Yale University Wins Western and Boston College Wins Eastern Semifinals of
The 2010 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association’s National Championships
Norfolk, Va. (May 3, 2010) – The second most important college sailing competition of the year was held over the weekend of May 1-2, and for the second consecutive year the action was dominated by schools from the East Coast. From the 200+ active racing programs that compete under the auspices of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA), 36 schools were seeded, based on performance, into one of the two semifinal rounds of the ICSA/Gill Coed National Championship: the ICSA National Championship Eastern Semifinals which took place at College of Charleston (Charleston, South Carolina) or the ICSA National Championship Western Semifinals at the University of Washington (Seattle, Washington). For the 18 schools competing at each location the stakes were high – only a top-nine finish would qualify them to progress to the championship finals which will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin from May 25-June 3, 2010, in Madison, Wisconsin.
At the Western Semifinals in Seattle, light air on day one only allowed for the completion of four races – two each in A and B Division. When racing wrapped up on day two, with ten races completed in both divisions, the point spread among the top three teams was a good indication of the close competition: Yale won the event with 89 points, St. Mary’s was second with 91 and Roger Williams was third with 98. Also qualifying to move on were Old Dominion University, Harvard University, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Salve Regina University, SUNY Maritime College and Stanford University who won the last race in B-Division to secure the coveted ninth spot.
“It was a great event,” said ICSA President Mitch Brindley who was at the Seattle semifinals. “The organizers did a super job with the conditions. On day two boats were getting to the weather mark overlapped so it was exciting. Lots of boats were fighting for the spots, especially the battle for ninth. Everyone who showed up had to bring their national championships focus in order to qualify.”
At the Eastern Semifinals in Charleston the big story was the dominating performance of Boston College. Fifteen races were sailed in both A and B Division, with BC winning 11. Even the addition of penalty points in one race couldn’t ground the Eagles and they won the event by a 35-point margin over the hometown team from College of Charleston. While there were favorable weather and wind conditions – good breeze, air temps around 80 and sunny skies – the current on the Cooper River was a challenge for the competitors to master. Georgetown University took third followed by the University of Vermont, Tufts University, Brown University, the U.S. Naval Academy, the University of South Florida and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
From a geographic perspective, bragging rights were claimed by teams from the East Coast with all eight schools from the NEISA (the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association) conference qualifying for Nationals, along with seven from MAISA (the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association) and two from SAISA (South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association). Stanford University will be the lone West Coast representative from PCCSC (the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Association) to compete for the national title.
ICSA is the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. To learn more please visit: www.collegesailing.org.
May 1-2, 2010 - ICSA National Championship Western Semifinals
School(hometown), total points
Yale University (New Haven, Conn.), 89
St. Mary's College (St. Mary’s City, Md.), 91
Roger Williams University (Bristol, R.I.), 98
Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.), 112
Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.), 116
Hobart & William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.), 125
Salve Regina University (Newport, R.I.), 133
SUNY Maritime College (Throggs Neck, N.Y.), 151
Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.), 175
May 1-2, 2010 - ICSA National Championship Eastern Semifinals
School(hometown), total points
Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.), 114
College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.), 149
Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.), 157
University of Vermont (Burlington, Vermont), 201
Tufts University (Medford, Mass.), 207
Brown University (Providence, R.I.), 214
U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.), 217
University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 227
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, N.Y.), 278
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