RECAPPING THE SEASON
Stanford was in a prime position to make a run for hardware this spring before the cancellation of the season due to the COVID-19 global outbreak. The coed team was the top-ranked program in the country when the season ended, and the women's team was ranked No. 6.
The Cardinal won seven regattas: the Moody Trophy (Sept. 28-29), the Women's Stu Nelson Trophy (Oct. 5-6), the PCCSC Match Race Championship (Oct. 5-6), the Women's Fall Pacific Coach Championship (Oct. 26-27), the Match Race National Championship (Nov. 2-3), the Jeremy McIntyre Team Race (Feb. 22-23) and the St. Mary's Team Race (March 7-8). Additionally, Stanford beat Cal in the Big Sail, 2-0, for its 15th-consecutive win in the series.
Individually, Christina Sakellaris won the PCCSC Singlehanded Championship, and joined Hallie Schiffman and John Kirkpatrick at the national event. Sakellaris paced the Cardinal with a second-place finish, her second-straight top-two national finish.
SAILOR OF THE YEAR SWEEP
A promising season cut short was no impediment for the Cardinal in the national awards picture, as Michelle Lahrkamp and Jack Parkin have been named Quantum National Sailor of the Year and Marlow Ropes National Sailor of the Year, respectively, by the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA).
Lahrkamp is the first freshman in the awards history to be named Quantum Women's Sailor of the Year, and also the first Stanford student-athlete to do so as well. The highest honor in women's collegiate sailing dates back to 2003, and she becomes the first west coast sailor to earn the honor. A skipper, Lahrkamp helped Stanford to a No. 6 national women's ranking, including a series of top results at regattas around the country.
Parkin joins Lahrkamp in making Stanford history, becoming the first Cardinal sailor to be named Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year in the 52-year history of the award, which is the top distinction in coed sailing. Parkin took first place in the A-division of three fall regattas before skippering the championship team at the ICSA Match Race National Championship. Together with three of his teammates, Parkin earned a silver medal at the 2020 Harken Youth Match Racing World Championships in New Zealand.
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— Stanford Sailing (@StanfordSailing) June 13, 2020
Jack Parkin has been named Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year! He's our first sailor to win in the 52-year history of the award #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/ZgYRTzDEvl
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— Stanford Sailing (@StanfordSailing) June 13, 2020
Michelle Lahrkamp is the first freshman in the award's history to be named Quantum National Women's Sailor of the Year! #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/DnpShwjPnn
ALL-AMERICA
Four Stanford sailors earned All-America honors from the ICSA: Taylor Kirkpatrick (crew), Michelle Lahrkamp (skipper), Jack Parkin (skipper) and Sammy Pickell (crew).
"While only a select few are able to have their names printed on All-American certificates, behind each one of them is an entire team of dedicated athletes who push and inspire each other to reach higher levels on a daily basis," said head coach Brian Swingly. "Achieving All-American status is impossible without great teammates, something each of this year's recipients would certainly agree they were surrounded by."
A post shared by Stanford Sailing (@stanfordsailing) on Jun 12, 2020 at 3:21pm PDT
MATCH RACE NATIONAL CHAMPS
Competing on a windy weekend from the ICSA Match Race National Championship in Marblehead Mass. on Nov. 3, Stanford's team of skipper Jack Parkin and crew Wiley Rogers, Victoria Thompson and Jacob Rosenberg captured the Cornelius Shields, Sr. Trophy after sweeping Georgetown in a first-to-three wins in the event final.
The Cardinal reached the event's final against the Hoyas by way of beating Jacksonville in a best-of-three semifinal earlier in the day. Stanford won the first and final races of the three before carrying momentum into the three victories over Georgetown.
Stanford goes undefeated in the finals to win the ICSA Match Race National Championship! pic.twitter.com/TshtodfDnP
— Stanford Sailing (@StanfordSailing) November 3, 2019
IN SERVICE TO OTHERS
Houston-area medical centers were on lockdown when Wiley Rogers arrived.
Even so, in each building, security guards gladly allowed him in. Nurses even cheered.
Rogers, a sophomore on the Stanford sailing team, was delivering face shields to help protect staff while treating patients suffering from the COVID-19 virus. The shields were his idea and his project for his father's business, a printing company that found a way to stay afloat and keep itself vital.
During these visits, Rogers got a frontline view of what medical personnel were up against and left with a deepened perspective and a greater understanding.
Continue reading "in Service to Others" by David Kiefer
SILVER MEDAL
Earning the opportunity to represent their country, four Stanford sailors helped the United States earn a silver medal at the 2020 Harken Youth Match Racing World Championships. Jack Parkin skippered the vessel, while the three members of the crew came from the Cardinal, Wiley Rogers, Jacob Rosenberg, and Victoria Thompson.
The Stanford group earned the opportunity to participate by virtue of its fall championship on Nov. 3 in the Match Racing National Championship. The second-place finish is the highest for the United States in the event's history.