May 13, 2012
ANNAPOLIS, Md.-- Stanford sailed to a franchise-best third place finish at the National Semifinals, to secure a berth into the national championships.
Top-ranked Georgetown held off Roger Williams College (135) and Stanford (136) for one of the two Semifinal titles, scoring 120 points. RWC edged the Cardinal by one point after winning the 13th race in the B Division.
Stanford was in second place with two races to go, as the B Division team of Oliver Toole and Haley Kirk finished their day in seventh and fourth for a combined two-day total of 60 points. RWC moved ahead of the Cardinal following a first and seventh place showing.
The Cardinal duo had won two races on day two, to keep it close. Overall they finished seventh or better in 13 of the 14 races against the other 17 competitors.
Kevin Laube and Kelly Ortel's boat in the A Division, finished in the top-five in seven of eight races on day two to finish with 76 points. The one error, proved costly and was a 12-point difference with the Hoyas.
Trailing first place Georgetown by 10 points, a foul pushed the A Division back in the eighth race, costing the Cardinal 19 points, despite top-seven finishes and seven points or less in each of its first seven races over two days. Georgetown was seventh in the same race. The Laube and Ortel were in the top-seven in 13 of 14 races overall.
Stanford has reached all three national championships in each of the last five seasons for women's, team and coed racing.
The top-nine in each semifinal advance to the national championship outside of Austin, Texas during the first week of June. This side of the bracket features six top-10 teams and nine of the top-20 teams nationally.
National Semifinals
3rd, 136 points
http://2012semis.collegesailing.org/eastresults/
A: Laube and K. Ortel, 76 points (14 races)
B: Toole and Kirk, 60 points (14 races)
Stanford All-Time at National Semifinals
2012 (3rd)
2011 (5th)
2010 (9th)
2009 (6th)
2008 (6th)
(two 18-team semifinals began in 2008)