NEW YORK — The Dartmouth College football program’s Asa S. Bushnell Cup collection just keeps growing.
Big Green senior linebacker Jack Traynor added to it on Monday when he was named the winner of the Bushnell Cup, emblematic of the Ivy League’s player of the year. Traynor won the Ancient Eight’s defensive honor, while Yale quarterback Kurt Rawlings claimed the offensive award.
Traynor amassed 75 tackles this season, helping lead Dartmouth to a 6-1 league record, a 9-1 overall mark and the program’s record 19th Ivy League championship. Along the way, the fifth-year senior from Lake Forest, Ill., recorded 4½ tackles for loss, two interceptions (one of which he turned into a 55-yard touchdown) and two fumble recoveries, which also included a 17-yard scoop-and-score TD.
Traynor ranked third in the league in tackles last season with 75. He leaves the program ranked 11th all-time in tackles with 270, of which 16 were for losses. The league twice recognized the 6-foot, 230-pound linebacker with defensive player of the week honors last season. He’s also made the Division I all-New England team three times and the all-Ivy League first team three times, unanimously in the latter case on all three occasions.
Traynor also served as a team captain the last two seasons, making him the 13th player in Dartmouth history to be a multi-year captain. He’s the third Dartmouth player to earn the defensive Bushnell Cup in the last four years, following cornerback Isiah Swann in 2018 and linebacker Folarin Orimolade in 2016.
Dartmouth football players have now won the Bushnell Cup on nine occasions. The award first went out in 1970 and was split into offensive and defensive components in 2011. Current coach Buddy Teevens won the trophy in 1978 and has since coached six other winners: Traynor, Swann, Orimolade and running backs Shon Page (1990), Al Rosier (1991) and Nick Schweiger (2010). Big Green quarterback Jim Chasey won the inaugural award in 1970, and future NFL quarterback Jay Fiedler took it home in 1992.
Traynor is an engineering major carrying a 3.68 grade-point average. He and Rawlings received their awards at a reception in New York.
PRINCETON, N.J. — The Dartmouth women were fifth out of six teams and the men last of seven at Princeton’s Big Al Invitational over the weekend.
Sunday’s action saw the Big Green’s Mia Leko take fourth place in the D final of the women’s 200-yard butterfly (1:59.53). Christina Cianciolo was fifth in the 1,650 freestyle (16:47.17), and Sophie Smith toook sixth in the 100 free (50:32).
Connor LaMastra had the best finish for the men on Sunday, claiming second in the 200 fly (1:44.01) to make the NCAA B cut.
Both teams return to action against Bates on Jan. 4.
EXETER, N.H. — Kimball Union Academy fell 5-2 to Kent Academy in the final day of play at the Phillips Exeter Invitational.
KUA opened the scoring when Sean Donoghue converted a pass from Luca Fantilli just two minutes into the game.
Kent responded on the next shift with a marker of its own, but Connor Chalmers one-timed a pass from Adam Fantilli shortly thereafter to restore the KUA lead.
A lucky bounce led to a Kent breakaway midway through the first to knot the game at two, where it remained until the third period.
Another bounce, this time off a Kent shin pad, found its way into the KUA net early into the final frame.
The Wildcats pressed for the equalizer, but 49 saves from the Kent goalie were too much to overcome. Kent added two empty-net goals in the final minute.
The Wildcats drop to 2-2 on the season. They host Proctor on Wednesday.
BARRINGTON, R.I. — The Wildcats pulled out a tight win on the road to close out their weekend at the St. Andrews Holiday Classic.
KUA returns to the hardwood Wednesday when Proctor visits.
MERIDEN — KUA (2-0) won its home opener and was led by Jenna Santos’ 17 points and Maddy Haynes’ 16 points, respectively.
The Wildcats host Proctor on Wednesday.