/Montana State University
-------------------
:: Rick Adams
:: Director of Web & Print Publications
:: Dartmouth College
:: 7 Lebanon St., Suite 201
:: Hanover, NH 03755 USA
:: 603.646.3915
:: rick.adams@dartmouth.edu

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