STANFORD, Calif. - No. 2 Stanford sailing is set for a pair of Northeast regattas, as they will sail at the Dellenbaugh Trophy Women's Team Race and Marchiando Trophy Open Team Race this weekend.
The Cardinal has successfully started the spring slate with five wins in the first eight regattas and placing in the top-four in each of the eight events thus far.
LAST TIME OUT »
Another full weekend of competition on the water for Stanford sailing, as the Cardinal returned home after competing in three separate regattas on Saturday and Sunday.
The weekend was highlighted by a regatta win at the PCCSC South Designate, along with a runner-up effort at the Friis Trophy Open Team Race and a third-place finish in the Szambecki Open Team Race.
The Cardinal cruised to eight wins across two divisions to lead the team standings with 51 points to win the PCCSC South Designate, finishing 18 points ahead of runner-up Hawai'i. UC Santa Barbara (70 points), San Diego State (95 points), and USC (114 points) rounded out the top five in a 17-team field.
Lucas Woodworth and Amiya Stroumza manned the A boat, tallying six wins on the weekend with a division-leading 25 points. The B division duties were handled by Ava Cornell and Caroline Geiger, who also won twice with 26 points, finishing second in the division behind UC Santa Barbara's second pairing with 22 points.
"We took care of business with a young team plus someone returning from injury," head coach Chris Klevan said. "It is hard to think about this event without moving quickly to our future, immediate and long term. We have a great, young team with leaders practicing a level of maturity beyond their years. We are essentially whole for the first time in 2025, everyone who has been sailing throughout the season has stepped up to fill voids and the energy now is very high. I'm more than pleased with how this season is progressing."
The Friis Trophy Open Team Race saw the Cardinal finish in second place with a 12-4 record on the weekend, ultimately falling in the finals of the knockout stage to champions, Roger Williams University.
Competition began on Saturday with round-robin action, as the Cardinal went 7-2 against the field to advance to Sunday's championship bracket, which included the top-eight finishers in the opening round. Returning on Sunday, the Cardinal knocked off quarterfinal opponent Rhode Island in consecutive races, then defeated Harvard 2-0 to advance to the finals.
In the championship, the Cardinal would square off against the Hawks of RWU, but fell in the best-of-3 series and had to settle for second place in the 64th edition of the event.
Speaking on his team's effort, coach Klevan said "this was the premier event of the weekend and we lost the win on the last, winner-take-all race of the regatta against the #1 team in the country. We showed everyone how close we are, and I'm sure they will take that home with them and work on it- they have coaches too. We just have to work harder."
Vanessa Lahrkamp, Thomas Sitzmann, and Reade Decker were Stanford's skippers for the weekend, while crew duties were split between Ashtyn Tierney, Shay Wood, Alice Schmid, and Piper Blackband.
At the Szambecki Open Team Race, hosted by Old Dominion, the Cardinal finished third with a 9-8 weekend record. Stanford had a strong showing in Saturday's round-robin, going 7-2 against the field to advance to the top 6 round. The Cardinal went 1-2 in the top 6 round but still earned a bid to the Final 4 due to having one of the four best cumulative records up to that point. In the finals session, Stanford won 1-2-4 over Tulane but dropped its matchups to Georgetown and Navy to nab third place in the event.
Stanford was led by skippers Ellie Harned, Sophie Fisher, and Thomas Whidden, while Kit Harned, Alexandra Jones, and Abby Baird served as the crew in the regatta.
"The team was disappointed to walk away without a win but I was not," Klevan added. "They could have won, maybe, if a couple of bounces go their way. But more importantly, they can win, I'm sure of that. A couple of lessons learned will elevate practice moving forward and, in turn, improved practice will harden this group for inevitable challenges and pressures at the highest level. I believe they are game, everyone on the team is improving quickly now- including those who sailed in Virginia"
FALL RECAP » A successful fall season saw the Cardinal win eight of the 19 regattas on the slate. Most notably, won PCCSC titles in the Match Race, Singlehanded, Women's Fall, and Open Championships.
The Cardinal also earned regatta wins in the Women's ACC Round 1, the Captain Hurst Bowl, Women's ACC Finals, the Open ACC Championship, and the Top-9 invite.
Stanford's accomplished fall was rewarded by a No. 1 fall ranking in both the Open and Women's division, as decided by Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA). ICSA rankings are voted and decided on by a panel of ICSA head coaches.
LAST SEASON » Stanford cemented itself as the best women’s sailing program in the nation in 2024, completing the sweep of the ICSA Women’s Team and Fleet Race Championships, also becoming back to back champions in the Women’s Fleet.
Stanford’s fall season began with eight regatta wins. Along with the success on the water, the Cardinal sailors also celebrated their 2023 trophies, as the team received its championship rings at a football game.
Stanford picked up right where it left off to start the spring season, winning six straight regattas. The Cardinal went on to claim four conference championship trophies, taking both the women and open divisions of the team and fleet races.
To cap off the season before Nationals began, Stanford claimed the PCCSC Open Team Race title and the Thompson trophy over the same weekend. The Cardinal went 38-1 across the two events to take the wins in a conference championship and a premier interconference trophy.
The Cardinal then headed to the Charles River where it competed in four straight national championships hosted by MIT. In the first regatta, Stanford earned a top five finish, taking fifth place in the ICSA Open Team Race. The result was Stanford's sixth straight top-five finish, dating back to 2018.
Directly following the open team race, Stanford captured its first title of the 2024 spring season. The Cardinal took the trophy in dominant fashion, as Stanford sailed to an 18-1 record to top the field at the ICSA Women's Team Race National Championship.
In the following national championship event, Stanford claimed yet another title. The Cardinal took its second straight ICSA Women's Fleet Race title and its fifth national title overall, topping the field on the Charles River in Massachusetts.
The title was Stanford's fourth national title in the last calendar year (2023 - ICSA Women's Fleet, ICSA Open Fleet; 2024 - ICSA Women's Team, ICSA Women's Fleet). The Cardinal also won multiple national titles in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
Following Stanford's dominant performance in the national championships, the Cardinal took home plenty of individual accolades.
Vanessa Lahrkamp was named the Quantum Women's College Sailor of the Year, the second in program history as Lahrkamp joins her sister who earned the accolade in 2020. Vanessa Lahrkamp was instrumental in leading Stanford to the ICSA Women's Team and Fleet Race titles in 2024, also earning the title of PCCSC Women's Skipper of the Year.
Vanessa Lahrkamp also earned two All-America awards, claiming a nod as an ICSA Women's Skipper All-American and an ICSA Open Skipper Honorable Mention selection. It's the second straight year Lahrkamp was honored in both the Women's and Open divisions.
Michelle Lahrkamp also earned two All-America awards for the second straight season, being named both an ICSA Women's Skipper and Open Skipper All-American.
Hannah Freeman earned her second consecutive ICSA Women's Skipper All-America award while Thomas Sitzmann joined the Lahrkamp sisters with an ICSA Open Skipper All-America nod.
Stanford also had three crews named All-Americans. Alice Schmid, Ellie Harned, and Gwendolyn Donahue were each named All-America Crews after their dominant performances led Stanford to two national titles.