NCAA Skiing Championships Begin on Wednesday

Wednesday, March 11

Bozeman, Mont. / Bridger Bowl

11:30 AM

Dartmouth College

NCAA Alpine Giant Slalom

Dartmouth Skiers competing at 2020 NCAA Championships

Dartmouth 2020 NCAA Skiers (photos courtesy of Gil Talbot and Steve Fuller)

3/10/2020 3:05:00 PM | Skiing

Dartmouth NCAA Notes Championship Central

Dartmouth has 11 skiers competing at Montana State

By: Rick Bender

Eleven Skiers to NCAAs
Dartmouth qualified 11 skiers for the NCAA Championships, the first time in the last five seasons the Big Green are not sending the full complement of 12. Of the 11, four have experience at the NCAAs, one in each discipline, all of whom are juniors — Drew Duffy (men's alpine), Tricia Mangan (women's alpine), Adam Glueck (men's Nordic) and Katharine Ogden (women's Nordic). This is the third time for Ogden and the second for the other three.

Vying for Fourth NCAA Title
After being shut out from any carnival victories this season and placing second just once, Dartmouth has an uphill climb to win its fourth NCAA crown. The Big Green have won the championship three times previously in 1958, '76 and most recently, 2007. The teams from the West have dominated, however, winning 11 of the 12 titles since Dartmouth last finished atop the heap, and the 12 before that. A total of 67 NCAA champions have been crowned throughout the years, but only Vermont (6) and Dartmouth (3) have won from the East.

Back to Defend Her Title
Dartmouth had two skiers win national titles last year, and one is back to defend her crown. Katharine Ogden won her third title last year, winning the classical race for the second straight season. She also won the 15K freestyle as a freshman, making her just the fourth Big Green skier to win three or more national titles, and first since the early 1960s. Only the legendary Chiharu Igaya '57 won more (6).

All-Americans
Three of the 11 Big Green skiers have previously earned All-America honors a total of seven times:
• Drew Duffy — GS 1st team and SL 2nd team, 2019
• Tricia Mangan — GS 1st team, 2019
• Katharine Ogden — CL and FS 1st team, 2018 and 2019

Carnival Results
Prior to this season, Dartmouth had not finished lower than second in any EISA carnival since 2014, and that was due to not competing in one of the Nordic races following the tragic death of Big Green skier Torin Tucker. Prior to that, you have to go back to the 2008 campaign when Dartmouth place third at the Vermont Carnival. This season, the Big Green finished third in five of the six carnivals behind the Catamounts and Middlebury.

Young Team
Of the 11 skiers competing for Dartmouth in Bozeman, no less than five are either freshmen or sophomores, with at least one in each discipline. Sophomore Abi Jewett is competing for the women's alpine team, while classmate Andrew Miller is with the men's alpine squad. The Nordic teams feature one sophomore in Molly Gellert and a pair of freshmen — Mara McCollor and Cameron Wolfe. In addition, only one senior is among the eleven, that being Kipling Weisel for the men's alpine team.

Nine Make All-East Teams
The Big Green had nine skiers earn spots on the All-East first and second teams, a total exceeded by only Vermont with 12. Seven of those nine came on the alpine side (the most of any school):
Alpine First Team
Drew Duffy
Tricia Mangan
Claire Thomas
Alpine Second Team
Abi Jewett
Andrew Miller
Gwen Wattenmaker
Kipling Weisel
Nordic First Team
Katharine Ogden
Nordic Second Team
Mara McCollor

Women's Alpine Win Streak
The Big Green may not have won a carnival this year, but the women's alpine team had terrific success, winning eight of the 12 events at the six carnivals. Not only that, but those eight wins came in the last four carnivals, so that group enters the NCAA Championships having won eight straight races as a team.

NCAA Individual Champions
Dartmouth has had 41 individual NCAA champions throughout the years with a majority coming in the alpine races. Last year, the Big Green had two champions in the eight events — Katharine Ogden in the women's 15K classic and the other in the men's giant slalom from Tanguy Nef. That gives Dartmouth six individual crowns in the past two years, matching its total from the previous 14 years. Ogden is one of just three Big Green women to win a national title, joining Anouk Patty in 1988 and Jen Collins in 1996, both in the giant slalom.

Going for the Gold
Three Dartmouth skiers won a total of five carnival races this year, two each for Katharine Ogden and Claire Thomas and one for Andrew Miller. Overall, the Big Green placed 12 of their skiers on the podium 33 times through the EISA carnival circuit with Ogden leading the way with six and Thomas next with five. Both alpine teams had five skiers in the top three at least once.

Big Green in the Olympics
Dartmouth had no fewer than 14 alums and students compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, including current member Tricia Mangan. Of those 14, no fewer than 13 competed for the United States, 10 competed (or would compete) for Dartmouth as collegians and nine have been members of the Big Green ski team. Those nine are:
• Rosie Brennan '11 — cross country
• Patrick Caldwell '17 — cross country
• Sophie Caldwell '12 — cross country
• David Chodounsky '08 — alpine
• Susan Dunklee '08 — biathlon
• Annie Hart '14 — cross country
• Tricia Mangan '21 — alpine
• Ida Sargent '11 — cross country
• Tucker Murphy '04 — cross country (Bermuda)