Sept. 28, 2010

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University sailing team competed in three events this weekend, placing in the top ten in all three. The Hoyas placed second of 18 at the St. Mary's Intersectional.

The St. Mary's Intersectional took place in St. Mary's City, Md., on Saturday and Sunday. In the A division, both Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) and Ashley Phillips (Charleston, S.C./Ashley Hall) finished in second place overall. Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) and Hilary Kenyon (Wayzata, Minn./The Blake School) finished second place overall in the B division. The Hoyas struggled with few double-digit races over the course of the weekend, but finished in second place with 175 points, behind St. Mary's with 137 points.

The Georgetown women's sailing team also competed at the ICSA Singlehanded National Qualifier on Saturday and Sunday. While the team missed the chance to qualify for the ICSA Singlehanded Nationals as a whole, three Hoyas had impressive individual performances. Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif./Poly HS), Nancy Hagood (Charleston, S.C./Ashley Hall), and Emily Gowell (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich) finished seventh, ninth, and 10th respectively in the event. All three missed a berth at nationals by placing outside of the top four.

Also this past weekend, the Hoyas competed at the Laser South Qualifiers, a regatta used to determine the qualifiers for the MAISA Men's Singlehanded Championship. Sophomore Michael Schalka (Seattle, Wash./Dartmoor) earned a berth at the conference championships by placing second in the qualifier, only four points out of first. Schalka will join Buckingham and Barnard at the 18-boat event at Navy in two weeks. The top four finishers at the Conference Championships will continue on to the national championships. Matt Gowell (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich) also had a strong sixth-place finish, posing a 2, 1, 1, and 3 in the final four races. Gowell missed qualifying by only 15 points.

The Hoyas continue their season next weekend with the Jesuit Cup in New York, N.Y., the Senators Cup in St. Mary's Md., and the Danmark Trophy in New London, Conn.

St. Mary's Intersectional

A div. Second Charlie Buckingham / Ashley Phillips B div. Second Chris Barnard / Hilary Kenyon

Overall out of 18:

1. St. Mary's (137)

2. Georgetown (175)

3. Hobart (255)

Faye Bennett Regatta - Women's Singlehanded National Qualifiers

Overall:

7. Sydney Bolger

9. Nancy Hagood

10. Emily Gowell

Laser South #2 (Top 4 qualify for MAISA Men's Singlehanded Championship)

Overall:

2. Michael Schalka

6. Matt Gowell