Georgetown leads into Match Race Quaterfinals

San Diego, CA (November 19, 2016) – The 2016 College Sailing Match Racing Nationals continued today on San Diego Bay hosted by the San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC). Competitors are vying for the Cornelius Shields Sr. Trophy.

After light winds the previous day, wind speeds picked up to 7-8 knots for the majority of the afternoon. However, by the last race of the day, wind speeds slowed down to 3 knots.

Ten collegiate teams completed all 9 flights of the round robin and sailed the first race of the Quarter Finals today in SDYC’s J/22s. Tomorrow’s race format may be modified once race organizers assess Sunday’s conditions.

Georgetown University was the number one seeded team going into the Quarter Finals with an 8-1 record, losing only to College of Charleston (CofC). Since today was windier and wavier than Friday, Georgetown focused on speed, sail trim and making good decisions on where to position the boat.

Coach Janel Zarkowsky commented on Georgetown’s plans for tomorrow. “Our goal is to make it all the way to the Finals. We need to keep our speed up since the other teams get better and the races get harder as the days go on. I’ll be keeping my eyes on the team to make sure their wheels are on the bus.”

The Georgetown team is comprised of Southern California natives Sean Segerblom ’20 on the bow and AJ Reiter ’17 at the helm. Reiter grew up sailing in SDYC’s Junior Program and knows the San Diego Bay and sailing J/22s well. Roger Dorr ’18 trims the main and spinnaker and is the voice of reason on the boat according to Zarkowsky. The glue that holds the team together is Meaghan MacRae ’18 who trims the jib and assists in the pit.

Dartmouth College also had a great day of sailing. They started the day 2-2 in the round robin and ended 6-3. The Dartmouth team normally practices on a small lake with light air, so this weekend’s conditions have been in their ballpark.

Coaching for Dartmouth College is David Thompson who spent the day focusing on improvement. “Our mentality was to improve boat speed and boat handling each race. Though we lost the last flight of the round robin to CofC, we were within a boat length the entire race which made things very exciting.”

Dartmouth won against University of Southern California in the first Quarter Final race. Going into tomorrow, they plan to stick to the basics, focus on what variables they can control and execute.

Sailing for Dartmouth College is Charles Lalumiere ’17, Nathaniel Greason ’17, Rebecca McElvain ’19, and Madeline Cooney ’17.

The top 8 teams proceed to the Quarter Finals after the round robin. To make things interesting, there was a three way tie for 8th place between University of Wisconsin, University of Washington, and Texas A&M University Galveston after flight 9 of the round robin. University of Wisconsin won the tie-breaker while Texas A&M and University of Washington will race a knock-out round tomorrow for 9th & 10th place.

The only team here this weekend without a coach is the University of Washington – a student-run team with the highest percentage of girls on the boat. They are also the only team with a female driver.

Student sailor Kate Flanagan ’17 from University of Washington expressed how happy their team is to be competing this weekend. “We will race against Texas A&M tomorrow, so tonight we are going to go home, stay hydrated, get a good night’s sleep and get our heads in the game for tomorrow. We’re just fortunate to be here to race against good teams and improve our match racing skills.”

Joining Flanagan on the University of Washington team is Rachel Cohen ’19, Athina Ebert ’17, and Hayden Potter ’20.

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

Event details – Scoreboard – 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