Dinghy National Championship Wrap Up
Team Race National Championship Write Up
Womens National Championship Write Up
Boston College Wins
2010 ICSA/Gill Dinghy National Championship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jan Harley, Media Pro Int’l, 401-849-0220 for ICSA
Madison, Wisc. (June 3, 2010) – Light air again foiled the sailing plans of the 18 schools that had trained and competed all year to be able to challenge for the 2010 ICSA/Gill National Championship taking place on Lake Mendota from June 1-3. The championship is the focal point of the college sailing year, and its coveted title has been won by 19 schools over the last 42 years: USC, San Diego State, Tulane, Harvard, Yale, Tufts, URI, UCLA, Kings Point, BU, Charleston, UC Irvine, ODU, Navy, Dartmouth, St. Mary’s, Hawaii, Hobart & William Smith and Georgetown. Today a first-time winner of the title – Boston College – joins that fraternity having taken and held the lead position through the first two days of the championship. The title also earns BC another rarer entry in the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association’s history books: as the sixth school to win all three spring championships (ICSA Women’s Nationals, ICSA/APS Team Race Nationals, and the ICSA/Gill National Championship) along with Navy, ODU, Tufts, St. Mary’s and Harvard.
“The conditions made it a tiny bit anticlimactic, but it feels good,” said Greg Wilkinson, Boston College Head Coach, about the title win. “We arrived at the lake this morning and, as it has been for the last week, it was glass. We talked as a team and reminded each other that we would be sailing . . . we tried to convince ourselves that we would be sailing. I’m proud to be in that group of schools that have won all three championships. My phone hasn’t stopped buzzing with calls from Boston College staff. BC is proud of the sailing team and it’s unfortunate that school is not in session now so that we can celebrate. We’ll probably do something on campus in the fall to celebrate.”
On the water for Boston College in A-Division was junior skipper Tyler Sinks (San Diego, Calif.) who sailed with crew Lucy Wallace (Middletown, R.I.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.), both juniors, and freshman Laura McKenna (Palo Alto, Calif.). In B-Division junior skipper Taylor Canfield (St. Thomas, USVI) sailed all nine races with senior crew Sandra Williams (Chicago, Ill.) to win that division. BC’s final score of 127 points reflects 88 points from A-Division plus 39 from B-Division.
No doubt the wait onshore was painful for the teams in second through fifth place coming into the final day. With only a 16-point spread between first and fifth place, had even one race been sailed the outcome could have been vastly different. “All were very close and everyone wanted to sail,” said Mitch Brindley, President of ICSA. “In one race they could have made some significant steps. And that was very frustrating.”
Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.), heads home with second-place in the overall standings. With a final score of 132 points, only five points stood between them and the title. Tied on 142 points, Brown University (Providence, R.I.) and St. Mary’s College (St. Mary’s, Md.), the defending champion, finish third and fourth overall. Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.), winners of A-Division, are fifth with 143 points.
The Format: At the ICSA/Gill National Championship each of the 18 schools entered – after qualifying via one of two semi-final events held in early May – fields a separate A and B division team. Weather permitting, each division sails 20- to 30-minute fleet races in rotation and a team’s final score is determined by the combined results of its sailors in both divisions. The championship was hosted by the University of Wisconsin, utilizing their fleet of 420s, from the regatta base at Memorial Union Terrace. For results and additional information on the championships, visit: http://2010nationals.collegesailing.org/
St. Mary’s College Wins
2010 ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jan Harley, Media Pro Int’l, 401-849-0220 for ICSA
Madison, Wisc. (May 31, 2010) – Over the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend, the top 14 schools in the nation – as determined by their performance in one of the seven Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association conferences to which they belong – were in America’s Heartland racing for the 2010 ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship title on Lake Mendota. And for one team, St. Mary’s College (St. Mary’s, Md.), it was a reversal of fortune from 2009 when the Seahawks lost this championship on a tie breaker, to come back and win this year’s contest on a tie break with the same team – Boston College. Proving that they are a powerhouse in this format of sailing, the win marks the fifth time the Seahawks have clinched this unique championship which pits each college’s three-boat team against another’s in a round-robin series of matches.
The competition starts with the 14 teams divided into two groups; the first hurdle for the teams was finishing top four in their group. In Group 1, St. Mary’s (6-0), Tufts (5-1), Yale (4-2) and College of Charleston (4-2) moved on to the Gold Round. Northwestern University (2-4), Texas A&M Galveston (1-5) and the University of Hawaii (0-6) were out of contention for the national title at the conclusion of that round.
>From Group 2, Boston College (6-0), Georgetown University (5-1), the U.S. Naval Academy (4-2) and the University of Wisconsin (3-3) progressed to the Gold Round, while Eckerd College (1-5), Stanford University (2-4) and the University of Washington (0-6) were also out of contention.
At the conclusion of the Gold Round, also known as the “elite eight,” the “final four” race to determine the champion. The goal of the championship is to have the top four teams meet each other three times, which also allows for a tie break. This year’s event was a light air contest, and credit goes to the Race Committee for giving the sailors every opportunity to get races completed especially on the penultimate day of the championship (Sunday, May 30) when competitors were out sailing at 9:00 a.m. and finishing up about 8:00 p.m.
“When teams make the ‘elite eight,’ each team is capable of beating everyone else,” explained Adam Werblow, Head Varsity Sailing Coach at St. Mary’s. “There is no easy win. Every team has worked damn hard to get here and they’ve accomplished a lot by the time they get to the championship round. That’s what makes it fun. There are simply no gimmes once you get into the elite eight.”
“What helped us is that we have a team who has worked together for a very long time,” said Werblow. “This team has been perfecting the skills of team racing and Bill Ward (Varsity Sailing Coach) has been exceptional on coaching the details of how to team race well. The level of consistency that they’ve had is remarkable. With the support of our alumni we set the bar really high and we had a goal at the beginning of the year to win this championship. ”
On the water for St. Mary’s were senior skipper Ted Hale (Annapolis, Md.) with junior crew Francis Kupersmith (Alexandria, Va.), junior skipper Michael Menninger (Newport Harbor, Calif.) with senior crew Kelly Wilbur (Ipswich, Mass.) and senior skipper Jesse Kirkland (Warwick, Bermuda) with junior crew Madeline Jackson (Bainbridge Island, Wash.). For the last race of the championship, sen
ior skipper Mike Kuschner (San Francisco, Calif.) sailed with Kupersmith, and Hale sailed with Wilbur.
“We have such a proud tradition and we are thrilled to be able to represent the school and one another,” summed up Werblow. “There are 30 kids on our team and 2,000 in the school. The 10 kids sailing here are representing the rest and feel really proud to regain the national title we covet so much.”
Final standings for the final four: St. Mary’s 12-5, Boston College 12-5, Georgetown 10-7 and Charleston 9-8. Complete results are available at: http://2010nationals.collegesailing.org/page/Team-Race-Results
The Grand Finale: The ICSA/Gill National Championship starts tomorrow and runs for three days, June 1-3, from the regatta base at Memorial Union Terrace. Results, Twitter updates and live video coverage are available at: 2010nationals.collegesailing.org
College of Charleston Cougars Win
2010 ICSA Women’s National Championship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jan Harley, Media Pro Int’l, 401-849-0220 for ICSA
Madison, Wisc. (May 28, 2010) – After dominating the standings on day one of racing for the 2010 ICSA Women’s National Championship, the College of Charleston had a 35-point lead on their closest competitor (Boston College) as the final day of racing for the championship title got underway today on Lake Mendota. The less than cooperative breeze ultimately allowed B-Division to complete a set (two races), while A-Division was constrained to only one race (11 A) before the evasive breeze finally eliminated the chance to complete that set. The net result was each division would count 10 races, which for the Cougars came to 22 points from A- and 62 points from B-Division to equal 84 for the championship win. Having lost this title last year by nine points, College of Charleston’s final score was 25 points better than BC who retained second overall with 109 points. This is the second ICSA Women’s National Championship title won by the Cougars; their first was in 2006.
“We had one race today, but the breeze ran out so only the 10 that were sailed yesterday counted,” said A-Division senior skipper Allison Blecher (Fullerton, Calif.) who sailed with sophomore crew Alyssa Aitken (Sandwich, Mass.). “It was a little frustrating at times when the breeze would shut down, but we just zoned in on what was working. Three of us – Shannon [Heausler], Becky [Rebecca Bestoso] and I – were on the team freshman year and we’ve learned a lot since then (2007, when The Cougars finished second in the run for the title). We managed to pull out a big win and it surprised us that we did as well as we did. None of us look at the scores, our crews tend to a little so they know what’s going, but we mostly leave that to the coaches. It’s a dream come true for most of us. I can’t see straight yet.”
“The girls put in a tremendous effort this year,” said Ward Cromwell, Head Coach at College of Charleston. “They’ve been travelling together the whole year, gone to pretty much every intersectional together, and worked hard as a team all year long. I think the team camaraderie that they’ve developed over the season has been particularly important. And the experience that they have gained over the last four years is certainly very important. It’s great. I’m happy for the girls.”
Boston College’s B-Division skipper Emily Maxwell (Stonington, Conn.), with crew Elizabeth Dudley (Queenstown, Md.), both juniors, finished 5-10 in today’s two races to chip away at the point spread between BC and Charleston. Their 50 points, plus the 59 from A-Division skipper Anne Haeger (Lake Forest, Ill.) and Emily Massa (Barrington, R.I.), both sophomores, closed the gap from 35 to 25 points and put BC second overall in the championship standings with 109 points.
Old Dominion’s B-Division senior skipper Katrina Williams (Pembroke, Bermuda), with freshman crew Shannon Wilkins (Kennett Square, Penn.), won the last race of the championship after finishing second in the day’s earlier race. Finishing second in the B-Division standings, their 53 points combined with the 78 from A-Division – junior skipper Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.) with sophomore crew Emily Reich (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) – to earn ODU third place overall in the championship as they edged out Tufts University with whom they were tied at 131 total points.
The win of the ICSA Women’s National Championship also puts College of Charleston in the running for the Fowle Trophy which recognizes the year’s best all-around performance in college sailing. “It shows the depth of strength in our team,” Cromwell explained. “We have dinghy sailors that can sail sloops. We have laser sailors that can sail dinghies [Juan Maegli won the ICSA/Laser Performance Men’s Singlehanded Championship last fall], and starting tomorrow we’ll find out if we have sailors that can team race.”
Next Up: The ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship will be held over the next three days, May 29-31, from the regatta base at Memorial Union Terrace. Each college’s three-boat team will face off against another’s in a round-robin series of matches with the top-four of the 14 entered teams proceeding to a double round-robin championship series to determine the overall winner. Results, Twitter updates and live video coverage are available at: 2010nationals.collegesailing.org
ICSA is the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. To learn more please visit: http://www.collegesailing.org/. ICSA is sponsored by Gill (www.gillna.com), Annapolis Performance Sailing, (www.apsltd.com) Marlow Ropes, (www.bainbridgeint.com) Quantum Sails, (www.quantumsails.com) LaserPerformance (www.laserperformance.com/main/) and US SAILING: (www.ussailing.org)
