University of Vermont Athletics

Stanley R. Dunklee 1976 - Cross Country, Skiing

With the sudden emergence of Scandinavians on the collegiate ski teams, it is rare that an American male has won the NCAA individual cross country championship. One of the last was Stan Dunklee, a two-time All-America, former Olympian, four-time All-East selectee, and a 1987 UVM Hall of Fame inductee. A native of Brattleboro, Dunklee returned from the 1976 Olympics in Austria to win the NCAA 15-kilometer race in 1976 at Bethel, Maine. He also won the Eastern 15K titles at Middlebury in 1975 and 1976, the years he would go on to earn first-team All-America honors. A two-time Olympian (1976 and 1980), he was considered - along with Bill Koch - one of America's top cross country ski stars.

Soon after graduating from UVM, where he earned a degree in animal sciences, Dunklee would become America's top racer, taking over that ranking from 1976 Olympic silver medallist Koch, who was sidelined with an illness. His coach at UVM, Chip LaCasse, was obviously proud of his athlete's victory in the 1976 NCAAs, but the previous year sticks out in LaCasse's recollection of Dunklee's contributions. "That performance in 1976 was superb, but what impressed me most was Stan's courage in 1975. He had an early season stress fracture of the foot and mononucleosis and still, he finished in the Top Five at the NCAAs (at Fort Lewis, Colo.), earning All-America honors. He skied at the nationals that year just three weeks after recovering from mono."

In addition to cross country skiing, Dunklee was one of UVM's top fall runners during the mid/late 70's. His achievements went beyond what he did at Vermont: 1976 - U.S. National 50K champion; 1977 and 1978 - U.S. National 15K champion; 1977 and 1979 - U.S. National 50K champion; 1980 and 1982 - U.S. National 30K champion.

Dunklee manages his wife's (Judith Robitaille-Dunklee, UVM '75) veterinary practice (Barton [Vt.] Veterinary Hospital). He and his wife live in Barton with their two children, Eric and Susan.