ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy intercollegiate sailing team competed at three events at two venues this past weekend.
With the season just two weeks in, the Midshipmen competed in their first conference championship of the 2018-19 season and saw their first national qualifier in
Jessica McJones (Jr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.). The Faye Bennet MAISA Women's Singlehanded Championship was the first conference championship for Navy, where 17 women competed for four berths to the national championship.
The Mids host the Faye Bennet each season in the fleet of Laser Radials. The MAISA Women's Singlehanded events took place on the Chesapeake Bay, just off of Greenbury Point. With the wind between seven and 15 knots from the northeast, the competition was tight throughout the weekend. McJones led Navy at the event with a steady and conservative start, which kept her in the hunt during the first half of the regatta.
McJones finished strong over the final seven races to grab a fourth-place finish in a tight field. Her fourth-place finish punched her ticket to the Laser Performance College Sailing Women's Singlehanded Nationals for the first time in her career. This year's national championships will take place in Macatawa Bay, Mich., on November 3 and 4.
Brittney Slook (Jr., Middletown, N.J.) also competed in the Faye Bennet, where she finished 11th overall.
Navy's other home event this past weekend was the MAISA Laser Elimination, where 13 men competed for a spot in the Carl Van Duyne MAISA Men's Singlehanded Championship next weekend in Annapolis. Competing on the same course as the women, the Midshipmen had two men qualify for the Carl Van Duyne.
Louis Margay (Fr., Chester Springs, Pa.) placed fourth overall, while
Tyler Fleig (Sr., Portsmouth, R.I.) was close behind in sixth place.
The duo of Margay and Fleig will join
Connor Bayless (So., Annapolis, Md.) -- who qualified last weekend -- at the Carl Van Duyne MAISA Men's Singlehanded Championship next weekend, where 18 sailors are set to compete for five berths into the Men's Singlehanded National Championship.
On the road, Navy took part in the Chesapeake Invitational at St. Mary's. In a new regatta using a new format, the top five teams in the southern region of the MAISA each sent multiple doublehanded teams to the regatta. Each boat sailed as an individual team and each day of racing was scored separately. Navy had four boats competing with each team having ups and downs throughout the weekend.
Following action on Saturday,
JC Hermus (Fr., Bellport, N.Y.) and
Kelly Milliken (So., Mooresville, N.C.) placed fourth, followed by
Parker Loftus (Jr., Chatham, Mass.) and
Kent Mathes (Jr., Anacortes, Wash.) finished seventh.
Max Brill (Jr., La Jolla, Calif.) and
Sally Johnson (Fr., Richmond, Va.) were just behind in eighth, while Bayless and
Ana Mier (Sr., San Juan, Puerto Rico) rounded out the Mids in 10th overall.
On Sunday, Loftus and Mathes led Navy with a fifth-place finish and the Bayless and Mier placed seventh overall. Rounding the Midshipmen in the 18-boat field was Hermus and Milliken in eighth and Brill and Johnson in 11th.
Navy is back in action this coming weekend at the Carl Van Duyne MAISA Men's Singlehanded Championships at home and the Coed/Women's Combined Regatta at Georgetown. Both events are set for Saturday and Sunday this weekend.
