ICSA Women's Nationals win to Boston College

by Jennifer Mitchell on 3 Jun 2012 Today was the last day of racing for the Sperry Top-Sider/ICSA Women’s National Championship on Lake Travis in Austin, Texas, co-hosted by the University of Texas Sailing Team and the Austin Yacht Club.

Eighteen women’s collegiate teams raced for the Gerald C. Miller Trophy and Boston College came away with the victory.

The competitors arrived to nice breeze and partly cloudy skies, a pleasant change from the last three days of racing where wind was a scarcity at times. Winds were coming from the south-southeast at around 12-14 knots at the start of the day and as racing got underway around 9 a.m. CDT, the winds fluctuated between 8-12 knots.

The race committee was able to run seven races today in both A and B-divisions completing the championship with 13 races total in A and B over the three days of the regatta.

While there was more wind today, gusts up to 14-16 knots from a southeasterly direction, the same shifts—long persistent shifts—like the previous days, moved across the course. The shifts could last for a whole upwind or downwind leg and if the sailors were not in phase with them they could gain or lose places quickly depending on which side of the course they were on.

For Boston College, approaching the conditions today, Greg Wilkinson says, 'It was all a matter of being the capable team that we are.' The head coach says the racing was extremely close today. They started the day just one point ahead of Georgetown University and going into the last race of the day they held their first place position, but were only one point ahead of the University of Rhode Island, the defending champions. Closely behind Boston and Rhode Island were Yale University and Georgetown—all four teams were within ten points of each other.

'Staying near Rhode Island was a priority,' Wilkinson says. Although the racing was close all day he says the team did not really focus on it until the last race. They talked about being ready with aggressive starts, he says, but they felt they had a speed advantage over Rhode Island and thought they would win a tie-breaker with Yale, therefore they felt in a good position.

Winning the Women’s Championship title and the Gerald C. Miller Trophy for Boston College was Anne Haeger ’12, Laura McKenna ’13 and Kelly Roy ’13 in A-division and Briana Provancha ’12 and Beth Barnard ’15 in B-division.

The Yale team also did not focus on the points between the teams until the last race of the day, says Bill Healy, Yale’s assistant coach. He says they thought what they needed to win the regatta was to win the last race and that is what they did, 'Who ever made the least mistakes in the end would stay at the top,' he says. Boston College made a good comeback in that last race taking fifth, just enough to give them a four point lead on Yale overall.

Yale took second place winning the New England Women’s Trophy thanks to sailors Marlena Fauer ’14 and Eugenia Custo Greig ’14 in A-division and Morgan Kiss ‘15 with Urska Kosir ’15 and Emily Billing ’13 with Amanda Salvesen ’14 in B-division.

In third, four points behind Yale, winning the Ann Campbell Trophy, was the University of Rhode Island Amy Hawkins ’12 and Kaitlyn Norton ’15 in A-division and Chanel Miller ’14 and Margaret Craig ’13 in B-division.

The two trophies for the winners of each division have been awarded since 1974. Sydney Bolger ’12 and Rebecca Evans ’12 won the Madeleine Trophy, awarded to the low-point A- division team and Morgan Kiss ‘15 with Urska Kosir ’15 and Emily Billing ’13 with Amanda Salvesen ’14 won the Judy Lawson Trophy, awarded to the low-point B-division team.

Final Overall Results
1. Boston College, 142
2. Yale University, 146
3. University of Rhode Island, 150
4. Georgetown University, 156
5. Connecticut College, 187
6. College of Charleston, 210*
7. U.S. Naval Academy, 210*
8. Harvard University, 218
9. Brown University, 236
10. University of South Florida, 242
11. Eckerd College, 248
12. Dartmouth College, 249
13. Stanford University, 277
14. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 278
15. University of Hawaii, 302
16. University of Michigan, 373
17. University of Texas, 409
18. Western Washington University, 413
*Head-to-head tiebreaker

Full results and regatta information here

Racing will continue tomorrow at the Austin Yacht club with the ICSA/APS Team Racing National Championship lasting three days. Fourteen teams will report at 8 a.m. and racing will begin around 10 a.m.

Live coverage will continue tomorrow the University of Texas will provide daily text and photo updates and Chris Love Productions will provide video highlights of the opening day of racing, with live streaming video coverage of the final two days, June 4-5. Video coverage presented by Maclaren.

To view or purchase photos of the action from Women's Nationals, visit the link for photos from photographer Bruce McDonald. http://www.mcdonaldphoto.com/Sailing/2012-Intercollegiate

Maclaren is the pre-eminent lifestyle brand for parenting. For nearly 50 years Maclaren has stood for excellence, empowerment and innovation, and is best known for the creation of the first umbrella buggy, which revolutionized baby transport. Like Maclaren, the sport of sailing encompasses a complete lifestyle with a rich heritage. In an effort to spread the positive impact of sailing, the Maclaren Sailing Sponsorship Programme promotes participation and retention in the sport of sailing on a global basis. Maclaren sponsors a variety of sailors and regattas around the world including training and community initiatives. Please visit www.maclarenbaby.com for more information.

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. Visit www.collegesailing.org to learn more .The ICSA National Championships are sponsored by Sperry Top-Sider (www.sperrytopsider.com), Annapolis Performance Sailing (www.apsltd.com), Gill North America (www.gillna.com), and US SAILING (home.ussailing.org).