March 14, 2007
St. Mary's, Mary. - The St. Mary's Team Race Intersectional is a welcome opportunity for the Cardinal sailors to race against some of the best east coast teams and is the last big team race before the Pacific Coast Championships. Varsity sailors Brian Haines with Kelly McKenna, Emery Wager and Leigh Hammel, and Edward Conrad with Becca Levin and Cameron Bell represented Stanford in Maryland.
One of the most exciting races of the day, albeit unsuccessful, was the race against the host team, St. Mary's College. Out of the gate, Cardinal sailors Haines/McKenna and Conrad/Levin jumped ahead with a 1st and 2nd near the Race Committee boat, but quickly lost control of the St. Mary's sailors and found themselves in a 3,4,6 combination near Mark 1. Emery Wager and Leigh Hammel, who were behind at the start, raced hard to the left side of the course and found themselves just behind the St. Mary's leaders as they were approaching the mark from the port layline. In an epic move, Wager/Hammel ducked the second place St. Mary's just as they were passing the weather mark, and waited for them to tack, then the Stanford pair held them in place. Meanwhile, Edward Conrad and Becca Levin, in an unconventional move, swooped in on the 5th place St. Mary's boat, allowing teammates Brian Haines and Kelly McKenna to move ahead. Stanford rounded the weather mark in a stable 2, 3, 4 combination, which they were able to hold on to around Mark 3. Things got interesting in the last quarter of the last beat. Haines/McKenna passed the 1st place Seahawks boat, John Howell and Maggie Lumkes. Howell/Lumkes then made the biggest race changing move by dropping down on Wager/Hammel, but stayed just far enough ahead so that Conrad/Levin could cross them on port, and couldn't get out of the left side of the course. Howell/Lumkes ultimately pinned Conrad/Levin away from the finish, while the other St. Mary's boat of John Loe and Meredith Nordhem pinned Wager/Hammel passed the finish line, allowing Seahawks Alex Steele and Samantha Parisi to finish ahead. St. Mary's won with a 2, 3, 4.
With one and a half round robins complete by the end of Saturday, Stanford sailors sat near the top, falling only to Yale, St. Mary's and Hobart and William Smith.
On Sunday, swift race management enabled competitors to finish the second round robin. In their first race of the day, the Cardinal defeated Hobart and William Smith, which secured them a spot in the final four showdown. But the coed squad did not perform as well as they would have hoped, falling to all of the other teams in the round robin.
Final Results:1. Yale18-3
2. Hobart William/Smith17-4 (wins tie)
3. St. Mary's College 17-4
4. Stanford 14-7
5. College of Charleston 10-8
6. Georgetown7-11
7. Washington College5-13
8. USC 5-13
9. MIT 2-16
10. ODU2-16