Cougars To Set Sail at Four Weekend Regattas Over Spring Break

CHARLESTON, SC March 8, 2013 – For the second weekend in a row, the College of Charleston coed and women’s sailing teams will compete in four regattas including two notable team racing events.

The Cougars enter this weekend’s competition with their highest national rankings of the season as they claimed sole possession of No. 1 in the latest college coed rankings, presented by Sperry Top-Sider on March 6. They received 18 first-place votes and previously shared the top spot with No. 2-ranked Georgetown on Feb. 20.

College of Charleston Sailing

After winning the home-hosted Charleston Women’s Intersectional last weekend, the CofC women also climbed four spots to No. 3 in the nation with five first-place votes behind No. 1 Yale and No. 2 Dartmouth.

Last weekend, the Cougars swept all four of the regattas they competed in. Skippers Juan Maegli (Guatemala City, Guatemala), Mac Mace (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Ben Spector (Santa Clarita, Calif.) look to do the same by leading an experienced group at the St. Mary’s Team Race hosted by St. Mary’s College of Maryland on March 9-10 in St. Mary’s City, Md.

The trio will be joined by crews Seppie McAdams (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.), Cory DeCollibus (Duxbury, Mass.), Ali Blumenthal (Bellport, N.Y.) and Brooks Clark (Newport Beach, Calif.) – all of which contributed to last weekend’s win at the Graham Hall Team Race.

Additionally, the Cougars will compete at the John Jackson Team Race regatta hosted by Georgetown on March 9-10 in Washington, D.C. CofC will sail skippers Chris Banholzer (Hartland, Wis.), Nick Johnstone (Newport, R.I.), Ryan Davidson (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Jake Reynolds (San Diego, Calif.) along with crews Michaela Reynolds (Providence, R.I.), Tierney Driscoll (Bayport, N.Y.) and Emily Stuart (Riverside, R.I.).

The Navy Spring Women’s regatta hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy on March 9-10 in Annapolis, Md., will see the Cougar rotation of junior skipper Grace Lucas (Little Silver, N.J.) and crews Morgan Buckley (Yonkers, N.Y.) and Sarah Somes (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.) in A-Division and sophomore skipper Kayla Gibson (Houston, Texas) with crews Sarah Scudder (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) and Beka Schiff (Tampa, Fla.) in B-Division.

The Cougars will also field teams in the North Points #3 regatta hosted by Tennessee on March 9 in Knoxville, Tenn. Freshman skipper Reed Baldridge (Clear Lake, Texas) and freshman crew Kyle Sutter (San Diego, Calif.) will sail in A-Division, while freshman skipper Sarah Mackey (Bellevue, Wash.) and freshman crew Charlotte Saxe (Wilton, Conn.) compete in B-Division. CofC has won all four North Points events held in the fall and spring this season.

SAILING WORLD’S COLLEGE RANKINGS (as of March 6, 2013)

Coed Total Points

1. College of Charleston (18) 416

2. Georgetown (2) 393

3T. Boston College (1) 332

3T. Yale 332

5. St. Mary’s College of Maryland 329

6. Stanford 325

7. Brown 296

8. Roger Williams 259

9. Navy 248

10. Tufts 233