After finishing its second consecutive undefeated carnival season, the Dartmouth ski team will send 12 competitors to the University of Colorado from March 10-13, where the athletes will compete for the 2010 NCAA Championship.

The women’s Nordic team boasts the leading qualifier for both the classic and freestyle events — team captain Ida Sargent ’11. Along with Katie Bono ’10 and Rosie Brennan ’11, Sargent will look to maintain the Nordic team’s undefeated streak, despite the threat posed by the new, tougher competition.

This marks Sargent and Bono’s first NCAA Championship appearance, while Brennan will be entering the tournament for her third straight year.

The men’s Nordic team will be represented by captain Patrick O’Brien ’10, Nils Koons ’11 and Eric Packer ’12. Like the Nordic women, these three skiers are ranked in the top 10 of the NCAA qualifier list. Koons and Brennan have both flourished this season, with Koons notching multiple event wins early on and Brennan traveling to Germany for the U-23 World Championships.

After sitting out the Williams Carnival held Feb. 19-20, the two made a healthy return to competition at the Eastern Championships hosted by Middlebury College this past weekend. Brennan notched second in the 15-kilometer freestyle and fourth in the five-kilometer classic sprint, while Koons notched 13th in the 10-kilometer classic.

The alpine teams will bring a number of top athletes as well, including Ace Tarberry ’11, who comes into the competition ranked second in NCAAs — Dartmouth’s highest ranking. Tarberry’s success has skyrocketed this season after his first career carnival win at the St. Michael’s Carnival in January.

The men’s alpine team will also include Luke McLaughry ’12 and Trevor Leafe ’12.

The women’s alpine team found a sudden revival at the end of the season, capturing its first event win in the second-to-last carnival. The team will consist of Courtney Hammond ’11, who ranks highest on the team at fifth place, in addition to Kelsey Roddick ’11 and Annie Rendall ’13.  The Big Green has not won the NCAA Championships since 2007, when the races were hosted by the University of New Hampshire. Last year, the competition returned to the East Coast —taking place at Bates College — but Dartmouth finished in a disappointing seventh place, while the University of Denver took the win.