Ivy League dominating Women’s College Nationals

Annapolis, MD (May 29, 2014) – The Sperry Top-Sider Women’s National Championship continued today on the Severn River at the U.S. Naval Academy. Eighteen collegiate teams advanced from the previous two days of competing in the semi-finals to make it to the finals racing. The teams are vying for the national title and the Gerald C. Miller Trophy.

Racing got underway at 9:30 a.m. in conditions quite different from what the women experienced in the semi-finals. It was cooler with temperatures in the high 50s and low 60s, clouds and steady rain. The winds were out of the northeast at 5-10 knots.

Sailing windward leeward courses with four legs, 10 races were completed today in both A-division and B-division with no protests filed. There are eight races left in each division to complete the regatta.

“Today [the conditions] was very difficult to say the least,” Bill Healy says, assistant coach of Yale University. “It was one of those days that you felt terrible after finishing a race, but things looked good at the end of the day.”

The Yale Bulldogs sit in first place, maintaining the momentum gained from winning the Western fleet semi-finals. “We are practicing what we’ve been doing all year and we made a few less mistakes than other competitors out there today,” Healy says.

The Big Green of Dartmouth College, the defending champion of this event, is only three points behind Yale.

“Tomorrow we will keep an eye on Dartmouth, but we have to sail the course a lot harder than we have been,” Healy says. Sailing for Yale is Morgan Kiss ’15 with Katherine Gaumond ’15 in A-division and Marlena Fauer ’14 with Eugenia Custo Greig ’14 and Charlotte Belling ’16 in B-division.

“We are feeling okay after today,” Ian Burman says, head coach of the Naval Academy. Navy is in third place with 148 points. “We had a few bad races keeping us out of the top two, so we are hoping to move up tomorrow.”

The weather prediction for tomorrow is for light wind out of the north, which is a shifty direction at Navy.

“We are focusing on staying calm and steady tomorrow,” Burman says. “If we do what we are capable of, we will do well.” Sailing for Navy is Mary Hall ’15 with Elizabeth Morrison ’14 in A-division and Marissa Lihan ’14 with Emma Ferris ’15 in B-division.

Today A-division sailed FJs and B-division sailed Z420s. Tomorrow the divisions will swap boats.

Racing is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. No race can begin after 5 p.m. The day will culminate in an awards ceremony scheduled right after racing outside of the Robert Crown Center at the Naval Academy.

Women’s Finals – Day 1 Results (Top 9 of 18)
1. Yale University, 110
2. Dartmouth College, 113
3. U.S. Naval Academy, 148
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 157
5. College of Charleston, 163
6. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 167
7. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 173
8. University of Rhode Island, 177
9. Old Dominion University, 189

Full Results – Event Website

The top three women’s teams will be presented with the Gerald C. Miller Trophy for first place, the New England Women’s Trophy for second place and the Ann Campbell Trophy for third place. The Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year will also be awarded to a female sailor who has consistently performed at the highest competitive level in the 2013-2014 season.

Running the races is Principal Race Officer Gary Bodie and his race committee team of Pat Dawson, Jim Wojcik, Tim McGee, Taran Teague, Dan Corzenwit, Frieda Wildey and the Navy Sailing Team along with judges Don Becker and Morgan Wilson.

Report by college media.

Background:
The fall and spring seasons of college racing focuses on six National Championships. In the Fall season were the Match Race Nationals and Men’s and Women’s Singlehanded Nationals. The Spring season closes out with the ICSA/Sperry Women’s Nationals (May 27-30), College Sailing/APS Team Race Championship (May 31-June 2), and the College Sailing/Gill Coed Championship (June 3-6). Nationals website: http://2014nationals.collegesailing.org