May 8, 2003
At this weekend's Pacific Coast Championships, the Stanford Coed Sailors battled for the top two positions and the two berths to the National Championship. The event was hosted by USC at the US Sailing Center in Long Beach on Saturday and Sunday May 3-4. Competition was extremely close between the top four teams. After two days and 22 races, the Cardinal found itself in a tie with USC, both teams 13 points behind defending champ U Hawaii after they each suffered penalties that added 13 points to their scores. With out the penalties, the top three schools would have been tied, with UC Santa Barabara just two points behind in fourth. "It is highly unusual to have three team tied for first in college sailing," commented Kehoe, "it shows how truly competitive our district is, when three top-ten ranked teams come out tied after two days!"
Not only did the Cardinal find themselves tied for second, but they were tied in both A Division (sailed by Ted Conrads and Lucy Horton/Jessie Duncan) and B Division (sailed by Brian Haines and Sonja Bebber/Taylor Clark). The Intercollegiate Sailing Association rules dictate that ties be broken by figuring out who beat whom more often, leaving Stanford in 3rd overall. The Cardinal coed sailors had officially lost the berth to USC.
A mid-week reprieve saved the Stanford Team. On Wednesday, based on their excellent performance all year and the close competition at the PCC's, the ICSA invited Stanford to accept one of two wild-card bids to the 18-team National Championship. "The team deserved the wildcard berth," said Coach Kehoe, "they worked extremely hard all year, earning top finishes at every major intersectional they attended." The Cardinal coed sailors will be competing in the 2003 ICSA Dinghy National Championship hosted by Bayview Yacht Club, Detroit, Michigan from June 8-10.