Top 18 set for College Women’s Nationals

Newport, RI (May 22, 2019) – The Sperry College Sailing Women’s Semifinal Championship wrapped up today for the 36 teams with the top nine from each of the 18-boat groups advancing to the final two days for the National Championship.

The day began with a blustery northerly breeze in the morning which died out mid-afternoon and eventually shifted to a steady southerly breeze around 10-15 knots. The sailors were able to complete five races with the Eastern fleet in Z420s and the Western in Club FJs.

#3 ranked Yale University were a bit more mortal today in the Western Semis but their A Division team (Louisa Nordstrom ’20/ Kathryn Clulo ’21 and Claudia Loiacono ’21) and B Division team (Christine Klingler ’20/ Catherine Mollerus ’21 and Kira Woods ’19) still topped their fleets to carry the Bulldogs to a 46 point win over #7 Dartmouth with #4 Charleston 21 points further back in third.

“We faced some tactical challenges today, so we will need to be more sharp going forward,” says Bill Healy, associate head coach for Yale University. “Luckily the women are aware of what needs to be done, so we should be good to go.

“Being clean at the start and around marks will be important moving forward. With the wind predictions it will be an athletic contest the next few days and we will hope to have lots of speed.”

Finishing tenth in the Western Semis and missing the cut by 7 points was Old Dominion University.

It was moving day for #1 ranked Brown University which took over the lead from #5 ranked Boston College to win the Eastern Semis, with A Division skippers Ragna Agerup ’20 and Sophie Hibben ’19 with crews Maxine De Havenon ’19, Madeleine McGrath ’22, Emma Montgomery ’22, and Megha Malpani ’19 doing the work to win their group.

The Brown Bears edged out BC by 7 points though the Eagles’ B Division skippers Sophia Reineke ’21 and Enna Batcher ’22 with crews Tara Ferraris ’19 and Caroline Rochford ’19 won their group.

“Our goal going into the regatta was to try to be in a good position after the first day of racing so that we could rest some of our starters for the finals,” says John Mollicone, head coach for Brown University. “We have a deep women’s team and we were able to get a lot of sailors on the water – I think around 11 different people raced today.

“The two big things for the racing over the next two days will be watching the current and getting off the starting line. It is important to know what the current is doing and going into the finals the starting line is going to be more challenging with the top teams on it.”

Finishing tenth in the Eastern Semis and missing the cut by 11 points was the US Naval Academy.

Tomorrow the scoreboard is wiped clean and racing intensifies as the top 18 teams compete for the national championship title and the Gerald C. Miller Trophy.

QUALIFYING RESULTS:

Western Semifinals (Top 9 of 18; 13 races)
1. Yale University, 94
2. Dartmouth College, 140
3. College of Charleston, 161
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 164
5. University of Rhode Island, 173
6. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 180
7. Boston University, 183
8. Cornell University, 197
9. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 200

Eastern Semifinals (Top 9 of 18; 13 races)
1. Brown University, 99
2. Boston College, 106
3. Georgetown University, 162
4. Harvard University, 163
5. George Washington University, 166
6. Bowdoin College, 202
7. University of South Florida, 227
8. University of Pennsylvania, 234
9. Stanford University, 237

Event details – Western results – Eastern results – Facebook

2019 Spring Nationals
May 21-24 – Women’s Dinghy
May 25-27 – Team Race
May 28-31 – Coed Dinghy

Live coverage will include:
May 23, half day of Women’s coverage.
May 24, full day of Women’s coverage and awards.
May 25, half to 3/4 day of Team Race coverage, release of Women’s recap video.
May 26, full day of Team Race coverage.
May 27, full day of Team Race coverage and awards.
May 28, release of Team Racing recap video.
May 29, full day of Coed coverage.
May 30, full day of Coed coverage.
May 31, full day of Coed coverage and awards.
June 3, release of Coed recap video.

For live coverage… click here.

The 2018-19 season for the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) held the Match Racing Nationals and Singlehanded Nationals during the fall season, with the final three national titles on May 21 to 31 in Newport, RI.