Oct. 26, 2002
Redwood Shores, Calif. - The home water advantage didn't do enough to help the Stanford Women's Sailing Team at this weekend's Fall PCC's. The Cardinal women finished 2nd overall, a mere 4 points away from the winning USC Trojan Women's team.
This year's Fall PCC's are the warm up to next spring's qualifiers for the Collegiate Nationals, to be held in Detroit in June. Eight Pacific Coast teams competed in this weekend's competition. Winds ranged from light easterlies for the first four races, to the Stanford team's favorite Southwesterly seabreeze. "When the seabreeze came up to 10-15 knots, our women were ready, primarily thanks to the strength training they have done with trainer Ryan Capretta," commented coach Jay Kehoe.
Stanford's B-Division was the most consistent for the Cardinal, with skipper Ashley Frush and crew Shadi Mehraein earning an impressive string of top-3 finishes in the small but competitive 8 boat fleet. The duo showed its versatility, with top finishes in both the light air of the morning and the windy conditions of the afternoon. Frush/Mehraein tied for first place in B; losing the tiebreaker to U Hawaii's Sam Howard and Sarah Reed.
In A-DIvision, skipper Jennifer Porter and crew Jessie Duncan had an inconsistent performance in the morning's lighter wind, earning a 7th and two 6th place finishes. "Jen and Jessie seemed to be having an off-day," reported Coach Kehoe. However, as the breeze built, so did the confidence of the Cardinal A-Division team, resulting in a 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the last half of the regatta. It was a better finish for a day that started out looking badly, but the scores earned earlier in the day would hold them back to 5th place in A.
Stanford fielded a second team in the championship, with skipper Liz Shearer and crew Margia Corner earning 4th in A-Division, two points ahead of Stanford's first team of Porter/Duncan. "It is evidence of the depth of our Women's team," explained Kehoe. Skipper Liz Rountree and crew Diana Ly earning 5th in B-Division, for a 6th place finish overall.
A B TOT
1. USC 22 33 55 2. Stanford 37 22 59 3. U Hawaii 38 22 60 4. Cal 35 26 61 5. UCSanta Barbara 20 42 62 6. Stanford2 35 38 73 7. UCIrvine 41 41 82 8. UCSanta Cruz 60 66 126