17W PEAK by Dartmouth Peak Performance

WINTER

2017

FROM DARTMOUTH PEAK PERFORMANCE AND DARTMOUTH ATHLETIC SPONSORS

Growing

at Dartmouth

For CountrY, For Dartmouth

WLAX

Making Championships +

Bridge

to Success

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ACADEMIC NOTES

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BACK TO BACK TO BACK Dartmouth’s men’s soccer team saw much success this past season as they took home their third consecutive Ivy League title and also reached the second round of the NCAA tournament for the third year in a row. Congratulations on a great season! www.dartmouthsports.com

DARTMOUTH ATHLETIC

SPONSORS P E A K | SUM M ER 201 6

WINTER 2017

Contents

DARTMOUTH’S WOMEN’S RUGBY TEAM COMPLETED IT’S SECOND VARSITY SEASON WITH ANOTHER IVY RUGBY TITLE AFTER DEFEATING HARVARD IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. PICTURED ABOVE ARE SOPHOMORE KAT RAMAGE AND THE TEAM PARTICIPATING IN A SCRUM AGAINST AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY. www.dartmouthsports.com

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in this issue 6

FOR COUNTRY, FOR DARTMOUTH

Junior Morgan Philie is not only an essential component of Dartmouth’s field hockey defense, but a dedicated cadet in Dartmouth’s Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. Her experience in both programs has helped build the foundation for her success.

Dartmouth Peak Performance 6083 Alumni Gym Hanover, NH 03755 EDITOR Drew Galbraith SENIOR WRITER Bruce Wood ADVERTISING Sam Hopkins

GROWING AT DARTMOUTH

Brandon Cooper, a senior on Dartmouth’s football team, chose the Big Green as his home away from home for not only the things he could bring Dartmouth, but for what Dartmouth would give to him.

ASSISTANT EDITOR Karen Shu PHOTOGRAPHY Rob Bossi, Mark Washburn, Gil Talbot, John Risley, Matt Risley, Nate Barrett, Tom McNeill, Andy Mead, and Karen Shu Problems or Accessibility Issues? dp2@dartmouth.edu

Making Championships a Reality

First-year women’s lacrosse head coach Danielle Spencer has both the playing and coaching experience to make championships at Dartmouth a reality. Coming from a lacrosse powerhouse, Spencer is familiar with what it takes to bring the Big Green back to the top of the Ancient Eight.

BRIDGE TO SUCCESS

The Tuck Bridge program is not for the faint of heart – late nights, early mornings, daily presentations, and little downtime. Four student-athletes highlight their experience and their motivation to complete such a rigorous program.

ON THE COVER A Stowe, Vermont native, senior Mackenzie St. Onge was tabbed as this year’s captain for the women’s ice hockey team. Appearing in almost every game of her athletic career at Dartmouth, over 100 and counting, Mackenzie has been a key player on this year’s team. The recruiting visit of Mackenzie St. Onge ’17 was made possible by the generosity of David & Lee Lemal, Dartmouth Parents, and Barry Smith ‘59 through the Athletic Sponsors Program.

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“

She brings a good leadership component, not just leading by example. She is just a kid who gets it”

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Morgan Philie ’18

For Country, For Dartmouth Dartmouth field hockey coach Amy Fowler spotted her junior captain sitting on the sideline massaging her feet before last fall’s game against Yale. “She was like, ‘Oh, my feet are cramping up,’ ” said Fowler. “I said to her, ‘Well, what could be the cause of that?’ ” And then Fowler laughed. She knew exactly why Morgan Philie’s feet were giving her a problem. And that she’s lucky she didn’t have trouble just keeping her eyes open. A center back from West Friendship, Md., Philie is a cadet in Dartmouth’s Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, a detachment of the program at Norwich University, a private military college in Northfield, Vt., that calls itself the birthplace of the ROTC. The Yale game came in the middle of a field training exercise at Norwich that saw Philie depart Hanover in the wee hours of Friday morning and not resume her normal student life until Sunday evening – with the notable exception of 70 minutes on the AstroTurf against the Bulldogs. Philie knew she was fortunate simply to be there. “It’s not ideal,” she said of facing a key Ivy League rival in the middle of a military exercise, “but it was a favor for them even to let me play the game, so I have to take what I can get.” With a roster of 17 last fall, the Dartmouth field

hockey team is just about the same size as the college’s ROTC roster. While Philie knew by her junior year at Glenelg High School that she wanted to wear a field hockey uniform in college, the two-time member of the Maryland all-state first team never saw herself in a military uniform at the same time. Not even with brother, Mathieu, a West Point student-athlete. “When I was looking at schools he was in his sophomore and junior year of college,” she said. “I saw that and thought, ‘Nope, not for me. No way. I’m not doing any of that.’ “It’s not something that’s in our family or anything, but my brother was recruited for golf and ended up loving it. He was perfectly suited for the military. I didn’t think I was.” After being chosen to the Harrow Sports/NFHCA High School All-America third team at Glenelg, Philie systematically whittled away a list of top schools offering field hockey and well-regarded STEM programs and Dartmouth bubbled up to the top. “I got down to the top 15 or so and did field hockey camps, tried to talk to coaches and then visited schools to see what I liked,” she explained. “I hadn’t heard much of anything about Dartmouth but when I visited I loved it the first time I stepped on the campus. I loved the field hockey program and how much of a family it was. It just seemed like

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a really good fit for me.” Between Mathieu’s appreciation for his experience at West Point and the lack of athletic scholarships at Dartmouth, Philie’s parents suggested she at least consider exploring the ROTC scholarship option. To her surprise, she found herself intrigued. “The more I learned the more I understood what kind of opportunities ROTC can provide,” she said. “I realized it offered a chance to broaden my perspective and my horizons, and would allow me to push my limits.” ROTC would certainly make footing the bill for an Ivy League education easier. Broaching the idea to Fowler was a little harder. “When I was recruited it was kind of slipped in there that, Yeah, I might also do this ROTC thing, but I’m not sure about it,” Philie said. “She said she never had a player do that before, but it didn’t stop them from recruiting me. I actually have her to thank, because a lot of coaches wouldn’t want their player taken out from their team, to go be on this other team.” With Fowler’s blessing Philie decided to go for it. “I ended up applying for the ROTC scholarship right before senior year of high school,” she said. “I went

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through the whole process and found out at the end of winter that I got a four-year scholarship. I knew it was going to be hard but it was fun seeing things come together.” Philie’s ROTC commitment during the academic calendar has expanded each year. As a freshman she had one hour of military science class per week in addition to a two-hour military lab on Thursdays from 6:30 until 8:30 a.m. Her status as a varsity athlete fulfilled her physical training requirement. As a sophomore she had two hours of military science in addition to the early lab. This year she has three one-hour military science classes a week in addition to the lab. Being anywhere other than in bed at 6:30 a.m. is unusual for a college student. Doing what she’s doing at that hour is a lot more unusual. “The labs are learning different military tactics,” she explained. “They are more hands-on, in-the-field lessons. As a junior your

responsibility is to teach those labs. You are basically teaching the ones and twos, freshmen and sophomores, everything you’ve learned so far doing the labs for the last two years.” Given the small number of ROTC students at Dartmouth, Philie stands out on campus when she’s walking to or from the detachment’s

headquarters in Leverone Field house, but even more so elsewhere on campus. “My freshman year because we have to be in uniform for ROTC classes, I wouldn’t have time to change between that and my French class or something,” she said. “I would walk in with my ACU’s (Army Combat Uniform) on and take my cover (hat) off and get some stares. But mostly people just looked down at their desk. “ROTC used to be very foreign to anyone I tried to talk to about it. As I have progressed in the program I’ve been able to help the people around me learn more about it.” She’s also been able to help the field hockey program in a big way. As a junior she tied for the team lead with seven goals, was top on the roster in shots on goal and second in points. Although it wasn’t her best game, she even scored a goal during her busman’s holiday marching up and down the field against Yale. “She became a pretty significant starter halfway through her freshman fall,” said Fowler. “She was a right back and really solidified her spot in our defense. She’s really strong and powerful with a good aerial and a big hit. “She’s not a flashy player but brings a ton of composure and steady, solid defensive play. She brings a good leadership component, not just leading by example. She is just a kid who gets it.” It’s both surprising and not surprising that Philie was chosen as a team captain as a junior. “That was definitely a little daunting at first with three seniors on the team,” she said. “I didn’t really know how to approach it at first but now I am very comfortable in the role. I’ve been able to take a lot of what I’ve learned through ROTC leadership training and transfer it over to people who aren’t soldiers.” Combining military training and studies with field hockey and, oh by the way, an Ivy League major in computer science keeps her plenty busy. But she even finds a way to enjoy a little bit of normal student life. “A lot of people ask me, ‘How do you have the time to do anything?’ You would think I don’t have a social life, but you have to or you would drive yourself into a wall,” she said. “I think it is really all about a balance. Some nights you are going to stay up until three in the morning, but then give yourself a break the next day. Sit back and go to Starbucks. “The support of everyone around me helps me see that

big picture. I think it just takes discipline to get done the things that you need to get done, and to focus on what’s most important. You need to take care of yourself and be accountable for what you said you would do.” Philie “contracted” with the Army in the spring of her freshman year. She’ll admit that as it surely is with others, there were doubts that occasionally crept in during her early days as a cadet. “The first few terms of the program I definitely wondered what I was getting myself into,” she said. “I think everyone has those concerns. “I think it is really interesting how I came in, not on a whim, but pretty close to that. Now I take pride in my development as a leader, how much confidence I gained by doing ROTC, and how much leadership experience I have gained.” Between her freshman and sophomore years Philie spent 28 days of initial training at Fort Knox. She will return to the Kentucky army post in the coming summer for advanced camp that will factor into the “accession” in a particular branch of the service. As her season wound down Philie was uncertain on what branch she would pursue, which will determine her postgraduation military commitment. “If I compete to get an active duty branch, then it would be roughly four years active. That depends on the branch I go to (and) the training I have to go through before I can actually start duty,” she explained. “On the other hand, I could opt out of active-duty and go Reserves or National Guard, which would be eight years. I am a computer science major so that is lining itself up to be really competitive right out of graduation. “Either way, I am going to be a Second Lieutenant. It’s just whether I do it on weekends as my second job or full-time.” Before that, though, there’s the matter of one more year leading Dartmouth field hockey the way she did with cramping feet before rejoining a field training exercise in the Vermont mountains. Her commitment did not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Leadership, she said she learned, can be lonely and it was after the game last fall against Yale. “She showered, put her stinky fatigues back on, got food at the tailgate and her parents drove her right back to Norwich to finish Saturday and Sunday,” said Fowler. “Her teammates all watched her walk away in fatigues that she had been wearing since crack of dawn on Friday.”

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Growing at Dartmouth Don’t get the wrong idea. Brandon Cooper didn’t grow up the son of an oilfield roughneck in one of those desolate wind-blown West Texas towns playing six-man football before coming to the Ivy League. But just because the Dartmouth football captain spent his formative years in the DallasFort Worth Metroplex the son of college graduates didn’t make being chosen the Homecoming speaker at an elite Ivy League school 1,800 miles from home any easier. “My first reaction when they asked me?” he said with a laugh, repeating the question. “It was, ‘Oh man, public speaking.’ It’s something I never could have ever imagined when I was a freshman here.” A 6-foot-1, 270-pound defensive end and pro hopeful, Cooper came to Dartmouth from South Grand Prairie High School in Grand Prairie, a city of about 175,000 a dozen or so miles west of Dallas and 15 minutes from Cowboys Stadium. As is the case with so many Ivy League athletes, he grew up in a household where education was important. Dad Bert was a guard on the Texas Wesleyan basketball team in the mid-1980s and mom, Cynthia, graduated from Illinois State and is a teacher at South Grand Prairie. “My parents did not play around at all when it came to education,” said Cooper. “School always came first.” As a captain of the South Grand Prairie Warriors, Cooper was named to the Texas 5A District 7 first team and chosen as a Texas Prep Stars “Under the Radar” selection. A National Honor Society member and first-team Texas High School Coaches Association Academic All-State selection, he drew wide-ranging recruiting interest, particularly from academicoriented programs. “I got my first offer my junior spring from Rice,” he said. “Outside of the Ivies, I had about 12 Division I offers. My Ivy League offers were Yale, Penn, Columbia and Dartmouth.

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“After my senior year of football I narrowed my decision down to an Ivy League school. I was thinking more about my future and being guaranteed to go to school for all four years even if I got hurt or stopped playing. I was thinking about that and not the scholarship renewal from year-to-year.” He took his first recruiting visit to Yale, “but the vibe wasn’t there.” The fit was better at Penn, where he was hosted by defensive end Brandon Copeland, who would go on to play in the NFL and is currently with the Detroit Lions. “I really enjoyed that visit,” he said. “But they brought us up when the students weren’t on campus. I think it was a week before they got back and I didn’t really know what campus life was like.” Although he liked what he saw in West Philadelphia, Cooper still had two recruiting trips planned including one a week later to faroff Hanover, N.H. “Coach Hank (Cortez Hankton) was the recruiter back then and K-Lew (Kevin Lewis) was the D-line coach,” he recalled. “I really liked them when they came to visit my house. And I really enjoyed Coach T (Buddy Teevens). He made a lasting impression. “I came up here on MLK weekend. Flo (Orimolade), Abrm (McQuarters) and (Joseph) Cook were on the same visit and I was vibing with them. My host was Ernest Evans, who’s from Houston, about 3 1/2 miles away from me. Dalyn (Williams) is from Dallas and (Jacob) Flores doesn’t live too far from me so there were people here I could relate to, and relate with. “There was just a better sense of family and well-being here. I felt right at home. Everyone gelled. I liked the football program and the direction it was going.” Cooper was scheduled to fly to the Big Apple a week after his Dartmouth visit to take a look at Columbia but instead canceled the trip.

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“After I got back from Dartmouth I sat down with my family and said Dartmouth is where I want to go, where I want to be,” he said. “I told them I felt like it was the place where I could grow and be the best man I could be, and the best football player as well. I said I liked not only what I can bring to Dartmouth, but what Dartmouth can bring to me.” As a freshman he played in six games, making five tackles including a 17-yard sack. He’ll readily admit that during those early days he was a lot more at home on the football field than in the classroom or his dormitory. “The transition was a culture shock,” he said. “I came from a big high school with about 4,000 students who were predominantly black and Mexican. This was a small college with different demographics. “I wasn’t sure how I would fit in but I knew when I got here that I had 120 guys to build a friendship with and bond with before anybody else came on campus. From that I began to branch out and meet new people, and got more comfortable with the atmosphere here.” It took a little longer for him to get comfortable in the classroom. “I came from a really good public school and there’s nothing wrong with their curriculum,” he said, “but obviously, when you come to an Ivy League school you are going to be behind the eightball on some things. It was hard catching up to the speed of classes, the quality of work that they expect from you, and the quarter system.” Cooper said he “made some bad decisions” picking classes early in his academic career and that led to self-doubting. “There were times when I wanted to quit,” he said. “You can ask the coaching staff. I came close but I stuck it out.” Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens remembers that Cooper struggled at the outset of his college career, but marvels at how he adjusted to living half a country and a world apart from where he grew up. “It was a big change for him,” the Big Green coach said. “As a younger guy I don’t think he appreciated what Dartmouth could do for him. It has been wonderful to see his confidence grow, his academic success and his interpersonal skill development grow. “He got it after a while, but it is a radical change for a lot of people. Some aren’t strong enough to see it through. He’s one who did.” Cooper finally settled in by the spring of his freshman year. “I came in with expectations that Dartmouth was going to be a certain way for me and it wasn’t,” he said. “Instead I had to adjust, to 12

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the team, to the people who were here and to the surroundings. “I had to learn to hone in and focus on what’s important without a lot of distractions. I had to grow and mature as a person and that changed what my definition of success was in life. I came to understand I could become a leader and communicate in different ways with different people.” Perhaps the culmination of his journey from uncomfortable and disoriented freshman to confident and accomplished upperclassman was his election as one of Dartmouth’s three captains last spring and the leadership he’s provided during a trying senior season. “Everyone can lead when things are going well,” he said. “When you have a 9-1 championship season everything is good. What about this year, when things haven’t been on the up and up? When everything is looking hard? “(Fellow captains) Flo, David (Morrison) and I had to keep our heads up and be that motivating force. We had to show the positive attitude that drives everyone, not only the young, but also the experienced guys.” That has been a challenge but one that he’s been up to, just like the challenge the kid from Texas faced when he was asked about speaking in the glare of the spotlights illuminating Dartmouth Hall on the night before Harvard would come to town. “I did a couple of speeches in high school but it wasn’t really my forte and nothing near this magnitude,” he said. “I knew that it was a blessing and an honor and I had to take advantage of the moment as one of the first African-Americans to give the Homecoming speech. I knew the words I spoke would resonate.” He recalled sitting on the dais awaiting his turn to speak with the crowd building and the lighting of the bonfire waiting and thinking to himself how far his personal journey of discovery has taken him. “I was the finale speech so I found myself thinking about how things were my freshman year,” he said. “I was thinking about how I’ve grown and matured. How I would never have seen myself in this position, but here I am. “I couldn’t even tell you how many people were there but all eyes were on me and I knew they weren’t going to start the bonfire until I got done. That speech was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life, but it was natural. It felt like I was supposed to be there in that moment to give that speech.” Which his four-year journey from Texas proved he was. The recruiting visit of Brandon Cooper ’17 was made possible by the generosity of Arthur Kelton Jr. ‘61 and Dartmouth Class of 1951 through the Athletic Sponsors Program.

GOBIGGREEN 2016-17 DARTMOUTH BASKETBALL WOMEN’S SCHEDULE SAT / DEC 17 SUN / DEC 18 WED / DEC 21 THU / DEC 29 SAT / DEC 31 SAT / JAN 7 SAT / JAN 21 FRI / JAN 27 SAT / JAN 28 FRI / FEB 3 SAT / FEB 4 FRI / FEB 10 SAT / FEB 11 FRI / FEB 17 SAT / FEB 18 FRI / FEB 24 SAT / FEB 25 FRI / MAR 3 SAT / MAR 4

MARIST at Rhode Island at Boston College ALBANY at New Hampshire at Harvard* HARVARD* COLUMBIA* CORNELL* at Princeton* at Penn* YALE* BROWN* at Cornell* at Columbia* at Brown* at Yale* PENN* PRINCETON*

2 PM 4 PM 11 AM 7 PM 1 PM 2 PM 6 PM 7 PM 6 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 6 PM 6 PM 6 PM 6 PM 7:30 PM 7 PM 6 PM

FRI / MAR 11SAT / MAR 12

IVY LEAGUE TOURNAMENT at Philadelphia, PA

MEN’S SCHEDULE SUN / DEC 18 THU / DEC 22 SAT / DEC 31 TUE / JAN 3 SAT / JAN 7 SAT / JAN 21 FRI / JAN 27 SAT / JAN 28 FRI / FEB 3 SAT / FEB 4 FRI / FEB 10 SAT / FEB 11 FRI / FEB 17 SAT / FEB 18 FRI / FEB 24 SAT / FEB 25 FRI / MAR 3 SAT / MAR 4

at LIU Brooklyn at Bryant NEW HAMPSHIRE CSU BAKERSFIELD HARVARD* at Harvard* at Columbia* at Cornell* PRINCETON* PENN* at Yale* at Brown* CORNELL* COLUMBIA* BROWN* YALE* at Penn* at Princeton*

2 PM 11 AM 2 PM 7 PM 7 PM 2 PM 7 PM 6 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 6 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 6 PM

FRI / MAR 11SAT / MAR 12

IVY LEAGUE TOURNAMENT at Philadelphia, PA

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“

I knew when I was evaluating head coaching positions as an assistant that I wanted to go where we could win a national championship, and I believe that’s a legitimate goal here”

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Making Championships

a Reality

There are a lot of coaches who need to be convinced of a serious commitment to winning an Ivy League championship before they’ll consider taking a job in the Ancient Eight. That was never a consideration for Danielle Spencer when she was interviewing to be the head coach of women’s lacrosse at Dartmouth. That the school has an ironclad resolve to restore its standing as the top school for lacrosse in the Ivy League was a given. But Spencer needed more. “The Ivy League championship is the first goal and always will be,” the former Northwestern standout said. “But I wouldn’t have taken this job if I didn’t think we could win it all. I knew when I was evaluating head coaching positions as an assistant that I wanted to go where we could win a national championship, and I believe that’s a legitimate goal here. “From a recruiting perspective Dartmouth sells itself. There’s a winning tradition and great support from the alumni. We’re having a new locker room built in the spring and a new indoor turf facility is on the way. The support we need is here.” Spencer certainly knows what it takes to win. She’s been doing it ever since the lacrosse coach in the Rochester, N.Y., surburb of Brighton spotted her aggressively slide tackling a boy in a seventh grade soccer game, and after a year of trying finally convinced her to pick up a lacrosse stick. “I had decided I was going to play field hockey with my friends but the lacrosse coach kept at it,” she recalled. “Field hockey was OK, but I was curious about lacrosse, so I gave it a shot. “It was hard at first because until you can catch and throw it is frustrating. Once that happens the whole game just opens up and it is contagious.” So contagious, it turned out, that field hockey and soccer soon were history. “As I caught on to lacrosse I started to realize I loved it,” said Spencer. “Typically after soccer practice at the time I would go home and do whatever. But after lacrosse practice I’d go right into the backyard and practice some more. Then I was asking for a goal from my parents. I was asking for a punch back. I just wanted to play all the time.” As a high school junior Spencer teamed with senior Hilary Bowen to lead Brighton to the New York Class B state championship with a 20-1 record. Bowen would go on to

help Northwestern to a national title the next spring and a year later newly minted high school All-American Danielle Spencer would join her best friend in Evanston. “I kind of went through her recruiting vicariously and then just followed in her footsteps,” Spencer said. “I knew that Northwestern was strong academically and they had just won the national championship my junior year, 2005. That’s when I said, ‘OK, where do I sign?’ I thought, ‘Whatever is brewing there, I could feel it happening, and I want to be a part of it.’ ” The Wildcats would go on to win three more national championships and finish runner-up one time with Spencer in uniform. She closed out her career with 193 goals and 45 assists, and in second place in school annals with 203 draw controls. She earned two nominations for the Tewaaraton Award – the Heisman Trophy of lacrosse – and after being selected a second-team All-American as a junior was a firstteam All-American as a senior. And then, suddenly, college lacrosse was over for her. Or at least she thought it was. “After I graduated I accepted a position working for a startup software company in San Francisco,” she said. “I was curious about going west to work.” What she realized working her day job was that it couldn’t compare to how she spent her free time. “I didn’t hate my job, but I didn’t feel very passionate about it,” she admitted. “I was playing with the U.S. team at the time so I was training very heavily every day after work. I was going and shooting, playing wall-ball, running and lifting. I was also doing a lot of coaching, giving private lessons and helping out club teams and high school teams in the area. “Before I knew it, my schedule was filled with different jobs. Almost all of them were lacrosse related and just one of them was my actual full-time job. That’s when I started to realize, ‘Wow, I am really passionate about lacrosse. I really enjoy coaching.’ ” With that she called Kelly Amonte Hiller, her coach at Northwestern to talk things over. “I just kind of thought, `Wouldn’t it be nice instead of having different jobs and juggling all those balls if I just make coaching my one job?’ Spencer said. “Kelly told me, ‘It’s not all that you think it is. Right now all you are doing is coaching. There’s a lot more to it than that.’ “She said, ‘I am all these other things that go into it. Two hours a day you are out on the field coaching lacrosse, but PEAK | WINTER 2017

“ I wouldn’t have taken this job if I didn’t think we could win it all.”

a lot of the other time is spent in an office, or recruiting, or on the phone.’ ” With Amonte Hiller’s help, Spencer landed an assistant’s job at Stanford and when there was an opening at Northwestern a year later the onetime Wildcat returned home. She spent the last four years as a Northwestern assistant and recruiting coordinator. Hired at Dartmouth in August, Spencer hit the ground running. Although the Big Green has finished 3-4 in the Ivy League and with a sub-.500 record for each of the past three years, Spencer is confident the first Ivy title since 2011 might not be as far off as some people think. “We have a lot of potential right now on the team,” she said. “There is a strong foundation of athletes very eager to learn. Our goal as a staff during the fall was to teach and expand their lacrosse knowledge and IQ and to bring in another level of enthusiasm. “We felt like we got a lot of teaching done in the fall,” said Spencer, the 2010 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. “We have some of the smartest girls in the country on our team and they learn pretty quickly. Typically, we don’t need to teach stuff more than once, so we were able to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time.” Northwestern isn’t on Dartmouth’s schedule this spring but it probably won’t be all that long until teacher and pupil square off. “I would love to schedule Northwestern and I know Kelly feels the same way,” said Spencer. “It will be a fun day for me when it happens.” Remember what Spencer said about how she wouldn’t have taken the Dartmouth position if she didn’t think the Big Green could win a national championship? She was a year away from playing Northwestern the last time Northwestern and Dartmouth met. That would have been in May of 2006. The Wildcats won, 7-4. Before a crowd of 6,074 at Boston University. In the national championship game. GETTING TO KNOW COACH SPENCER At 6-foot-2, Spencer was a terrific volleyball player who for a while considered doubling in the sport in college. She did not play basketball in high school because at the time it conflicted in New York with volleyball season. 16

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“Now, knowing what I know about lacrosse, I understand how helpful it would be to have had a basketball background with all the defense, offensive sets, picks and rolls and all that,” she said. “Everyone asks me with my height if I played basketball and I always have to tell them, ‘No, I played volleyball.’” Spencer calls herself a foodie and with good reason. Her father, Joe, was co-owner of the popular Rochester eatery Hogan’s Hideaway when she was growing up. “My brother and I grew up in the business,” she said. “I was waiting tables younger than I was supposed to. Luckily, I was pretty tall. I started working in the restaurant when I was in middle school and started serving in high school. It was a job that I would always do when I went home on break.” Spencer’s mother, Diane DeLorm, is a pastry chef who used to own a bakery. “She went back to school and now is a registered dietitian,” Spencer said. “It’s pretty ironic, I know. And she doesn’t actually like sweets that much herself.” Not surprisingly, Spencer enjoys a good meal out or in. “I am a food snob, but there’s no food I won’t eat,” she said. “I love going out to eat. I love cooking. If I have down time and I can go out to a new restaurant with a friend or cook at home, I am happy.” Spencer played professional lacrosse last summer with the Boston Storm and while that helped her grow more comfortable with changes coming to the college game – foremost among them the adoption of a shot clock – her responsibilities as a head coach may limit her athletic pursuits to running in the future. “I have been running on the trails here a bunch and really enjoy my time alone running in the woods,” she said. She is hopeful she will be able to try her first marathon with her father in the not-too-distant future. It figures to be memorable. “My dad has run a marathon in 49 of 50 states and nine of the 13 Canadian provinces,” she said. “His goal is to run all over North America. The only state he is missing is Hawaii and that’s proving pretty difficult because he has gotten pretty beat up after all of the other marathons. He’s working on finding a trail marathon in Hawaii and when he does we’ll make it happen.”

Brayton Osgood Nordic Skiing

DARTMOUTH ATHLETIC

SPONSORS WHO ARE THE ATHLETIC SPONSORS?

Athletic Sponsors include more than 1,000 Dartmouth alumni, parents and supporters who love Dartmouth, who love sports, who either played or watched athletics as undergraduates, and who feel that Dartmouth should be a leader in the classroom and on the field. We are men and women in our 20’s and our 90’s and we are represented by nearly every class. WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO?

We know that success on the playing surface begins long before the contest starts... it has its genesis in recruiting. Without outstanding talent, success can only be an occasional dream. We are therefore committed to providing Dartmouth coaches with the resources they need to recruit exceptional student-athletes. We also know that Dartmouth has a unique and powerful trump card. The campus is close to irresistible when experienced in person. That’s Dartmouth’s edge! The trick is to get impact scholar-athletes face to face with this great institution to make a decision for Dartmouth. That’s the primary focus of what we do. We fly student-athletes to Hanover and send coaches to their homes. HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS TO THE COLLEGE?

Very! While the NCAA allows one paid visit to campus, the Ivy League legislates that those expenses cannot be budgeted items. That’s where we come in. We provide the non-budgeted funds. Every year we fly in nearly 300 potential impact athletes, and of those recruits accepted by the Admissions Office, the vast majority (about 90% ) decide to enroll at Dartmouth. WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT?

Satisfaction and pride! You’ll be kept up-to-date on Dartmouth sports through our official newsletter, the award-winning Big Green Sports News, and your name will be listed in the next season’s home football programs. If you choose certain membership levels (see next page) you will also be informed of a specific athlete whose recruiting trip your donation made possible, so you can follow his or her progress through four years at Dartmouth. Most important, all Sponsors share the rewards of helping young men and women make a decision to embark on the very special “Dartmouth Experience.” That’s the real reason our program has grown from 6 members in 1955 to more than 1,000 today!

Sponsors and Friends enjoy the complimentary pre-game tent overlooking Memorial Field at each home football game

MEMBERSHIP LEVELS

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

$300-$599

Assigned a recruit every 3-4 years

$600-$1199

Assigned a recruit every 1-2 years and listed on our Leadership display in Alumni Gym

$1200-$4999

Assigned recruit annually, Leadership display & special recognition in football program

$5000 & up

Assigned recruit annually, Leadership display, special recognition in the football program & VIP Reception at Homecoming

To contact the Athletic Sponsor Program office, please call 603-646-2463 or email Sponsors@Dartmouth.edu PEAK | WINTER 2017

“

Bridge really confirmed my interest in the subject. Three weeks of courses isn’t enough to become an accounting guru but it shows demonstrated interest” John Katzman ‘17

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After a summer of training, a fall spent cramming Division I Typically, casework preparation for the next day begins around volleyball and Ivy League academics into a 10-week term, and the 9 p.m., and will stretch late into the night, after which it all starts usual rush to finish papers and study for exams, the last thing Emily over. Patrick probably needed when friends back home in Texas were Held six days a week, classes include subjects such as managerial soaking up the sun was to dive into perhaps the most exhausting economics, corporate finance, marketing simulation, spreadsheet three weeks of her college career. modeling and financial accounting. In frozen New Hampshire. At the end of four weeks in summer and the accelerated threeVoluntarily. week winter session, the student groups present valuations of Wiley Osborne could have used the break between a grueling companies to panels of professors and business professionals. The investment banking internship in the fall and the lacrosse preseason companies the Bridge students study are involved in a wide variety to chill back in California and charge his batteries but instead he of endeavors ranging from developing concussion sensors in sports chose to spend much of December working every bit as hard as he helmets to building a national market for tacos and burritos to did in his internship, which is saying something. selling eyeglasses over the Internet. Why would Patrick and Osborne, softball player Maddie Katzman, a senior punter/kicker on the football team, decided Damore, football’s John Katzman and other athletes decide to on the program because he felt it could open doors in the business venture far out of their comfort zone and enroll in Dartmouth’s world. demanding and admittedly “I thought that doing the arduous Tuck Business Bridge Bridge program and having that Program? on my resume coming from a “I want to go into the liberal arts school and being business world after graduation a Chinese major, of all things, and as a sociology-anthropology would tell employers that I was double major I haven’t really serious about trying to learn had a taste of accounting or econ finance. Bridge really confirmed and all that fun stuff,” explained my interest in the subject. Three Damore. weeks of courses isn’t enough to Osborne, another who did become an accounting guru but it the relatively new winter Bridge shows demonstrated interest.” program – it has been offered by Patrick, an outside hitter on Tuck in the summer since 1997 the volleyball team, is majoring in – saw it as an opportunity to economics and Spanish. For her, expand on a foundation he began Bridge was both an introduction to build that fall. to business and a confirmation of “I told them it is going to be cold, it’s going to be “I decided to do it because the appeal of a career in finance. lonely and it’s going to be a lot of work. But when you as a government major I hadn’t “I decided to do it partially come out the other side you’ll be happy that you did it, gotten that much business because of recruiting, to help me and a lot more knowledgeable because of it” exposure at Dartmouth,” the understand what I needed to lacrosse captain explained. “I know for interviews, and to find had done an investment banking out whether it was something I internship in the fall when I was away from campus and wanted to was even interested in,” she said. “It was a productive use of my time supplement my liberal arts degree because I am interested in going and helped me to be sure I wanted to go the finance route.” into finance when I graduate.” While Patrick, Katzman, Damore and Osborne come from The four Big Green athletes are among more than 4,000 different sports and different majors, they all value the experience. undergraduates who along with a smaller number of graduates And they all agree that the work they did in the Bridge program from Dartmouth and upwards of 75 other colleges and universities, was every bit as taxing as anything they have done since arriving at have studied in the immersive Bridge program offered in two fourDartmouth. week summer sessions or one three-week winter session. Admission “Aside from completing research papers the night before they is competitive with SAT or ACT scores, transcripts, a healthy GPA were due, which is completely my fault, I don’t think I ever worked and recommendations all required. that hard,” said Katzman. “The amount of concentrated work that Just how exhausting is it? you have to do is a lot. You very rarely have time to actually finish Bridge students begin their jam-packed day with breakfast in your assignments because you’re taking classes all day. You might Tuck’s Byrne Dining Hall. With the exception of a noon lunch break get an hour to go to the gym at night, but I remember we were that might include a career exploration panel and an hour break working far later than the normal business school students.” in late afternoon, they are scheduled through until a 6:30 dinner Said Damore: “The pace is very fast. It helps having groups to do call with classmates and faculty. Even that might feature a panel or homework with, and all the other work with. You are staying up late speaker. working, but what’s cool about that is, it’s how the real world is. If After the half-hour dinner recess it’s time to break into groups you don’t get it done, you’ve got to get it done by the next day to turn to dig into homework assignments, collaborate with team members it in, or present whatever it is. It was fast-paced but manageable. on a group project and meet with the Tuck MBA student serving as You know what you are getting into when you sign up for.” their team coach. As least you do if Osborne steers you toward the program. He’s

bridge to

success

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PHOTO CAPTION: SENIOR MADDIE DAMORE (ABOVE), SENIOR WILEY OSBORNE (RIGHT), AND SENIOR EMILY PATRICK (BELOW).

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recommended winter Bridge to a number of fellow lacrosse players on both the men’s and women’s teams and he’s been brutally honest. “I told them it is going to be cold, it’s going to be lonely and it’s going to be a lot of work,” he said. “But when you come out the other side you’ll be happy that you did it, and a lot more knowledgeable because of it.” Because Bridge, like their sports, relies to a great extent on teamwork, there are lessons that work both ways. “I think the vast majority of the teamwork skills that I used in Bridge were ones that I developed through playing volleyball here,” said Patrick. “Timeliness, working with a group of people toward one goal and being fully committed to doing your part, whether that’s being the leader of the group or being a really awesome follower. Those are both extremely valuable skills we learn in sports and I think for a lot of students they were learning it for the first time.” Damore, likewise, came to appreciate a real-life benefit of playing on a team. “I actually had a conversation with my coach during Tuck Bridge and again afterward about how many parallels I was drawing with what we were doing in groups, and what we do in softball,” she said. “In Bridge you work in your groups and do projects and activities that are geared to highlight certain aspects of organizational development. It was refreshing to see that how we handle our sport and working as a team translates into the work world.” If the team experience is helpful in the Bridge world, the Bridge experience can be helpful in the sports world according to Osborne. “I think I definitely came back with more skills in group work, and being able to understand other people’s point of views in a better way,” he said. “One thing that might be overlooked about Bridge is how much more organized I became because of it. There was just so much material and so many things that were going on all the time it forced me to be extremely organized. “That’s been a huge help on the lacrosse team trying to keep straight all the different duties and all the different things that we deal with on a daily basis.” For Patrick, one of the greatest assets of the program was Bridge’s version of coaches. “Something that really impressed me about the Bridge program, and to me I think might have been the most valuable part of the program, was the professors that teach it,” she said. “The professors were so engaging, intelligent and thought-provoking with their insights into the classes we took. It made the courses really interesting and easy to follow. “That type of professor inspires learning and makes you want to do well in that class. It made the work very worthwhile.’ The bottom line? Damore’s valuation would be that it’s a “buy” for Bridge. “It’s good for your resume, for applying for jobs, and for people to see you as better qualified,” she said. “It helps you feel more confident and better about where you stand when you are applying for jobs in the real world. “I would and I have recommended it. The preface is, it is a little tiring, and by little I mean quite tiring. But the experience and knowledge and all of the other things you get out of Bridge are well worth it.” The recruiting visit of Maddie Damore ’17 was made possible by the generosity of Richard Donahue ‘48 and David King ‘78 through the Athletic Sponsors Program.

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