The Dartmouth Sports Weekly 5/22/17

05.22.17

The Dartmouth Sports Awards: Male & Female Athletes of the Year p.4-5

The Dartmouth Sports Awards: Moment of the Year p. 8

Just a Bit Outside with Sam Stockton ’19 p. 7

Olympian Alexi Pappas ’12 on her movie ‘Tracktown’ p. 3, 6

Players on football team return from LDS missions p. 2, 6 ISHAAN JAJODIA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 2

MONDAY, MAY 22, 2017

For Mormon Big Green football players, faith comes first

By SAMANTHA HUSSEY The Dartmouth Staff

For most standout high school athletes, the next step after graduation is obvious: college sports. But some students of the Mormon faith, like Big Green football players Tanner Aiono ’20 , Justin Call ’16 and Anders Peterson ’20 choose to put off college for two years to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Call left on his mission after his freshman year at Dartmouth in 2012, back when the mission age for men was still 19, while Peterson and Aiono left on their missions straight out of high school before entering Dartmouth this past fall.

“I’d say [my faith has] been pretty central,” Aiono said. “I’ve always been the only Mormon kid in elementary, middle and high school, and so I was always different and unique — I always viewed it in a good way. It has been something that’s guided me and helped me know who I am and who I want to be.”

Balancing faith, school and football can be difficult, but all three players found a way to prioritize their faith despite being actively recruited for football by a number of schools.

“Growing up in Provo, Utah, [Brigham Young University] was always the plan, and then I started getting recruited for various schools to play football,” Peterson said. “I remember coming on my official visit here, and I didn’t enjoy it at all. I didn’t think I was going to go here but basically committed because the coaches were cool with me going on a mission.”

His mind changed on his mission when he realized Dartmouth provided such a great academic opportunity that he couldn’t pass up. Peterson also noted that football head coach Buddy Teevens ’79 played a huge part in his decision.

“Male leaders in my life have always been huge, like my high school football coach and mission president,” Peterson said. “They’ve had huge influences on

me, and I saw that in Teevens.”

Teevens also played a big part in Call’s decision to attend and play for the Big Green.

“When I came here, it just felt like a good fit with the small school and being out in the woods, and meeting [Teevens], I felt that he really cared about me as a person, not just as a football player,” Call said. “With the whole mission thing, he was extremely supportive, and even encouraged it — he really supported putting faith before football.”

Teevens noted that he was struck when he first met Aiono, Call and Peterson.

“They were bright-eyed and intellectually capable students, but they just struck me as very good people,” he said. “I’ve had Mormon kids before.

[I’ve found] that these students are very disciplined guys; they know right from wrong, make good decisions and are generally good leaders. With the [mission] experience itself, to go out in an unfamiliar area, the regimentation and the discipline in getting up and being where you need to be, being away from your family without communication, I think that breeds an emotional durability which I think is helpful in athletics. You couple that with the qualities that they brought with them before: enthusiasm, energy, athleticism and intellectual capability — it made it an easy call for me.”

Teevens downplayed many of the worries some coaches might have about recruited players taking a few years off.

Despite not knowing what a player’s physical condition will be like after two years, Teevens didn’t bat an eye.

“My sense was if football was important to them they were going to work hard at it and do everything they could to maintain their conditioning,” Teevens said. “They all came back in good shape, and it’s a little bit of an adjustment, but football is like riding a bike — if you’ve done it once, you can probably do it again.”

While faith has always been at the

Ray Lu ’18 Editor-in-Chief

COURTESY OF ANDERS PETERSON

Anders Peterson ’20 (right) was called to the Texas Fort Worth Mission and had to learn to speak Marshallese.

forefront of their lives, Aiono, Call and Peterson chose to go on their missions for different reasons. Peterson said that he’s pretty open with the fact that he served a mission because of social pressure from his family and friends.

“Having friends preparing for missions helped me get to that point, but I like to say that there’s a reason people choose to serve a mission and a reason why people stay on their mission,” he said. “Once I got out there I learned to love the people and love what I was doing. I wanted to do it for the Lord so that’s what made me stay on my mission and work hard.”

Conversely, Aiono said he never felt pressured to go.

“A big part of it was that my older brother was always a role model for me, and he’s 11 years older,” Aiono said. “He was a punk — he still is a little bit — but once he left and came back I could see the change in him and the person he had become. I knew instantly that I wanted that for me, to become that [changed] person.”

Call shared that most of his family members served missions.

“Everyone comes home and just talks about the incredible experience that is,” Call said. “I never met anyone that said, ‘Oh, I wish I didn’t serve a mission.’ That all the more made me want to have that same experience as these people.”

The LDS Church currently has 421 missions that are located domestically and internationally. After signing up, candidates do not get to choose where they serve their two years, Call said.

Peterson was called to the Texas Fort Worth Mission and had to learn to speak Marshallese.

“I thought my dad had given me a fake mission call because I thought Marshallese, like fake aliens or something like that — but it was to serve the Marshallese people,” Peterson said.

In Texas, Peterson served a small community of a little over 1,000 people SEE FOOTBALL PAGE 6

Philip Rasansky ’18 Publisher

Kourtney Kawano ’18 Executive Editor

05.22.17 Vol. CLXXIV No. 86

Evan Morgan ’19 Chris Shim ’18 Sports Editors

Nathan Albrinck ’20

Associate Sports Editor Eliza McDonough ’18 Hollye Swinehart ’18 Tiffany Zhai ’18 Photography Editors Jaclyn Eagle ’19 Templating Editor

COURTESY OF JUSTIN CALL

Justin Call ’16 (center) appreciated that football head coach Buddy Teevens and the coaching staff was supportive of his mission.

MONDAY, MAY 22, 2017

SW 3

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

Alexi Pappas ’12 shares Olympic experience in ‘Tracktown’ her best friend and reconciles with her parents. The earnest story that The Dartmouth Senior Staff “Tracktown” tells aims to capture W h e n P l u m b M a r i g o l d , the experience of an elite female fictional Olympic hopeful and runner. the protagonist of the just-released “The idea for the movie came indie film “Tracktown,” laces up from my experience living and her shoes to run, the world watches. moving to Eugene, Oregon, People stare. They which I fir st whisper. experienced “The idea for the A lex i Pap p a s when I ran in movie came from ’12, the realthe Olympic l i f e O l y m p i c my experience Trials in 2012 runner who plays living and moving and found Marigold, has this place that made a name for to Eugene, Oregon, embraced the herself as well — which I first running world first in the running any place experienced when I unlike community and I’d seen before,” now in the film ran in the Olympic Pappas wrote industry. in an email Trials in 2012...”

In the film, statement.

Marigold is a “The story is famous distance -ALEXI PAPPAS ’12 a patchwork runner preparing collage of my for the Olympic experiences Trials. An injury as a runner in in the 5,000-meter Eugene and my preliminary forces observations of her famous but other runners I lonely character have met and to take a day off, and she lives interacted with.” out the coming-of-age experience “Tracktown”’s spirit is wedded that running never allowed her. to its setting in Eugene. If Eugene In the span of 24 hours, she gets has a holy place in the Unites States together with a crush, fights with track and field — having hosted

By EVAN MORGAN

COURTESY OF ALEXI PAPPAS

Alexi Pappas ’12 plays Plumb Marigold, an Olympic long distance runner in “Tracktown,” a film based on Pappas’ experiences.

multiple Olympic Trials, produced world records and given the world Nike — then Hayward Field is its cathedral. The stadium, which was the venue for Marigold’s Olympic

Trials in “Tracktown,” is named hasn’t menstruated for two years. for Bill Hayward, who helmed the “My hope with ‘Tracktown’ University of Oregon track and was to show these bodies as they field team from 1904 to 1947. actually are, to come from a place As an Olympic competitor and of truth and open the audience to member of Oregon Track Club a world — and people — that they Elite, Pappas had access to the may not have seen before,” Pappas people and places, like Hayward said.

Field, to shoot an authentic movie.

Teicher and Pappas knew that “This process was special their film would be seen by Pappas’ because the access that we had peers in the elite running community, to the Olympic running world — and they wanted Tracktown to being able to shoot in these Olympic be as honest a portrayal as possible. t r a i n i n g “Our facilities — philosophy in that’s not really “This process was making this something you special because the movie is to tell a can pay for, we access that we had to story that opens got access to a window onto t h at b e c a u s e the Olympic running a world in an [ P a p p a s ] world — being able honest way that was actually people haven’t a n O l y m p i c to shoot in these seen before,” athlete,” said Olympic training Teicher said.

Jeremy Teicher he goal is facilities — that’s not “T ’ 1 0 , Pa p p a s ’ for someone to fiancé and co- really something you watch the movie director. and walk away can pay for...”

Teicher and with an actual Pa p p a s wove understanding bits of their own -JEREMY TEICHER ’10 of what the experiences O l y m p i c into the story h o p e f u l of the film. experience “They’re i s l i k e fo r a based on female elite experiences athlete, and it’s and observations, so any of the importance that it come across characters could be real,” Teicher as true — not overdramatized or said. oversimplified, just true.”

“Tracktown” explores, among The film’s Dartmouth roots are other things, the way an elite also apparent if you know where runner relates to her body. At to look. Pappas and Teicher met times in the film, Marigold frets at Dartmouth through Bones Gate that her muscular physique is SEE PAPPAS PAGE 6 unattractive and worries that she

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 4

MONDAY, MAY 22, 2017

The Dartmouth Rookie of the Year

In this year’s Rookie of the Year p track and field team won with 53.4 p 15 to May 21. Hunter Hagdorn ’20 p while Lauren Jortberg ’20 placed thi Rothwell currently has four schoo seconds). At this year’s team awards, valuable student-athlete on the wom the 100-meter hurdles at the Virgini

Male Athlete of the Year Summaries written by Nathan Albrinck ’20, Mark Cui ’19 and Chris Shim ’18.

COURTESY OF FOLARIN ORIMOLADE

Troy Crema ’17

Wyatt Omsberg ’18

Folarin Orimolade ’17

After a couple of injury-riddled years with Dartmouth men’s hockey, Troy Crema ’17 erupted during the 2016-17 season to lead the Big Green in nearly every offensive category, including goals, points and shots on goal. Crema, a Third Team All-Eastern College Athletic Conference selection, finished the season with 17 goals and 12 assists for 29 points. He attributed his success to the work he put in on the ice during the offseason.

“I trained a lot this summer and put a lot of hours in to try and make this senior season my best year possible,” Crema said.

Crema led Dartmouth hockey from the outset of this season. In the Big Green’s regular season opener on Oct. 29, Crema scored the game-winning goal against thenNo. 11 Michigan University with 49 seconds left in the final frame.

“I can’t thank my teammates enough for giving me confidence and opportunity to perform and have my best year statistically and be a leader on and off the ice,” Crema said.

On April 8, Crema began his professional career by signing an amateur tryout contract with the American Hockey League Rochester Americans. Crema appeared in two games for the Americans.

“I’m going to try to play as far and as long as possible,” Crema said.

Hailing from Scarborough, Maine, Wyatt Omsberg ’18 burst onto the scene in his rookie year, starting in the majority of the games and winning Ivy League Rookie of the Week twice. This season, he spearheaded Dartmouth’s stifling defense that allowed only 12 goals throughout the entire regular season.

In addition to this impeccable defense, the team also scored more goals than in previous years to finish 5-1-1 in the Ivy League and win a share of the Ivy League Title for the third consecutive year.

Omsberg was recognized for his strong defensive presence, accumulating several prestigious individual accolades including a National Soccer Coaches Association of America Third Team All-American selection, Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-Ivy selection. While Omsberg was proud of these awards, he attributed the team’s success as the main factor.

“It’s nice to win these individual awards, but it’s more of a team function,” Omsberg said. “These awards are usually given when the team is doing well.”

Omsberg hopes that the team can clinch the title again and perhaps advance further in the NCAA tournament after the team fell in the second round to Syracuse University last year. Individually, Omsberg hopes to continue to show leadership and help his team in any way possible.

HOCKEY

SOCCER

COURTESY OF BEAU SULSER

FOOTBALL

Fabian Stocek ’17

NORDIC SKIING

Beau Sulser ’16

Folarin Orimolade ’17, a linebacker from Burtonsville, Maryland, led Dartmouth football in sacks, tackles, tackles-for-loss and forced fumbles.

He ranks second in Big Green football history in career sacks with 23.5 during his storied, four-year career. Following his senior season, he was named a second-team Football Championship Subdivision AllAmerican and Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. Orimolade said he is grateful for all those who have helped him so far in his career.

“It was a long road for me, but it was one that wasn’t completed on my own,” Orimolade said. “It was important for all those people who helped me — ­­ my parents, teammates, coaches and friends. The hard work was worth it.”

After the National Football League Draft ended on April 29, Orimolade signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent.

“It’s an honor to be able to sign a contract because many people don’t get that opportunity,” Orimolade said.

Since his signing, Orimolade attended the Rams’ Rookie Minicamp in Thousand Oaks, California. He will fight to earn a roster spot over the summer.

“I want to make every moment count and not take any steps back,” Orimolade said.

Men’s Nordic captain Fabian Stocek ’17 won at least one race at each carnival race during the regular season and leaves Dartmouth a first-team All-American.

However, his 2017 season did not get to off to such an auspicious start.

“I went back home to the Czech Republic at the end of December to try and qualify for U-23 Worlds, but I didn’t make it,” Stocek said. “It was upsetting since that was one of my goals for the season, but I was excited to focus on the season here in New England and focus on NCAAs.” That focus paid off. Stocek went on a tear, winning a race each weekend until NCAAs. He took victories at the St. Lawrence Carnival, University of New Hampshire Carnival, the University of Vermont Carnival, the Dartmouth Winter Carnival, the Middlebury College Carnival and the Bates College Carnival.

“I didn’t really go for the streak until late February when I realized I was still doing that,” Stocek said.

At the NCAA Championships in Jackson, New Hampshire, Stocek was 12th in the 10-kilometer classic race on the first day of competition but finished fifth in the men’s 20-kilometers in 46:04.7.

“I ended up being with the top crew, and it came down to a sprint finish, where I just didn’t have it at the finish,” Stocek said. “I wanted to accomplish at least top-10, so it was good.”

Beau Sulser ’16 capped off his final year for the Big Green with a bang. The righty from Santa Ysabel, California led the Ivy League in ERA (1.40, sixth in the NCAA) and finished with the league’s best WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) of 0.80 (fourth in the NCAA). His stellar efforts earned him Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, three Ivy League Player of the Week awards and first team All-Ivy honors. Sulser, who underwent Tommy John surgery following his sophomore year, credited the time off as well as the confidence instilled by head coach Bob Whalen to stick to pitching.

“This year I was really back to full strength — I gained a lot of velocity and refined my mechanics,” Sulser said. “Sitting out a year and just getting to watch was really helpful my junior year. I got to learn what pitches work and what people were having success with without having to actually do it.”

Sulser finished the season with a 6-1 record and recorded a careerhigh 52 strikeouts. Sulser looks to follow his older brother, Cole Sulser ’12, who also pitched for the Big Green, into professional baseball.

“It’s getting exciting,” Sulser said.

“At the beginning of the year, it was more about ‘I need to do well to make [playing in the majors] a reality,’ and now it really is.”

BASEBALL

Vote at: http://bit.ly/2r7GvM

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, MAY 22, 2017

SW 5

Sports Awards

poll, Cha’Mia Rothwell ’20 of the women’s percent of the 2020 votes placed from May placed second with 26.7 percent of the votes ird with 16.9 percent. ol records, including the 60-meter dash (7.45 she won the Excellence Award for the most men’s team. A month ago, she ran a 13.60 in ia Challenge, placing sixth.

Female Athlete of the Year Summaries written by Nathan Albrinck ’20, Cody Fujii ’19, Evan Morgan ’19 and Chris Shim ’18.

COURTESY OF FRANKIE SANDS

COURTESY OF COURTNEY WEISSE

Taylor Ng ’17

Foreste Peterson ’18

Cha’Mia Rothwell ’20

Frankie Sands ’19

Courtney Weisse ’17

The native of Haddonfield, New Jersey established herself as one of the best women’s tennis players to represent the Big Green. The team’s co-captain was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Northeast region player of the year and received All-Ivy First Team honors for the third time in her collegiate career. During her final season at Dartmouth, she accumulated a stellar 24-12 record in singles and a 22-12 record in doubles.

But she was not always so committed to tennis.

“I played a good number of USTA tournaments until the age of 14, and then I stopped completely.” Ng said.

“It was only until the middle of my junior year that I got back into playing tournaments because I realized I wanted to play tennis in college.”

Ng played many memorable games throughout her Dartmouth career, but her most memorable was her final regular season match against Princeton University on April 21. In that match, the Big Green clinched a share of the Ivy League title and with it, a berth to the NCAA tournament.

During her four years, she helped Dartmouth qualify for the NCAA team tournament twice while being the first individual to qualify for the NCAA singles tournament in 2015 and part of the first Big Green duo to qualify for the NCAA doubles tournament with Kristina Mathis ’18.

Foreste Peterson ’18 was the top skier on an outstanding women’s alpine team that won carnival victories all season long, finishing no lower than second in the team standings of all 12 carnival races. Despite missing the University of Vermont carnival to compete at a North American Cup race, Peterson finished the season with three giant slalom victories and was the second-ranked giant slalom skier in the East.

“I improved my mindset going into every race this year,” Peterson said. “I had a very straightforward mindset that let me trust myself to perform well and execute.”

Peterson came into the season on a tear, with a series of top-10 and top-five finishes in NorAm Cup races before the college season.

“I had a rough start in the college season and crashed in my first two carnival races, which humbled me a bit,” Peterson said.

However, she quickly recovered and performed well down the stretch, winningthegiantslalomattheUniversity of New Hampshire, Dartmouth and Bates College carnivals. At the NCAA Championships, Peterson earned first team All-American status with a third-place finish in the slalom.

She capped off the winter by taking fourth place in the slalom and second in the giant slalom at the U.S. Alpine Championships at Sugarloaf.

Cha’Mia Rothwell ’20 blew away the competition with her Dartmouth record-breaking times. The Durham, North Carolina native quickly adjusted to the more intense college practices and finished with one of the best seasons for a program rookie.

“I just came in with the mindset to work as hard as I can,” Rothwell said. “Freshman year can be a tossup for some people [because] it can go really well or really bad. I’m just really happy I had a successful season and surpassed many of my goals, which was something I wasn’t really expecting.”

Rothwell owns four Dartmouth records in the long jump (20 feet, 3 inches), 60-meter hurdles (8.30 seconds), 60-meter dash (7.45s) and 100-meter hurdles (13.23s). Her 8.30s 60-meter hurdles time beat an all-time Ivy League meet record set 17 years ago.

“I don’t really go into a race thinking I want to break this record,” Rothwell said. “I just go in thinking that I will go in and give it my best with the mindset that I want to become better, and in the process if that means me breaking a school record, then I am perfectly content with that.”

After a stunning first year, Rothwell hopes to qualify for indoor nationals and surpass more Ivy League records.

Frankie Sands ’19 has dominated the rugby scene since transferring to Dartmouth. The center was named as one of four finalists for the Sorensen Award, given to the best collegiate women’s rugby player in the nation.

Sands was an All-American in rugby and cheerleading in high school and was recruited to play rugby at Norwich University. While attending the National All-Star Camp, a week-long tryout for the U.S. Women’s Rugby National Team, she met head coach Katie Dowty, and the rest is history.

“Getting to know [Dowty] and her coaching philosophy was something that really attracted me to Dartmouth ... once I got in, it was a no-brainer,” Sands said in a previous interview with The Dartmouth on May 2.

In the fall, Sands was third on the team in points and her seven tries was second-most on the Big Green squad. She was also named as one of the team’s captains for next year.

“The Sorensen Award is great — again, I can’t say enough how excited I am about it,” Sands said in the earlier interview. “But being named the captain of the women’s rugby team ... since coming to this team ... for them to have that confidence in me, that means the world.”

C o u r t n ey We i s s e ’ 1 7 , a n attacker for women’s lacrosse from Westfield, New Jersey, emerged as a clear offensive leader for the Big Green in her final season, leading the team in goals, points and shots.

Her 2.47 goals per game tied for sixth in the Ivy League. On three separate occasions, against Univer sity of Massachusetts Lowell, Siena College and Cornell University, Weisse tallied five goals.

After beginning their careers under a different head coach, Weisse and her teammates had to learn a new system under first-year head coach Danielle Spencer this past season.

“When you’re on a team with 30 girls, you learn how to manage things very well, and it pushes you very far,” Weiss said in a previous interview with The Dartmouth on April 17. “It definitely hasn’t been an easy year, in the sense of switching up coaching staff, but that has taught me so much.”

Weisse leaves Dartmouth a clear leader and offensive weapon.

Her senior season efforts earned Second Team All-Ivy League honors.

“I am really so proud of being on this lacrosse team and learning so many different skills and having so many different experiences,” Weisse said in her earlier interview.

TENNIS

M8 and at thedartmouth.com

ALPINE SKIING

TRACK & FIELD

RUGBY

LACROSSE

ISHAAN JAJODIA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 6

MONDAY, MAY 22, 2017

Alexi Pappas ’12 excels as a competitive runner and a filmmaker FROM PAPPAS PAGE 3

fraternity. Actress Rachel Dratch ’88, introduced to Teicher and Pappas through a Dartmouth acquaintance, plays Marigold’s mother in the film. Their first executive producer was Cassie Siegel ’12, and at the end of the film, Marigold and her dad fall asleep to a race of “Abbey ‘the destroyer’ D’Agostino [’14],” — as announcer Chris Berman calls her.

Pappas observed parallels between running and filmmaking, both skills that can be practiced and developed.

“Both have so much more work behind the scenes than expected,” Pappas said. “I believe that in both running and filmmaking, if we show up every day, we can accomplish our goals.”

To her fans, Pappas isn’t just a top athlete, the Dartmouth record holder in the steeplechase (9:55.89) and the Greek national record holder in the 10,000-meter run (31:36). Among aspiring competitive runners, especially teenage girls, she’s better known for what she does off the track. She writes essays about her experience as

a runner and has a monthly poetry column for Women’s Running.

With Teicher, she co-wrote the screenplay for “Tall as the Baobab Tree,” about a clash of generational values in a Senegalese village. In their Dartmouth days, the two also co-wrote a play for Wired, the 24hour one-act play festival.

Among her fans, Pappas is perhaps beloved most for her quirky, ebullient, motivational presence on social media. A fan tweeted at her this week, “I got to run with an Olympian this morning!!” and Pappas responded “I got to run with YOU!!!” A Kentucky high school cross country runner sent her a photo of her team wearing the signature “Alexi bun” — a messy ’do which has become Pappas’ trademark — and Pappas replied “pack of buns / I see you / will go far.”

The mindset of a poet, essayist, improvisation actor, filmmaker and Olympian is one that keeps looking forward.

“Good thing I didn’t accomplish all my goals yet,” reads a tweet pinned to the top of Pappas’ feed, “because then what would I do tomorrow?”

COURTESY OF ALEXI PAPPAS

In “Tracktown,” Alexi Pappas ’12 (left) plays an elite runner training for the Olympics, while Rachel Dratch ’88 plays her mother.

Mormon football players gain unique perspective on missions FROM FOOTBALL PAGE 2

south of Fort Worth.

“Normally, depending on where you serve, you move around a lot in your district in your mission,” Peterson said. “But I spent 18 months of my mission in that same area with the Marshallese people.”

Before going out to Texas, he spent six weeks in the Missionary Training Center in Utah where he learned Marshallese — kind of.

“I pretty much just got my feet wet,” Peterson said, “Once I got out to Texas, my first companion, the guy I was serving with, was from the Marshall Islands so he helped me pick [the language] up.”

Call was sent to the Orlando, Florida mission.

“I didn’t have to learn a language [before actually going out into my mission], but I ended up picking up Spanish and Asian Creole just because I spent most of my time in the poorer parts of the city,” Call said. “There’s a big population of people that didn’t speak English so I picked up those languages to learn how to talk to them.”

Despite their many g reat experiences and interactions with people, Aiono, Call and Peterson all agreed that missions come with great difficulties. Facing repeated rejection could be frustrating, for one.

“When you’re going out there,

you’re going out there to share your faith with people — it’s a huge part of my own identity,” Call said. “You go out there, and you’re basically saying to people, ‘Can I share this thing that means so much to me?’ and on your mission, you meet a lot of people that either don’t want it or are antagonistic and try to tear you down, it kind of hurts on a personal level.”

Peterson also noted that with a mission’s strict routine, there are few things that are necessarily, personally fun.

“I think generally, before my mission, I always had things to look forward to,” Peterson said. “On a mission, that kind of gets taken away.

You have to learn to completely forget about yourself. That took a lot of time, but was definitely the hardest thing for me — to wake up every morning at 6:30 a.m. and know that I’m going to be out working all day long without any personal reward. That has also become my biggest takeaway from my mission; I’ve learned that there’s more to life than just me, and that’s where true happiness comes from — looking outward and serving others.”

Aiono was moved by the difficult situations faced by the people he served.

“Everyone has their problems, but the people I came across, the things that they endured, were incredible,”

Aiono said. “To see people who were going through these kinds of things, and to look back and to be grateful for things that I’ve called problems in my life in comparison is amazing to me.”

Aiono, Call and Peterson agree that their missions helped prepare them for their college experiences.

“It sounds pretty strange because you’re not focusing on things of the world [on your mission],” Aiono said. “Everything we did helped me be better here. I know how to better manage my time, budget [my finances], take care of myself, use good study habits and set goals and make plans. Coming here and being independent has been fairly easy.”

Peterson found the transition more difficult.

“I was only home for a little over a month before [going into summer football training], and just being thrown back into football culture, especially being surrounded by [crude] language [was a bit shocking],” Peterson said. “At first, it was a bit difficult to adjust, but I’ve made some really strong friendships with some guys on the team and they know that I’m that ‘Mormon guy.’

They’re all super supportive and all look up to me for the way I act, and I think that’s helped me in my faith. I also think because a lot of them live differently than I do, it’s allowed me

COURTESY OF TANNER AIONO

Tanner Aiono ’20 (right) feels his mission helped him transition to college.

to question my faith and live what I’m living because I believe in it.”

In Call’s freshman year, he said, the LDS group was small and disjointed. There were times he felt alone in his faith. But this past fall, the LDS community on campus increased to around 15 to 20 members, which has served as an alternative social group for the guys. While their missions are over, Aiono, Call and Peterson continue the mission experience by practicing their faith and upholding their values in their day-to-day lives.

“It’s not something they proselytize or wear on their sleeve, but [their faith] is found in the way that they carry themselves,” Teevens said. “I think people have great respect for them knowing that they are strong in their faith. We talk about faith openly, and I tell guys, ‘If you’re strong in your faith, don’t leave it at home when you come to school.’ The character that they demonstrate is certainly faith-based, and that’s respected by our coaching staff and the members of the team as well.”

MONDAY, MAY 22, 2017

On the Modern Bullpen At the end of every season, regardless of the sport, pundits sit down and analyze the postseason, seeking to identify playoff trends that might inform the coming regular season. This process tends to lead to lots of articles in the vein of “How the Atlanta Falcons’ Super Bowl Run Changed the National Football League.” On the heels of last year’s Major League Baseball playoffs, these articles tended to focus on the Cleveland Indians’ bullpen, especially lanky left-hander Andrew Miller. If you don’t believe me, The Ringer, in its coverage of last year’s playoffs and this year’s season preview, published articles entitled “The Indians and Andrew Miller Are Reshaping How We Think About Elite Reliever Usage,” “It Might

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

Be Miller Time at a Ballpark Near You: Searching for Every MLB Team’s Andrew Miller” and “Welcome (Maybe) to the Next Phase of Baseball’s New-Look Reliever Age.” The Indians’ bullpen, headlined

by Miller, Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw, carried the Indians to within one run of their first World Series title since 1948. If the Indians could scratch out a lead over the course of a game’s first five innings, the triumvirate of Miller, Allen and Shaw consistently silenced opponent’s bats for the final four frames.

The problem for those looking to replicate Cleveland’s bullpen is that pitchers like Miller — 6-foot7-inch lefties who throw a 97-mph heater and a slider that produces some of the worst swings you’ll ever see out of a major leaguer — are not just lying around. A team looking to glean something from the Indians’ playoff run would do better to examine how Cleveland used its relievers rather than trying to find pitchers like the ones manager Terry Francona rode to the American League pennant.

Even if you do have bullpen arms like Cleveland’s, sometimes they will falter. Miller surrendered two earned runs in his two innings in Game 7 of the World Series.

Shaw gave up two more. In October, when managers’ jobs are often on the line, the difference between wins and losses often comes down to the bullpen. As

such, a good tactical manager tying run either on base, at bat or must separate himself in terms on deck.

Saves are generally reserved for of his reliever usage. Legitimate t i t l e c o n t e n d e r s mu s t h ave closers, indicating that the best several reliable bullpen arms, and pitcher in a team’s bullpen should managers must decide when to use be its closer. It also suggests that them. However, Miller’s, Shaw’s the best way to use a closer is to get and then-Cubs closer Aroldis the final few outs of a game. Miller and the Indians Chapman’s Game showed that these 7 p e r fo r m a n c e s principles, both of showed that even “...a manager’s them axioms of the best pitchers best way to baseball thinking, in the game are may require some fallible. Sometimes, ensure favorable re-thinking. a m a n a g e r ’ s outcomes for M i l l e r star reliever will his pitchers d o m i n at e d t h e have a dud of a postseason in performance in a is by putting 2016, throwing big moment. This relievers in the shutout ball in the reality means that American League a manager’s best best position to Division and w a y t o e n s u r e succeed.”

Championship favorable outcomes Series and for his pitchers is by establishing putting relievers in h i ms elf as th e the best position to alpha dog in succeed.

Cleveland’s The most p e n . H o w e ve r, common statistic Francona did not used to evaluate save his best for elite relievers is the last out of his save. A pitcher is awarded a save when he pitches shut down bullpen. Instead, Miller at least a third of an inning and carved out a new role for himself is the final pitcher used in a game as a multiple-inning swingman his team won but not the winning effective against righties and pitcher. In addition, he has to meet lefties.

Miller, as the team’s best one of three conditions: He pitches for at least three innings, enters relief arm, did not see his talents with a lead of no more than three confined to just a game’s final runs and pitches for at least a full inning. By deploying Miller before inning or enters with the potential the final inning, the Indians were

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able to ensure that their best reliever pitched at the game’s most important moment, not just its final one. While Francona did not ask Miller to finish games, he took advantage of his star southpaw’s talents by putting his team in a position to succeed. If Miller was saved for the final inning, Francona saw, the game could get out of hand, and Miller might not end up pitching at all. Instead, Miller entered into games in big situations, against key batters or with runners in scoring position, and left with the team needing only a few more outs to secure a victory.

Closers (as they are currently utilized, though “relief aces” more accurately describes them) should be used to record the highestleverage outs of a game rather than the final ones. A team must lean on its best pitchers in the biggest moments, allowing less reliable relievers (though in an effective bullpen, these must also be highly effective pitchers) to come into games that are relatively under control, rather than trusting those less reliable arms to record the biggest outs of a game. To be sure, this strategy has its drawbacks, potentially making it harder for a team to close the door in the game’s final frame. But a manager who doesn’t limit his closer to the final three outs of a game will maximize the amount of times he has a comfortable lead going into the game’s final inning.

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

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MONDAY, MAY 22, 2017

TODAY’S LINEUP

SPORTS The Dartmouth Sports Awards

No athletic events scheduled

Moment of the Year

The 2016-2017 school year featured several exciting moments for Dartmouth sports. This year’s top moments include historical wins for the Big Green, NCAA tournament berths and top finishes in major competitions. Summaries written by Evan Morgan ’19 and Chris Shim ’18.

ANNIE DUNCAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

KATE HERRINGTON/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

ANNIE DUNCAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

GAYNE KALUSTIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Women’s tennis Men’s heavyweight Football beats the Men’s soccer advances Men’s hockey edges clinches Ivy League rowing has highest University of New in NCAA tournament then-No.11 University title and earns NCAA Eastern Sprints finish Hampshire for the first on thrilling double- of Michigan in season tournament berth since 2010 time since 1976 overtime goal opener With a win in its final regularseason Ivy League matchup against Princeton University on April 23, the women’s tennis team clinched a share of the Ivy League title and secured an NCAA tournament bid, its second in program history.

The Big Green entered April with a strong 12-2 record but suddenly lost its groove, losing to Ancient Eight rivals Harvard University on April 2 and Brown University on April 9.

With a difficult conference slate ahead and slimmer chances of winning the Ivy League, the Big Green returned to the courts with renewed focus, taking victories against Cornell University, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.

In its final regular season matchup, the Big Green faced a Princeton team that had finished as Ivy League champions for the past three years.

After winning the doubles point, quick singles wins from Allison McCann ’20, co-captain Jacqueline Crawford ’17 and Kristina Mathis ’18 secured the victory for the Big Green. “[Crawford] won her match very quickly, and when I saw that, I started crying in my match,” co-captain Taylor Ng ’17 said. “I was really happy for her and for our team. Then at the end of my match, I burst into tears. It was a long time coming, and it’s been so worth it.”

Heavyweight rowing entered the season with high expectations after a successful fall season and strong performances at the C.R.A.S.H.-B. sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships in the winter. There, senior captain Spencer Furey ’17 and Nevin Cunningham ’17 placed first and second, while Scott Ortlip ’17 finished sixth.

The Big Green certainly had quite the spring. Defeating No. 14 Columbia University, No. 6 Boston University, No. 9 Brown University and No. 7 Syracuse University, the Big Green suffered its only loss of the spring regular season to No. 3 Yale University. The Big Green began the season ranked No. 8 in the country and headed into the Eastern Sprints Regatta ranked No. 6.

At Eastern Sprints, the Big Green had two boats qualify for the grand finals in its respective races. The highlight of the regatta was the first varsity boat placing fifth in the grand finals, the first time that Dartmouth had qualified its 1V boat to the grand finals at Eastern Sprints since 2010. Overall, Dartmouth placed eighth out of 18 of the best crews in the eastern United States — the Big Green’s highest finish since 2010.

The team is preparing for the culmination of its season at the IRA Regatta from June 2 to 4 at Lake Natoma in Gold River, California.

Dartmouth will look to improve on its 14th place finish last year.

The last time it happened, Gerald Ford was president, “Play That Funky Music” was at the top of the charts and football head coach Buddy Teevens ’79 was a backup sophomore quarterback for the Big Green. In the 2016 season opener, the Dartmouth football team topped then-No. 22 University of New Hampshire 23-22, its first victory over the Wildcats since a 24-13 triumph in 1976. In the intervening editions of the Granite Bowl, Dartmouth was 0-18-2.

Dartmouth began the season as a team with a big question hanging over it: Could the Big Green return to its 2015 form after losing a crop of talented seniors? The triumph over UNH, punctuated by a gamewinning fourth-quarter rally, seemed an emphatic answer. Jack Heneghan ’18 had a mixed performance in his first career start, tossing a pair of interceptions in addition to three touchdowns, but he and the rest of the offense showed up when the game was on the line. With Dartmouth trailing 21-16 late in the fourth quarter, the big Californian directed a six-play, 79-yard drive to the UNH one-yard line. On the next play, Heneghan rolled left and found Charles Mack ’18 running leftto-right in the end zone. Dartmouth went up by one and sealed the victory when Brendan Cascarano ’18 sacked Wildcats’ quarterback Trevor Knight on fourth down with 27 seconds remaining.

It took more than 104 minutes, but continuous Dartmouth pressure finally cracked a stingy St. Francis College defense in the first round of the NCAA College Cup. Midfielder Matt Danilack ’18 punched in an Alexander Marsh ’17 cross in the second overtime period to send Dartmouth to the tournament’s second round for the third consecutive year. The goal was the first allowed by the Terriers’ defense in nine games and 982 minutes.

Dartmouth dominated the first half, posting six shots and holding the Terriers without a shot. But St. Francis showed life with five shots in the second half, and the Terriers and nearly won the game in the 89th minute. Dartmouth was unable to clear the ball, and St. Francis midfielder Salvatore Barone, all alone, shot a laser which sailed just wide of the net. Regulation ended in a 0-0 tie, as did the first overtime period. Then, in the 105th minute, Marsh sent in a cross which squirted through St. Francis’ back line and went right to Danilack. The Dartmouth midfielder beat St. Francis goalkeeper Seth Erdman with a hard shot to the lower right corner, then leapt into the stands to enjoy the adulation of a boisterous Big Green student section.

Dartmouth’s season ended three days later with a 3-0 loss to No. 8 Syracuse University.

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The men’s hockey began the season with a bang: a 3-2 win over then-No. 11 University of Michigan.

As he did often in the 2016-2017 season, Troy Crema ’17 made the difference that night. His goal with 49 seconds remaining was the winning tally of an electrifying 3-2 victory in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Thompson Arena.

It was Michigan who opened the scoring 17 minutes into a back-andforth first period. The Big Green responded two minutes into the second stanza with a Kevin Neiley ’18 goal, then took the lead nine minutes later when Cam Strong ’20 went top shelf on Michigan goalie Jack LaFontaine. Early in the third period, Michigan’s Alex Kile snuck one past Devin Buffalo ’18 on the power play, knotting the score at 2-2. Strong looked to have given Dartmouth the lead when he finished off a rebound just past the 15-minute mark. After a seemingly interminable video replay, the goal was waved off due to goalie interference. But the long delay didn’t faze the Big Green.

With the final seconds ticking away, Crema fired a quick wrist shot inside the far post. The puck got a favorable bounce off the skate of linemate Corey Kalk ’18 and beat LaFontaine low to give Dartmouth the victory.

The win was Dartmouth’s first over the Wolverines since 1971.