Prager's Skiers

While Otto Schniebs was in charge of the Dartmouth College ski team it had few real challengers in the U. S. But last year Coach Schniebs resigned, and a 25-year-old Swiss named Walter Prager was imported to succeed him. Skimeister Prager's recommendations consisted of a trunkful of important European skiing-championship awards, including the downhill world championship (1933). He took over Dartmouth's winter activities quietly, confident he could do as good a job as his predecessor. Last week Coach Prager was sure enough of himself to divide his ski squad into two six-man teams to meet two important challenges, east and west.

The less experienced half of the Dartmouth squad traveled to New York's Lake Placid, to face eight other Eastern college teams in the Lake Placid Club's annual invitation tournament. The first day curly-haired Ed Meservey won the cross-country race, followed by two Dartmouth teammates in second and third place. Next day Ed Wells, who had won the slalom the day before, placed first in the downhill. On the final day Meservey placed second in the ski jump, which gave him first place in the combined cross-country & jump, brought Dartmouth's score to 500 points. 79 more than second-place Williams.

Coach Prager himself accompanied the other six-man team (the Brothers Chivers and Bradley, Dick Durrance and John Litchrield) to Sun Valley, Idaho to meet the University of Washington in a dual meet. Washington, coached by Otto Lang, pet pupil of famed Skimeister Hannes Schneider, is to western skiing what Dartmouth is to eastern skiing. When Dick Durrance. generally recognized as the best skier in the U. S., sprained his ankle making a practice run last week. Coach Prager was apprehensive. But his other five skiers went on to make a clean sweep of the meet. Dartmouth took the first five places in the cross-country race, and the first four places in both the downhill and the slalom events. Dartmouth's skiers, under Skimeister Prager, remained as invincible as they ever were under Skimeister Schniebs.

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