ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy intercollegiate sailing team hosted three regattas this past weekend in Annapolis, Md., with most of the Midshipmen seeing action.
 
The first conference championship of the season, the Faye Bennet MAISA Women's Singlehanded Championship had 17 women from around the conference square off in Navy's fleet of Laser Radials.  Competing in the Chesapeake Bay just beyond Greenbury Point, the women had quality conditions and were able to complete the 14-race series with no issues. 
 
Three Navy women were part of the field, as sophomore Kate Zurinskas came out strong early on by finishing second in the first two races.  A penalty in the fourth race hurt her momentum but she finished the first day in fourth place. Zurinskas started strong again on Sunday, had some tough races in the middle of the day, but finished well by winning the final race and taking fourth overall, giving her a solid chance at selection to the ICSA's singlehanded national championship. Senior Izzy Fadullon and sophomore Darby Dryden also competed, with Fadullon finishing 16th overall and Dryden coming in 17th. 
 
For the Chesapeake Invitational, the wind came from the northeast all weekend as the event initially sailed right off the seawall, but as conditions deteriorated there, the course moved farther out to off Horn Point on Saturday afternoon and even farther out past Back Creek on Sunday, with a wind that ranged from 3-10 knots with significant chop. The Invitational featured six teams, each sailing three boats in a combined division.
 
Navy, Georgetown and St. Mary's separated quickly from the other three schools and the three teams remained close in points throughout the weekend. The tricky conditions led to many lead changes and close racing, with Navy winding up third overall. Juniors Nathan Smith and Ellie Alex sailed a good regatta and finished first overall in the combined division, while fellow juniors Jack Welburn and Darby Graham took fifth and sophomores Henry Allgeier and Mary Dwyer came in 11th. 
 
The Chesapeake Open was a late addition to the schedule and had a nine-team combined division regatta with two boats per team. Navy, Georgetown and St. Mary's each fielded three teams, with the Mids finishing second, third and seventh overall.
 
The top-scoring Navy team was leading for much of the event, but couldn't hold off the strong charge that a Georgetown team put together on Sunday afternoon, as that squad had senior Ryan Wahba, junior Eleanor Niehoff, sophomore George Carty and freshman Owen MacWilliams finish second in the combined division while senior Tanner Kelly and sophomore Fiona Cullen took fourth. On the Mids' team that finished third overall, sophomores Teddy Martin and Eva Ottenbreit and freshman Umi Noritake came in sixth in the combined division while junior Alex Brenia, sophomore Josie Sherry and freshmen Sean Trudell and Kyle Reinecke were seventh. Navy's final team had senior Robert Ziman, junior Ava Farley and freshman Gregory Lesmerises-Degraff finish ninth in the division while sophomores Logan Hayes and Spencer Dominguez and freshmen Molly Jethwa and Sarah McNelly came in 15th.
 
Up next for Navy are the Intrepid Trophy in Kings Point, N.Y., and the Top Nine Regatta in Ithaca, N.Y., with both events taking place Sept. 21-22.