Dartmouth Ready to Challenge for NCAA Skiing Title

Leaving 2022 Behind
Dartmouth returns to the NCAA Championships after a disappointing finish last year when the Big Green finished 11th in the final standings. It was the first time Dartmouth had ever ended up outside the top 10, primarily due to the Nordic teams getting sick in Utah as they could manage only 20 points. The Big Green are healthy and ready to put last year's showing behind them.

Full Complement of Skiers
Dartmouth qualified 12 skiers for the NCAA Championships, as it did last year and each year from 2015-19. But of those dozen, 11 are freshmen or sophomores and only three have experience at the NCAAs — senior Gwen Wattenmaker (women's alpine), and sophomores Luke Allan (men's Nordic) and Oliver Morgan (men's alpine). Both Morgan and Wattenmaker earned All-America second-team honors last year. No other team has more skiers making their NCAA Championships debut, and this is the second consecutive year that is the case; in 2022, Dartmouth sent 10 newcomers to the national stage.

Vying for Fourth NCAA Title
Dartmouth managed to win one of the six carnivals this winter — its first in four years — but the Big Green have 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 13 of the 14 titles since Dartmouth last finished atop the heap, and the 12 before that. A total of 68 NCAA champions have been crowned throughout the years, but only Vermont (6) and Dartmouth (3) have won from the East.

Bib Leaders
Dartmouth wrapped up the carnivals with a pair of bib leaders, both on the Nordic side, with sophomore John Steel Hagenbuch claiming the top spot in men's freestyle and freshman Ava Thurston leading the way in women's classic. Hagenbuch didn't compete until the last half of the season but still managed to take the lead by winning the last two freestyle races, while Thurston won the final three classic races of the year.

Rookies of the Year
Not only was Thurston the classical bib leader, she also was named the Women's Nordic Rookie of the Year as the top-ranked skier in the East. She wasn't the only Big Green to earn recognition as a top newcomer in the EISA as sophomore John Steel Hagenbuch was selected as the Men's Nordic Rookie of the Year after finishing the season as the third-ranked male in the East with four podiums and two wins to his credit. And let's not forget about the men's alpine top rookie, Oscar Zimmer. The Norwegian is third in the regional rankings with three podiums and a giant slalom victory at Harvard.

Ten Make All-East Teams
The Big Green had 10 skiers earn spots on the All-East first and second teams, a total exceeded only by Vermont with 16.

ALL-EAST TEAMS Dartmouth Selections
First Team Alpine
Carly Elsinger	So.
Oliver Morgan	So.
Allie Resnick	So.
Oscar Zimmer	Fr.
First Team Nordic
John Steel Hagenbuch	So.
Ava Thurston	Fr.
Second Team Alpine
Cooper Puckett	Fr.
Second Team Nordic
Luke Allan	So.
Jack Lange	Fr.
Nina Seemann	So.

First Carnival Win in Four Years

At the Harvard Carnival on Feb. 10-11, Dartmouth managed to earn its first carnival victory since 2019, squeaking past Vermont by a mere 13 points, 848-835. The Catamounts won four of the eight events while the Big Green claimed just two, but the big difference came in the classical Nordic races in which Dartmouth outscored UVM by a 261-194 margin. And while it had been four years since the team won a carnival, that covers just three seasons since the Green's 2021 season was canceled due to the pandemic.

NCAA Individual Champions
Dartmouth has had 42 individual NCAA champions throughout the years with a majority coming in the alpine races. The last individual titles won by a Big Green skier came in 2019 — Katharine Ogden in the women's 15K classic and Tanguy Nef in the men's giant slalom. That gave Dartmouth six individual crowns in the 2018-19 seasons, 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
Six Dartmouth skiers won a total of 12 carnival races this year, led by sophomore Allie Resnick in women's alpine with four. Freshman Ava Thurston (3) and sophomore John Steel Hagenbuch (2) won multiple Nordic races as well, while Carly Elsinger, Oliver Morgan and Oscar Zimmer each won once on the slopes. Overall, the Big Green placed 10 of their skiers on the podium 32 times through the EISA carnival circuit with Thurston leading the way with six with Resnick picking up five and Hagenbuch four.

Preparing to Host in 2025
In two years, Dartmouth will host the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2003 and the fourth time in program history. The Big Green finished sixth back in 2003, second in 1970 and took the title when they first hosted in 1958.

Dartmouth will begin redesigning its trails soon plus add snow-making capabilities to its Nordic facility, Oak Hill, at a cost of $5 million in preparation for the event. The renovations are expected to be complete in time for the 2024 carnival season. The Dartmouth Skiway already has snow-making capability and is ready to serve as host for the first time in 22 years.

Schedules