March 16, 2008
Washington Second in Team Race Challenge
Finish Qualifies WC for MAISA Team Race Championships

CHESTERTOWN, MD -- The host Washington College sailing team finished second of seven teams in the MAISA Team Race Challenge, held on the Chester River this weekend. Washington qualified for the upcoming Captain Prosser Trophy, the MAISA Team Race Championships, by finishing ahead of all other non-prequalified teams at this weekend's regatta.

To-ranked St. Mary's won the regatta with a 13-2 record. Washington finished 11-4. Twentieth-ranked Merchant Marine was third at 9-6, and fourth-ranked Georgetown rounded out the top four with a 6-9 record. Twelfth-ranked Navy (4-8), Cornell (3-9), and Webb Institute (0-12) rounded out the field.

Senior skipper Alex Hood (Newport, RI/Portsmouth Abbey) and senior crew Shrijana Puri (Bethesda, MD/Bethesda-Chevy Chase), sophomore skipper Conner Blouin (Tampa, FL/Jesuit) and sophomore crew Krista Hankins (Bridgeton, NJ/Cumberland Regional), and junior skipper Derek Packard (Excelsior, MN/Breck) and junior crew Seth Olson (Branford, CT/Branford) sailed for Washington.

Thirty-one races were sailed on Saturday as one round robin was completed and another was started. Saturday winds were 10-12 knots from the northwest in the morning, dying to 4-8 knots in the afternoon. The final 11 second round robin races were sailed before noon on Sunday in northwest winds of 4-8 knots. The six-race final four was completed around 1:00 p.m. in northwest winds up to 10-12 knots.

The Captain Prosser Trophy will take place April 5th and 6th at Merchant Marine.

Next weekend, the Washington College sailing team will compete at the Boston Dinghy Cup, hosted by Harvard and MIT.