Georgetown wins College Match Racing Nationals

San Diego, CA (November 20, 2016) – The 2016 College Sailing Match Racing Nationals, hosted by San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC), concluded today on San Diego Bay. After three days of competitive racing, Georgetown University has won the Cornelius Shields Sr. Trophy.

The final day of racing consisted of a knock-out round for 9th and 10th place, Quarter Finals, Semi-Finals, Petite Finals and Finals. Race Committee was able to pull off all races with winds at 5-7 knots.

Advancing to the Semi-Finals was Georgetown against Dartmouth College and Hobart & William Smith Colleges against College of Charleston. Losing their matches, Dartmouth College and College of Charleston raced for the first to 2 points in the Petite Finals. Dartmouth won the first two races and was first to two points, making them the third place finishers and College of Charleston fourth in the overall standings.

Georgetown University and Hobart & William Smith Colleges faced off in the Finals. Due to slow winds at the end of the day, Race Committee changed the format to declaring the first team to 2 points as the winner. Since Georgetown won the first race and HWS Colleges won the second race, it came down to the 3rd race where Georgetown University finished first, and ultimately won the overall championship.

Georgetown alumnus Nevin Snow joined Coach Janel Zarkowsky on the water today to support the Hoyas. Snow, a San Diego native, won this title twice during his college career and is currently the #2 match racer in the country. Georgetown University also won the Coed Nationals in May which was also raced in San Diego Bay.

“We realized that Georgetown has won 3 out of the last 5 match racing championships,” reflects Zarkowsky. “It feels good to be developing a team with that many wins. One of the takeaways from this weekend is that the fastest boat always wins. So if you put 90% effort into being the fastest, the match racing becomes really easy.”

The winning team consisted of AJ Reiter ’17, Meaghan MacRae ’18, Sean Segerblom ’20, and Roger Dorr ’18.

HWS Colleges, coached by Scott Ikle, finished second overall. Ikle was proud of his team for placing second after the exciting last three races of the weekend against Georgetown. “Collegiate match racing has come a long way and this weekend’s top teams were all great competitors. All of the teams here were well prepared, which made it even more fun to be a part of.”

Sailing for HWS Colleges was Greiner Hobbs ’18, Sam Hallowell ’16, Noah Barrengos ’18, and Maya Weber ’20.

Dartmouth College also had another great day of sailing, focusing on good handling and boat speed throughout each race. Though they were not able to beat Georgetown in the Semi-Finals, Coach David Thompson was happy to finish third after winning against College of Charleston in the Petite Final.

“It was bittersweet. We have three seniors on the boat, so placing in the top 3 was a good way to cap their season. I’m 90% positive that our skipper, Charlie, is going to keep match racing in the future, so this isn’t the last of him.”

Representing Dartmouth College this weekend was Charles Lalumiere ’17, Nathaniel Greason ’17, Rebecca McElvain ’19 and Madeline Cooney ’17. McElvain is currently the #8 women’s match racer in the U.S. and Lalumiere is the #6 match racer in the U.S. open rankings.

Final Results
1. Georgetown University
2. Hobart & William Smith Colleges
3. Dartmouth College
4. College of Charleston
5. University of Southern California
6. University of South Florida
7. Boston College
8. University of Wisconsin
9. Texas A&M University Galveston
10. University of Washington

Event details – Round robin results – Facebook

List of Teams:

SAISA (South Atlantic)
• College of Charleston: Christophe Killian ’18, John Thompson ’18, Laura Masterson ’20, Howard Meyers ’17
• University of South Florida: Sean Cornell ’18, Brendan Feeney ’18, Scott Ewing ’18, Mandi Dickie ’18

NWICSA (Northwest)
• University of Washington: Kate Flanagan ’17, Rachel Cohen ’19, Athina Ebert ’17, Hayden Potter ’20

MAISA (Middle Atlantic)
• Hobart and William Smith Colleges: Greiner Hobbs ’18, Sam Hallowell ’16, Noah Barrengos ’18, Maya Weber ’20
• Georgetown University: AJ Reiter ’17, Meaghan MacRae ’18, Sean Segerblom ’20, Roger Dorr ’18

MCSA (Midwest)
• University of Wisconsin: Charles Bocklet ’17, James Sitter ’17, Benjamin Witman ’16, Indigo Leslie ’17

SEISA (Southeast)
• Texas A&M Galveston: John Hanna ’19, Haley Walker ’18, Ian Beck ’19, Jonathan Sager ’20

PCCSC (Pacific Coast)
• University of Southern California – Matthew Hecht ’16, Melissa Schem ’18, Paul Chyz ’18, Peter Wong ’18

NEISA (New England)
• Boston College – Scotty Sinks ’18, Erika Reineke ’17, Peter Lynn ’19, Harry Koeppel ’17
• Dartmouth University – Charles Lalumiere ’17, Nathaniel Greason ’17, Rebecca McElvain ’19, Madeline Cooney ’17

Source: SDYC, College Sailing