NEW ORLEANS, La./SAN FRANCISCO - Stanford sailing finished first at its season-opening Sugar Bowl regatta, while sophomore Christina Sakellaris, sophomore Sophia Sole and freshman John Kirkpatrick punched their tickets to singlehanded nationals over the weekend.
On the Emeryville Flats, just east of the Treasure Island Sailing Center, Sakellaris and Sole finished 1-2 at the PCCSC Women's Singlehanded Championships, and freshman John Kirkpatrick won the men's conference singlehanded title to qualify for the ICSA Singlehanded National Championships.
Sakellaris (6) and Sole (3) combined to win nine of the 10 races, and the pair finished 1-2 in all but the first race. Stanford took three of the top four spots as Sakellaris finished with 14 points, Sole was second with 18, USC's Sarah Alexander took third with 32 points, and senior Olivia Gugliemini was fourth with 38 points.
Kirkpatrick took first in his collegiate debut with 14 points, which bested USC's Upamanyu Dutta who finished as runner up with 20 points. Among the 12 sailors, Kirkpatrick won five of the 10 races and never finished lower than second.
A post shared by Stanford Sailing (@stanfordsailing) on Sep 22, 2018 at 10:36pm PDT
Stanford also bested the six-team field in New Orleans to claim the Sugar Bowl regatta with 254 points. That was more than 100 points clear of Jacksonville, which finished as the runner up with 358 points. A weather delay at the Sourthern Yacht Club on Saturday didn't faze the Cardinal who were led by the low-point boat of freshman Wiley Rogers and sophomore Victoria Thompson. The pair won eight of 18 races and finished with just 45 points in the B division. Freshmen Telis Anthanasopoulos Yogo and Sammy Pickell totaled just 55 points in the C division, while sophomore Stephanie Houck and freshman Camille White were eighth overall with 154 points.
The ICSA Singlehanded National Championships are slated for Nov. 3-4 at Hope College in Macatawa, Michigan.
Next up for the Cardinal is a trip to Cleveland for the Hinman Trophy USTR Nationals on Saturday and Sunday.