Dartmouth Big Green

Dartmouth Big Green
Logo
University	Dartmouth College
Conference	Ivy League, ECAC Hockey
Division	Division I
Athletic director	Josie Harper
Location	Hanover, New Hampshire
Varsity teams	34 varsity
Football stadium	Memorial Field
Arena	Leede Arena
Baseball stadium	Rolfe Field
Other venues	Thompson Arena
Mascot	Indian, Keggy the Keg, and Dartmouth Moose (all unofficial)
Nickname	Big Green
Fight song	"Dartmouth's in Town Again"
Colors	Green and White
Website	www.dartmouthsports.com

The Dartmouth College Big Green are the varsity and club athletic teams of Dartmouth College, an American university located in in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth's teams compete in the Ivy League conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, as well as in the ECAC Hockey conference. The College offers 34 varsity teams, 17 club sports, and 24 intramural teams. Sports teams are heavily ingrained in the culture of the College and serve as a social outlet, with 75% of the student body participating in some form of athletics.

Nickname, symbol, and mascot

Keggy posing on the Dartmouth College Green with Baker Memorial Library in the background.

Dartmouth has never had an official mascot. The nickname "The Big Green," originating in the 1860s, is based on students' adoption of a shade of forest green ("Dartmouth Green") as the school's official color in 1866. Beginning in the 1920s, the Dartmouth College athletic teams were known by their unofficial nickname "the Indians," a moniker that probably originated among sports journalists. This unofficial mascot and team name was used until the early 1970s, when its use came under criticism. In the 1974, the Trustees declared the "use of the [Indian] symbol in any form to be inconsistent with present institutional and academic objectives of the College in advancing Native American education." Some alumni and students, as well as the conservative student newspaper, The Dartmouth Review, have sought to return the Indian symbol to prominence, but no team has worn the symbol on its uniform in decades.

Varsity teams

Basketball

Dartmouth College competed in two NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games but came up short both times. In 1942, Dartmouth was runner-up to Stanford University and lost to the University of Utah in 1944.

Football

In 1925, Dartmouth was recognized as a national champion by completing an 8-0 undefeated season. Dartmouth won the Ivy League title in 1958, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973,1981, 1982, 1990, 1991, 1992 & 1996

Lacrosse

In 2006, Dartmouth lost to Northwestern University, which was defending national champion, at the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship.

In 2003, Dartmouth's Men's Lacrosse team posted one of the most famous upsets in lacrosse history when unranked Dartmouth played #2 Princeton at Princeton's Class of 1952 Field. Dartmouth, having finished last in the Ivy League in 2002, were ten goal underdogs against Princeton, the defending Ivy League champs going into the game. Nevertheless Dartmouth prevailed and stunned the Tigers 13-6. Dartmouth went on to win the Ivy League title and qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Ice hockey

Dartmouth ice hockey teams have had success over many decades, the men's team being the ECACH regular season champions in 2006 and won the Ivy League title 15 times (1934, 1943, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1957, 1948, 1949, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1979, 1980 & 2007), and the women's team won the ECACH title in 2001, 2003, 2007, and the Ivy title 8 times (1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004 & 2007). The Dartmouth men twice competed and lost in the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship game in 1948 and 1949.

Sailing

Boat racing since 1932, the Dartmouth College Sailing Team continues to hold its spot as one of the best in the country. They sailing team has won 3 National Championships and has over 52 All-American sailors. They compete in the fall and spring. The sailing team practices on Mascoma Lake in Enfield, NH.

Skiing

At the 2007 NCAA Skiing Championships, the Big Green captured their first NCAA national championship in team sports of any kind since 1976 (The figure skating team has won four consecutive national team championships, the cycling team won national collegiate titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and in 1992, the men's heavyweight crew team won the varsity 8 at the IRA national championships). The ski team also also captured NCAA titles in 1975 and 1958.

Women's Crew

Coached by Wendy Levash and Amelia Siani, the Dartmouth Women's Crew ranks among the most competitive college programs in the country. The team has the Connecticut River as its rowing venue. The stretch of more than 15 miles of rowable river is only used by Dartmouth crews, Hanover High School crews, and local scullers, so water time is not hard to schedule and traffic is minimal. Highlights of rowing on the Connecticut include frequent flat water and gorgeous leaves in the fall. Drawbacks include the late thawing of the ice in the spring and the challenge of avoiding icebergs during the first week back on the water.
Women’s rowing at Dartmouth was founded as a varsity sport in 1975. Over the past 30 years of rowing the team has graduated three rowers who went on to compete in the Olympics. This reputation has made for a very popular program. Each year the team avidly recruits inexperienced freshmen to walk on, welcoming them to make an impact on the team. These walk-ons make up more than half of the team while the rest are recruited women, totaling nearly 60 at the beginning of the fall. Through cuts and self-selection, the freshmen compete in two or more eights by the time spring season comes around. They are led by a large varsity team, generally made up of around 30 women.

The team puts in about 16 practice hours a week, consisting of long endurance building rows, short piece workouts, and weight training. While the fall and spring are spent on the water, the most important training of the year is done in the winter. Indoor facilities consist of over 30 ergs, an indoor rowing tank and Manley Weight Training Gym in the Dartmouth Athletic Center. The Friends of Dartmouth Rowing Boathouse boat bays are converted into winter training facilities. Here the team is able to practice on slide ergs on which trains of four erg together, practicing following as they erg.
The Friends of Dartmouth Rowing Boathouse serves as the home for Dartmouth's Crew Teams, completed in 1985. As part of one of the most competitive college leagues in the nation, the EAWRC, the women set lofty goals each year in hopes of further program growth and success.

Men's Varsity Swim Team

The men’s varsity swim team at Dartmouth College began in 1920, making it one of the oldest continuous collegiate swim programs in the United States. The swim team competes in the Eastern Intercollegiate Swim League, which includes all eight Ivy League schools and the US Naval Academy. The team’s season begins in mid September and continues until late March, during which the EISL Championships take place. During the season the team has weekly competitions, against EISL member teams as well as several other New England college teams. The team practices and hosts meets in the Dartmouth College Aquatic Facilities' Karl Michael Competition Pool & the Spaulding Pool, both located in Alumni Gymnasium.

The team has a long tradition of success within the league as well as nationally. During the 1930s, the team rose to prominence within the league, garnering multiple championship titles and sending several swimmers and relays to the NCAA Championships. More recently, its 200 freestyle relay team was ranked in the top 50 in the nation.

In 2002, Dartmouth College was forced to cut both the men’s and women’s swim teams as a result of the schools financial troubles and forced budgetary cuts. The cutting of the swim teams received national attention after a member placed the team on EBay in an effort to raise money for the team. After significant lobbying and fundraising by students, alumni, and supporters, both the men’s and women’s teams were reinstated under the John C. Glover Fund for the Support of Swimming and Diving. The fund was named after John C. Glover, an all America swimmer for Dartmouth in the class of 1955, who died while training for the Olympics at Yale University in 1956.

Rugby Football Club

The Dartmouth Rugby Football Club (or DRFC) was established in 1951 at Dartmouth College and has seen success ever since. The club has enjoyed success on a national stage. Dartmouth has reached the Final Four of the national collegiate championship three times since 1980 and narrowly lost in two championship games. Dartmouth first won the New England Championship in 1980 and has repeated numerous times. Dartmouth has also won the Ivy League cup 10 times since it was established in 1969.

The club dedicated its Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse in September, 2005 with matches against Army (DRFC) and Radcliffe (DWRC). The Clubhouse was built into the hillside at the halfway line of Battle Field and Brophy Field, which are separated by a twenty-foot bank. Spectators view games from the deck of the Clubhouse and from the hillside that runs the length of the fields.

The team comprises more than 100 students and often fields more than four sides on a given weekend during the fall term. Most of the members of the club have never been in a rugby game prior to going to Dartmouth, and many have never seen a game.

One of the strengths and strongest traditions of the club are the Annual Tours. In 1962 DRFC toured in Ireland. In 1964 the team toured both Germany and Scotland. Recently the team has traveled to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, California, and Spain. See the official site here.

Ultimate Frisbee Team

The Dartmouth Ultimate Team was first established in 1965 at Dartmouth College, originally named "The Blossom Brothers." The team's origins and development in many ways parallel the development of the sport of Ultimate itself. The initially relaxed, informal sport gave way to a more competitive sport, with rules and procedures outlined by the Ultimate Players Association, or UPA. In the same way, the Dartmouth Team now trains with a combination of track workouts, weight-lifting, plyometrics, and Ultimate strategies. The Dartmouth Ultimate team's current colors are green with white lettering for its dark jersey, and white with green lettering for its light jersey.

The Dartmouth Men's Ultimate Team first gained recognition when it competed in the spring national series for Ultimate in 2003. Dartmouth placed low in the series, but since has been a leading presence in its Northeastern region. The team's current rivals in the Northeastern region are Brownian Motion, Zoomass, and Redline, from Brown University, University of Massachusetts, and Harvard University, respectively.

The Dartmouth Women's Ultimate team, named Princess Layout, competed in the national series for the first time in 2004 where they tied for 9th place. Since then, they have become the force to be reckoned with in the Northeast region, placing first at Regionals and tied for 11th at Nationals in 2005 and first at Regionals and tied for 5th at Nationals in 2006.

The Dartmouth Men's Ultimate Team has experimented with several names over the past two decades- before attending Nationals, Dartmouth's team name was "The Dartmouth Pirates." When attending nationals in 2003, the team renamed itself "The Pain Train," taken from the Terry Tate Reebok ads.

Current funding is provided in small part by Dartmouth's club sports fund, while the majority of funds are raised by members and fundraising activities. For further team information, training information, and roster listings, see the Dartmouth Ultimate Official Website here.

Facilities

Building	Image	Constructed	Notes	Reference
Berry Sports Center		1987	Berry Sports Center holds racquetball and basketball facilities (Leede Arena).
Boss Tennis Center		2000	The Alexis Boss Tennis Center, located behind Thompson Arena, contains six regulation tennis courts. The attached Alan Gordon Pavilion provides locker rooms and a lounge.
Davis Field House		1926	Davis Field House, which overlooks the Memorial Field track, is a facility for varsity athletic teams.
Floren Varsity House		2006-2007	Floren, expected for occupancy in the fall of 2007, will contain a strength training center, a sports classroom, meeting rooms, locker rooms, equipment storage, and team offices.
Friends of Dartmouth Rowing Boathouse		1998-1999	The Boathouse, sitting on the banks of the Connecticut River north of the Ledyard Bridge, can store 30 rowing boats.
Leverone Field House		1962-1963	Designed by Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi, Leverone contains an indoor track and tennis courts.
Memorial Field		1921-1923	Memorial Field, Dartmouth's football and track & field stadium, was built on the site of previous athletic grandstands. It is named in memory of the Dartmouth alumni who died in World War I.
Thompson Arena		1975	Thompson Arena, Dartmouth's hockey facility, was also designed by Pier Luigi Nervi.

External links

• Dartmouth official athletic webpage