Sperry Top-Sider Women's Sailing National - Dartmouth College wins

by Jennifer Mitchell on 31 May 2014 Today was the last day of racing for the Sperry Top-Sider Women’s National Championship on the Severn River at the U.S. Naval Academy. Eighteen women’s collegiate teams raced for the Gerald C. Miller Trophy and Dartmouth College came out the victor for the second year in a row.

The day started with a short on shore postponement while the race officials waited for the breeze to fill in. The temperature was in the 60s with cloudy skies. A light northerly at around four knots filled in and racing got underway. After a set and a half the breeze died again and the teams went in for a long lunch break. By the afternoon temperatures rose to about 70 degrees with more sun in the sky and the winds shifted to the east remaining light and eventually shifted to a southerly direction, which was stable, but light again around 5 knots.

Today the divisions swapped boats again, A-division sailed in Z420s and B-division sailed in FJs. The sailors completed seven races today in both divisions on windward leeward courses with four legs for a total of 17 races in each division for the championship. The race committee was able to start the last race of the day minutes before the 5 p.m. racing time limit.

Going into today’s racing Yale University and Dartmouth were neck-and-neck with only three points separating them. The U.S. Naval Academy trailed the top two by 35 points and behind Navy, the other teams were more condensed, which allowed for movement on the scoreboard today. Most notable was Old Dominion University who moved up from ninth place yesterday to finish just one point behind Navy in fourth place.

The home and host team, Navy, won the Ann Campbell Trophy for finishing the event in third place. The Navy women sailed consistently and were a well-balanced team. Sailing for Navy was Mary Hall ’15 with Elizabeth Morrison ‘14 in A-division and Marissa Lihan ’14 with Emma Ferris ’15 and Megan Hough ’16 in B-division.

After an all-day battle, Yale finished second winning the New England Women’s Trophy. It was not until the fourth to last race of the day that Yale gave up their lead. They battled back and forth with Dartmouth and even had some leads in B-division, but they could not hang on to them.

'Dartmouth’s A-division was pretty much unbeatable today,' says Bill Healy, assistant coach for Yale, 'We tried to stay as close as we could.' Yale’s A-division suffered a few over-early starts and while Healy says their B-division did a fabulous job, in the end it was not enough to take home the win.

'It is bittersweet for us,' Healy says of finishing second, 'Especially for the seniors who have worked hard for four years and wanted the win.' Sailing for Yale was 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.

Winning the Women’s Championship title and the Gerald C. Miller Trophy for the second year in a row is Dartmouth. Deirdre Lambert ’15 with Avery Plough ’14 sailed in A-division and Kelsey Wheeler ’14 and Lizzie Guynn ’16 sailed in B-division. Lambert and Plough won four of the last five races helping their team to stay well ahead of Yale.

'We knew it was going to be a really tough day. Conditions were changing all of the time as they had been the whole regatta,' John Stork III, co-head coach for Dartmouth says. 'There were two things we knew we had to do well. We had to start well and we had to be fast. So if we could control our destiny off of the starting line and be fast then we knew we would have a shot,' Stork explains about going for the win today.

Dartmouth did not talk about winning the event for the second year in a row, but Stork confessed, 'We quietly all believed it was possible.'

This will be Stork’s last year coaching college sailing and he says, 'It’s been an amazing run with these girls and with this team and it’s something I am going to cherish for the rest of my life.'

Lambert, Wheeler and Guynn were also part of the pairings that won the championship last year. This is the fourth time that Dartmouth has won the Sperry Top-Sider Women’s National Championship they also won in 1992, 2000 and 2013.

After racing awards were presented at the Robert Crown Center for the top teams and also for the first place finishers in each division. Deirdre Lambert '15 and Avery Plough '14 from Dartmouth won the Madeleine Trophy, awarded to the low-point A- division team. They finished with 60 points total, 41 points ahead of the second place pairing.

Marlena Fauer '14 with Eugenia Custo Greig '14 and Charlotte Belling '16 from Yale won the Judy Lawson Trophy, awarded to the low-point B-division team. They finished with 89 points total, 20 points ahead of the second place pairing.

Women’s Final Overall Results:
1. Dartmouth College, 185
2. Yale University, 190
3. U.S. Naval Academy, 275
4. Old Dominion University, 276
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 286
6. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 291
7. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 296
8. College of Charleston, 305*
9. University of Rhode Island, 305*
10. Boston College, 328*
11. Eckerd College, 328*
12. Stanford University, 336
13. Bowdoin College, 359
14. Brown University, 381
15. University of Hawaii, 414
16. Georgetown University, 417
17. University of South Florida, 419
18. University of Wisconsin, 423
* Head-to-head tiebreaker

Racing will continue in the Spring Intercollegiate National Sailing Championships with the APS Team Racing National Championship, which will take place over the next three days at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Sixteen teams will report at 8:30 a.m. for a Competitor’s Briefing and the racing will follow.

Live coverage, sponsored by LaserPerformance, will continue tomorrow with highlights and updates. Click on 'Live Coverage' on the event website for these up-to-date racing details. Social media coverage will be provided on College Sailing website. To learn more about the teams competing in the events and to follow the racing and results visit the event website.

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) is the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. For more information click here.

National Championship Finals Regatta Results:

Score summary

			School	Team	A		B		TOT
	1		Dartmouth College	Big Green	60		125		185
	2		Yale University	Bulldogs	101		89		190
	3		U. S. Naval Academy	Midshipmen	112		163		275
	4		Old Dominion University	Monarchs	140		136		276
	5		Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Engineers	177		109		286
	6		U. S. Coast Guard Academy	Bears	127		164		291
	7		Hobart and William Smith Colleges	Statesmen	133		163		296
*	8		College of Charleston	Cougars	170		135		305
*	9		University of Rhode Island	Rams	140		165		305
*	10		Boston College	Eagles	157		171		328
*	11		Eckerd College	Tritons	160		168		328
	12		Stanford University	Cardinal	192		144		336
	13		Bowdoin College	Polar Bears	157		202		359
	14		Brown University	Bears	207		174		381
	15		University of Hawaii	Rainbows	168		246		414
	16		Georgetown University	Hoyas	231		186		417
	17		University of South Florida	Bulls	232		187		419
	18		University of Wisconsin	Badgers	243		180		423

Sym.	Explanation
*	Head-to-head tiebreaker