Yale University Wins Western and Boston College Wins Eastern Semifinals of
The 2010 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association’s National Championships
Norfolk, Va. (May 3, 2010) – The second most important college sailing
competition of the year was held over the weekend of May 1-2, and for the
second consecutive year the action was dominated by schools from the East
Coast. From the 200+ active racing programs that compete under the auspices
of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA), 36 schools were seeded,
based on performance, into one of the two semifinal rounds of the ICSA/Gill
Coed National Championship: the ICSA National Championship Eastern
Semifinals which took place at College of Charleston (Charleston, South
Carolina) or the ICSA National Championship Western Semifinals at the
University of Washington (Seattle, Washington). For the 18 schools
competing at each location the stakes were high – only a top-nine finish
would qualify them to progress to the championship finals which will be
hosted by the University of Wisconsin from May 25-June 3, 2010, in Madison,
Wisconsin.
At the Western Semifinals in Seattle, light air on day one only allowed for
the completion of four races – two each in A and B Division. When racing
wrapped up on day two, with ten races completed in both divisions, the point
spread among the top three teams was a good indication of the close
competition: Yale won the event with 89 points, St. Mary’s was second with
91 and Roger Williams was third with 98. Also qualifying to move on were
Old Dominion University, Harvard University, Hobart & William Smith
Colleges, Salve Regina University, SUNY Maritime College and Stanford
University who won the last race in B-Division to secure the coveted ninth
spot.
“It was a great event,” said ICSA President Mitch Brindley who was at the
Seattle semifinals. “The organizers did a super job with the conditions.
On day two boats were getting to the weather mark overlapped so it was
exciting. Lots of boats were fighting for the spots, especially the battle
for ninth. Everyone who showed up had to bring their national championships
focus in order to qualify.”
At the Eastern Semifinals in Charleston the big story was the dominating
performance of Boston College. Fifteen races were sailed in both A and B
Division, with BC winning 11. Even the addition of penalty points in one
race couldn’t ground the Eagles and they won the event by a 35-point margin
over the hometown team from College of Charleston. While there were
favorable weather and wind conditions – good breeze, air temps around 80 and
sunny skies – the current on the Cooper River was a challenge for the
competitors to master. Georgetown University took third followed by the
University of Vermont, Tufts University, Brown University, the U.S. Naval
Academy, the University of South Florida and the U.S. Merchant Marine
Academy.
>From a geographic perspective, bragging rights were claimed by teams from
the East Coast with all eight schools from the NEISA (the New England
Intercollegiate Sailing Association) conference qualifying for Nationals,
along with seven from MAISA (the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing
Association) and two from SAISA (South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing
Association). Stanford University will be the lone West Coast
representative from PCCSC (the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Association)
to compete for the national title.
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: www.collegesailing.org
<http://www.collegesailing.org/> . ICSA is sponsored by Gill, Annapolis
Performance Sailing, Marlow Ropes, Quantum Sails, LaserPerformance and US
SAILING: www.gillna.com <http://www.gillna.com/> , www.apsltd.com
<http://www.apsltd.com/> , www.bainbridgeint.com
<http://www.bainbridgeint.com/> , www.quantumsails.com
<http://www.quantumsails.com/> , www.laserperformance.com/main/ and
www.ussailing.org
-end-
(List of Teams Qualifying from the Semifinals follows)
May 1-2, 2010 – ICSA National Championship Western Semifinals
School(hometown), total points
Yale University (New Haven, Conn.), 89
St. Mary’s College (St. Mary’s City, Md.), 91
Roger Williams University (Bristol, R.I.), 98
Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.), 112
Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.), 116
Hobart & William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.), 125
Salve Regina University (Newport, R.I.), 133
SUNY Maritime College (Throggs Neck, N.Y.), 151
Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.), 175
May 1-2, 2010 – ICSA National Championship Eastern Semifinals
School(hometown), total points
Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.), 114
College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.), 149
Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.), 157
University of Vermont (Burlington, Vermont), 201
Tufts University (Medford, Mass.), 207
Brown University (Providence, R.I.), 214
U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.), 217
University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 227
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, N.Y.), 278
(end)
