NEWPORT, R.I. - Stanford ended its lengthy stay on the East Coast for the ICSA Sailing National Championships with an 11th-place finish at the Gill Coed Nationals on Thursday.
“The 2015 nationals was a roller-coaster ride for the Cardinal,” said seventh-year head coach John Vandemoer. “We had some great moment and some tough ones.”
The Cardinal was unable to maintain its momentum from the semifinals, where it finished second to top-ranked Yale, the eventual champion. Stanford finished the coed finals with 344 points over 18 total races.
“The semifinals were excellent for both the coed and the women but we just couldn’t find the consistency we needed in the finals to be at the very top,” said Vandemoer, who was quick to reflect on a great season from start to finish. “Overall, it was a successful culmination of hard work all year, and in the end it’s such a great experience working with these Stanford student-athletes.”
Seniors Kieran Chung and Haley Kirk went the distance in the A-division, capping impressive Cardinal careers. With a 144-point total, the familiar duo finished eighth in the division.
Antoine Screve and John Cannistraro featured briefly for Stanford’s B-squad, but senior Hans Henken and sophomore crew Nikki Obel sailed the final 14 races.The Cardinal B-unit racked up 185 points, good for 12th place in the division.
Stanford began its trip to Rhode Island with a ninth-place finish in the women’s division, followed by a third-place showing in team racing.