STANFORD, Calif. – An adversity-filled campaign ended in successful fashion for Stanford sailing, which swept the competition at the conference championships and finished in the top five for each of the three national championships, including a program-best second-place result at the ICSA Coed Championships in June.
Sailing was among the 11 programs slated to be in its final season of varsity competition, and was announced to be continued on May 18.
National Regattas
Stanford took second overall at the ICSA Coed National Championships, earning the best result in program history. Stanford raised the Oxford University Yacht Club Trophy with the result, while Michelle Lahrkamp was the first woman since 2001 to earn the Robert M. Allan Jr. Trophy as the highest finishing skipper in the B-division. Sammy Pickell crewed the vessel with Lahrkamp, while Telis Athanasopoulos Yogo and Patricia Gerli took sixth in the A-division.
Placing in the top five for the third year in a row, Stanford sailing took fifth overall at the ICSA Team Race National Championship. Seven athletes saw the water for the Cardinal: Skippers Jack Parkin, Athanasopoulos Yogo and Lahrkamp and crews Pickell, AnaClare Sole, Gerli and Abigail Tindall.
Not to be outdone, Stanford finished fifth at the women's national championship, which was the sixth top-five finish in program history. Lahrkamp and Pickell sailed together in the A-boat, while Stephanie Houck, Hannah Freeman and Tindall sailed in the B-division.
All-America
Four Stanford sailors have earned All-America recognition, as announced by the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA). The Cardinal has had at least four All-Americans in each of the last two seasons.
Michelle Lahrkamp earned two All-America nods, as a women's skipper and honorable mention coed skipper, while Sammy Pickell was an All-American crew for the second-straight season. Telis Athanasopoulos Yogo earned his first career All-America honor as a skipper, while Patricia Gerli was an honorable mention All-America honoree as a crew.
PCCSC
Stanford swept the PCCSC Championships for the 11th consecutive season. The Cardinal staged a comeback effort to best UC Santa Barbara in the final race to win the coed title, while the women combined for 32 points in a dominant victory. Stanford went undefeated in the team race regatta to finish off its third championship of the weekend.
Klevan Takes Charge
As announced on June 18, Chris Klevan has been promoted to head coach of the Stanford sailing program, as Brian Swingly stepped down from the post after two successful seasons at the helm of the program.
Klevan has served as an assistant coach on the Stanford staff for the last two seasons, and has been Swingly's assistant coach for eight years total dating back to their tenure together at Coast Guard. Klevan had previously spent one year as an assistant coach at George Washington after a four-year career on the sailing team at Hobart and William Smith, where he was a two-time All-American crew.