April 18, 2012

GENEVA, N.Y. -- This past weekend, the Navy Sailing Team traveled to Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., to compete in the conference Coed Dinghy Championship for the America Trophy. The top 18 teams in the Mid-Atlantic were on hand, with the top eight moving on to the National Semifinals at Navy on May 12-13. Light winds on Saturday prevented many races from being completed, but Navy got off to a strong start and felt confident heading into Sunday. The conditions were still light, but definitely sailable on Sunday and a total of ten races were completed per division before the 4:00 PM cutoff time. In a tight battle, Navy ended up fourth overall and will be advancing on. Alex Ramos and Saverio Maldari finished fourth in A division while Michael Grove, Jason Carminati, Caroline Lockett and Julie Digiovanni were fifth in B.

At our one inter-conference competition of the weekend, Navy finished a solid fifth out of 17 teams at Coast Guard's Emily Wick Women's Regatta. The conditions were tricky as usual on the Thames River with puffy, shifty wind and strong current. The challenges didn't phase Mary Hall and Erica Leinmiller, however as they sailed to a third-place finish in A division. Marissa Lihan and Emma Ferris were 10th in B.

To complete the busy weekend, Navy served as hosts for the MAISA Spring Open. With good weather, we were able to complete all 32 races before lunchtime on Sunday, allowing the visiting teams to get on the road early and Navy's team members to enjoy a well-deserved afternoon off. On the racecourse, Navy's team fell a bit behind the leaders at the end of the day on Saturday, but charged hard throughout the day on Sunday and closed a huge gap to come within a point of the overall win going into the last race. Despite the strong push, the Midshipmen fell just short of the victory and claimed second overall in the 16-team event. George Prieto and Sarah Blake finished third in A division while Connor Timmins and Connor Hendi were second in B.

# GO NAVY #