As spring seasons wind down and teams finish their regular seasons, focus has temporarily shifted to recognizing individual athletes for their performances both on the field and in the classrooms.
Ivy League coach committees convened to vote men’s and women’s tennis and lacrosse All-Ivy teams, and between those sports, the Big Green saw ten players voted to All-Ivy teams.
In addition to All-Ivy recognition, women’s lacrosse co-captains Courtney Bennett ’13, Hana Bowers ’13 and Kelsey Johnson ’13 landed spots on the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association All-Northeast region team.
Baseball players Jeff Keller ’14 and Michael Johnson ’13 were recognized for their academic efforts and named to the Capital One Academic All-District baseball team.
Keller, an economics major, earned recognition for the second time with a GPA of 3.97. Johnson, also an economics major, received the honor for the first time with 3.43 GPA.
Keller was a dominant force at the plate for the Big Green, finishing in the top three in the Ivy League in 10 offensive statistical categories.
He lead the Ancient Eight slugging .702, driving in 41 runs and crushing 21 doubles to set a new Dartmouth record.
Johnson was spectacular on the hill, recording a 7-0 record to top the Ivy League and a 1.82 ERA. Johnson finishes his Big Green career 15-2 for the second highest winning percentage in program history.
The Big Green women’s lacrosse team had five players who were awarded All-Ivy honors. Attacker Bowers and midfielder Bennett were named to the first team, while defender Johnson earned a spot on the second and attacker Liz Calby ’14 and goalie Kristen Giovanniello ’14 earned honorable mentions.
“An award to an individual is always an award to the entire team,” Bennett said. “It’s a great honor to have our three captains invited onto all these lists, but really it comes from the dedication of the team pushing each other to get better day in and day out.”
Bowers, Dartmouth’s leading scorer, ended her senior season with a career high 63 points, including 48 goals and 15 assists. Bowers is the first Dartmouth player to net 40 goals since 2005. Bennett, one of the team’s primary playmakers, was a force all over the field, recording 13 goals and 52 draw controls.
Johnson landed a spot on the second team for the second time, previously winning the distinction as a sophomore. As the Big Green’s best defender, Johnson tallied five goals and grabbed 35 ground balls this season, all while posting up against the oppositions’ best attackers.
“Kelsey is one of the hardest working and most competitive individuals I’ve ever met,” Bennett said. “She’s always fighting for the 50/50 groundballs and is always leading the defense with hustle in getting back.”
Giovanniello was a fixture in the cage for the Big Green, recording a 9.89 goals-against average, earning her third All-Ivy honor.
Calby recorded 50 points this season and looks poised to command Dartmouth’s offense with Bowers’ pending departure. Giovanniello had 118 saves this season, increasing her career total to 387.
Dartmouth men’s lacrosse had two seniors, defender Pat Flynn ’13 and goalie Bernie Susskind ’13, earn All-Ivy distinctions. This was the fourth straight season men’s lacrosse had two players earn All-Ivy recognition and the second season two-time captain Flynn was named to the second team.
“I’d trade getting into the Ivy League tournament for any type of accolade in a heartbeat, but it’s still nice to be recognized,” Flynn said. “Any kind of recognition for Dartmouth lacrosse helps to move the program forward. Even though it’s an individual award, I think it is more of a testament to the defense and team as a whole.”
In his final season, Flynn caused 12 turnovers and grabbed 29 groundballs. He put an exclamation mark on his career with his first ever assist late in the third quarter against the University of Vermont.
Susskind earned honors after his first season in the net as a starter, replacing three-time All-Ivy goalie Fergus Campbell ’12. Susskind rose to the occasion with 160 saves and a save percentage of .530.
“If we didn’t have Bernie I don’t know what we would have done this year,” Flynn said. “I think he was definitely our MVP and best player on the team.”
Dartmouth men’s tennis landed the No. 1 doubles duo of Xander Centenari ’13 and Brandon DeBot ’14 on the second All-Ivy team. Centenari and DeBot went 5-2 in Ivy League play and toppled Columbia’s top first team All-Ivy doubles duo in a tiebreaker.
Dartmouth women’s tennis standout Katherine Yau ’16 was voted to the second team All-Ivy singles team.
Yau recorded 18 wins in singles action and went 4-3 in the Ivy League, playing six out of those seven matches at the No. 1 spot. At No. 1, Yau defeated two unanimous first team All-Ivy selections from Princeton University and Yale Univeristy.
“I didn’t think about getting an award while I was playing throughout the season, but I’m happy that my hard work this year was recognized,” Yau said. “It only serves to motivate me to do better next year and sets a benchmark for my performance moving forward.”