Dartmouth Varsity Athletics Top Moments of 2014: Day 1

Over the course of the next week, DartmouthSports.com will feature a five-part series highlighting 20 of the best moments from varsity student-athletes during the 2014 calendar year. These games, plays and events were selected by a group of individuals within the athletics department.

Due to the number of Dartmouth varsity programs, it was determined that a team may have no more than one highlight. While not every team is represented within this list, there was an effort made to include as many of the 34 varsity programs as possible.

This is not a countdown and there is no order to the events as they appear in this series. Its purpose is to highlight some of the tremendous accomplishments of Big Green student-athletes and teams during 2014.

Part 1: Dec. 22 | Part 2: Dec. 23 | Part 3: Dec. 29 | Part 4: Dec. 30 | Dec. 31

Men's Basketball Defeats Princeton in Overtime – Feb. 5
Prior to a 78-69 win on a Saturday night against Princeton inside Leede Arena, the Dartmouth men's basketball team had not swept a home weekend from perennial powers Penn and Princeton since the 1988-89 season. Both senior Tyler Melville and junior John Golden produced season highs on the scoreboard with 21 and 19 points, respectively, to help the Big Green to their biggest victory of the 2013-14 season.

Women's Cross Country Repeats as Ivy League Champion – Nov. 1
The Dartmouth women once again reigned supreme during cross country season, winning the 2014 Ivy League Heptagonal Championship at Princeton's West Windsor Field with 47 points. Junior Dana Giordano (20:28.1) led the team with a second-place finish on the 6K course with senior teammate Sarah DeLozier (20:36.1) taking third. The Big Green's victory marked the sixth Ivy League crown in program history after winning four straight between 1994-97 and now one in each of the last two seasons.

Mike Olentine Breaks Men's Lacrosse Record with 10 Goals – April 29
In the final game of the season for the Big Green, senior Mike Olentine etched his name in the Dartmouth record books with a record-setting performance against Holy Cross. Olentine scored five goals in each half to set a new Dartmouth single-game record with 10, breaking the previous mark of nine that had been achieved four times, but not since 1979. His 11-point afternoon was also the fifth-best figure in Ivy League history.

Skiing Earns a Pair of All-America Honors – Mar. 8
Then-freshman Patrick Caldwell claimed fifth place in the men's 20K Freestyle to earn First-Team All-America honors in his first time competing at the NCAA Skiing Championships. Annie Hart of the women's team would garner Second-Team All-America recognition for an eighth-place showing in the 15K Freestyle. For Hart, it was the fifth and final All-America honor in her decorated collegiate career with the Big Green.