­­Athlete of the Week Archives

Each week, DartmouthSports.com will spotlight two outstanding student-athletes - one male, one female - as Dartmouth's Athletes of the Week. Student-athletes may be chosen based upon their efforts both on and off the field of competition.

A freshman and a senior got the job done in home events this weekend, as hockey rookie Camille Dumais (Beaconsfield, Que.) and track captain Ted Lesher (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) pick up Dartmouth Athlete of the Week accolades. Dumais scored two goals in each game during a Big Green sweep of Yale and Brown while Lesher won both the 60 m hurdles and the triple jump at the Dartmouth Indoor Classic.

Dartmouth Female Athlete of the Week:
Camille Dumais (Beaconsfield, Que.), Women's Hockey, Forward, Freshman

Freshman Camille Dumais (Beasconsfield, Que.) was one of the main contributors for the Big Green in a huge home sweep over Yale and Brown to push Dartmouth into the eighth and final playoff spot in ECAC Hockey. She posted four goals in the two games with a pair in each contest. It was the second and third time this season that Dumais has tallied two goals in a game. She gave the Big Green insurance in game one against Yale with a goal to make it 3-1 and then the final goal in the 6-3 win. With Brown in Hanover, she gave Dartmouth its first lead at 2-1 with the only goal in the second period and netted the game-winner in the third in the 4-2 win. She leads all freshmen in ECAC Hockey in scoring with 23 points on 10 goals and 13 helpers.

Is your first year at Dartmouth everything you expected?
Yes it definitely is everything I expected. The team is a fun group of people to be around and through all the adversity we have been through this year with injuries, losses, etc. we have remained close which is great.

You came through in a big way with four goals over the weekend. What was the team's attitude after sweeping Yale and Brown and remaining in the playoff hunt?
We were really excited and it just brought a new energy to our team that we haven't had in awhile. This season hasn't gone the way we wished it would, but to know that we are still in a playoff position is a huge motivation to us. The senior weekend was also an emotional one and coming out with two wins for our seniors is a great feeling. We know what we need to do to make sure our season ends on a good note.

You lead the conference in rookie scoring, why do you think you have been so successful in your first season?
I would have to contribute it a lot to my teammates and especially my linemates that help me out on the ice. Also, staying after practice and playing fun games that work on shooting and scoring could also be a factor in my success thus far. The coaches also helped me realize that shooting faster and getting pucks to the net is the key to scoring.

Coming from Quebec, I assume that French is your first language. Is it tough to communicate with teammates and coaches during games or practice?
French is my first language but I speak English fairly well, so communicating with my teammates and coaches isn't a problem. Also, our assistant coach, Sara Simard, speaks French as well as a couple others on the team and so it's not a problem at all to be in an English environment.

Dartmouth Male Athlete of the Week:
Ted Lesher (Upper Saddle River, N.J.), Men's Track and Field, Jumps & Hurdles, Senior Captain

Senior captain Ted Lesher (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) continued his success in his final indoor season, winning both the 60m hurdles and the triple jump. Lesher won his sprint event with a time of 8.39 seconds and collected a mark of 14.67 meters (48-01.75) in the triple jump to come away with the victory. Lesher and the Big Green will be at the Valentine's Invitational next weekend and two weeks down the road Leverone Field House will be the site for the 2010 Indoor Heptagonal Championships.

You are one of the rare athletes that compete in both a field event and a sprint race, but you are not a decathlete. What are the differences in preparing for the two events?
Preparing for both jumps and the high hurdles is definitely interesting and time consuming, but really enjoyable. Luckily, they complement each other nicely as they both require a lot of speed, so I think by focusing on both I have been able to bring my times and distances to new levels. To fit in all the technical work, I have an 8 a.m. practice on both Monday and Thursday in addition to daily practices and weight training. Luckily, the weight training works for both; I think the combination of events in a good challenge.

How long did it take you to get the timing down on a triple jump? How old were you when you started that event?
I first started triple jumping during the spring of my sophomore year and I enjoyed a good amount of success pretty quickly. I actually ran distance my freshman year of high school to get in better shape for soccer and was really bad. My teammates always gave me a hard time because my best mile was 5:47, which is not good at all. But, triple jump is a very technical event and I am still improving my technique and understanding it better and better.

Four of your first five indoor meets have been at home, how much of an advantage is competing in Leverone?
The home meets are really nice this year, especially with Heps [Ivy Championship] being at home this year. I've spent countless hours in Leverone in the past four years, and having four home meets before hosting Heps is a great advantage. Having teammates and friends supporting us at home meets is really something special, and hopefully we can get a lot of great support for Heps.

With Heps on the horizon, when do you start preparing for the biggest event of the indoor season?
Heps is in less than three weeks and everybody on the team is looking forward to hosting the event. We only host it once every four years, so this is very exciting, especially as a senior. Our training has been very intense this year so the majority of the preparations are already complete. The next step is to get really hyped and focus our energy on these next couple of weeks. I will do everything I can to try to get a lot of friends and classmates to come out and support everybody competing. Rowdy cheering and yelling is highly encouraged; the atmosphere at Heps is truly unbelievable and to host it is amazing. A lot of recent alums are coming up to Heps, and I fully expect them to bring a lot of hype to the event. I could probably talk about how excited I am about hosting Heps forever, so I think I'll just cut it here.