2021-22 Season In Review2021-22 Season In Review
Brandon Vallance/isiphotos.com
Sailing

2021-22 Season In Review

The Cardinal found success throughout the fall and spring sailing seasons, claiming 17 first place finishes across the year and sweeping the PCCSC Championships. In the first season featuring a Women's Team Race, the Cardinal finished third on the national stage after taking the first ever PCCSC trophy in the event. In the other three team championships, the Cardinal finished in the top-five in each, including a third place finish in the women's fleet - tying the team's best ever finish from 2007.

FALL SUCCESS
Stanford dominated in the fall, winning seven events including three separate PCCSC Championships. The Cardinal claimed first place in the PCCSC Singlehanded Championships as Grace Austin and John Kirkpatrick took both titles in Santa Barbara. The Cardinal also took home the PCCSC Match Race Championship, earning a 9-0 record with Jack Parkin taking the helm as skipper for the event and AnaClare Sole, Mathew Hogan, and Wiley Rogers attending to the crew duties.
 

SPRING STREAK
Stanford brought the strong racing of the fall into the spring season, starting the campaign with five straight victories in February and March, including a conference victory in the inaugural PCCSC Women's Team Race Championship. The victory secured Stanford's spot in the inaugural national competition later in the season. While the Cardinal's impressive win streak halted at five, the team finished no lower than fifth place in any regatta during the entire spring season.
 

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CONFERENCE SWEEP COMPLETE
After winning the conference title in the Women's Team Race, the Cardinal still had three more PCCSC events on the horizon with the Coed Team and Fleet races in Santa Barbara and the Women's Fleet races in Hawaii. Stanford lined up with four skippers in the team race event, with Jack Parkin, Hannah Freeman, Stephanie Houck, and Wiley Rogers at the helm. Sammy Pickell, Laurel Foster, AnaClare Sole, Patricia Gerli, and Mathew Hogan took on the crew duties. Stanford sailed a perfect 14-0 to claim the title. In the PCCSC Open Conference Championship, the Cardinal earned its second win of the weekend, beating out UCSB by 10 points for gold. Stanford sailed strongly in both A and B categories, scoring the best marks in each division of any team. Stanford started hot in the fleet race and held on to first place throughout the entire competition. In 14 total races between the A and B divisions, Stanford finished either first or second in all but one race.
The final conference championship on the line was the Women's Fleet Race title in Hawaii. The Cardinal completed a successful weekend on the water in Hawaii by maintaining the running lead throughout all 20 races, 10 in the A division and 10 in the B division. Stanford took first place in eight of the 10 B division races, finishing second in the other two. In both divisions, the Cardinal had the best scores of all schools with 23 in A and 12 in B.

 
PCCSC HONORS
Stanford took home two of the biggest awards the conference has to offer in 2022, as Jack Parkin and Michelle Lahrkamp earned the Coed and Women's Sailor of the year awards, respectively. The Cardinal also brought home 10 All-Conference awards, including two for Michelle Lahrkamp, who earned the honor for both the coed and women's divisions. Wiley Rogers, Jack Parkin, Hannah Freeman, Stephanie Houck, and Berta Puig also received skipper awards while Sammy Pickell, Patricia Gerli, and AnaClare Sole earned the crew honors.
 

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FOUR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS
The Cardinal began the ICSA national championships with the first-ever Women's Team Race Championships hosted by Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Star skipper Michelle Lahrkamp was at the helm, along with Hannah Freeman, and Stephanie Houck in the skipper position. Sammy Pickell, Abigail Tindall, Patricia Gerli, and Gwendolyn Donahue took control of the crew duties during the regatta, leading the Cardinal to a third place finish with a 12-4 record.
This was just the beginning of Stanford's postseason success, however. The following month, Stanford finished in the top-five in three more national events, beginning with the Coed Team Race National Championship. Stanford advanced to the final round along with Yale,  Roger Williams, and Georgetown to claim fourth place overall. In the second of three consecutive events, Stanford won its semifinal regatta in the Coed Fleet Race National Championships before claiming fifth place in the final event. The last regatta of the 11 days of competition in New Orleans was the Women's Fleet Race National Championships. The Cardinal finished third overall in the event, matching its best finish in the event from 2007.
 

POSTSEASON HARDWARE
Six Cardinal claimed ICSA All-America honors, including Michelle Lahrkamp who became the first Stanford sailor to be named an All-American in both the coed and women's division. Jack Parkin and Wiley Rogers both joined Lahrkamp with the skippers honors while Patricia Gerli, Sammy Pickell, and AnaClare Sole took home the crew awards. Head Coach Chris Klevan earned an impressive accolade as well. The third year leader of Stanford sailing was named Sail1Design's Coach of the Year following the four top-five national finishes and leading the Cardinal to a clean sweep of all the PCCSC events.
 

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