April 25, 2006
Santa Barbara, Calif., - The Stanford Women's Sailing Team dominated this weekend's Pacific Conference Championship by over 20 points. This victory earns the Cardinal a berth in the ICSA Women's Dinghy Nationals (May 24-26, College of Charleston, SC). The 9-team regatta was hosted by UC Santa Barbara and sailed in the ocean off of Santa Barbara inlet. "The women sailed exceptionally well this weekend," explained coach Kehoe, "the year's practice has paid off and will continue to pay off through the last month of our season."
The long regatta gave the Cardinal a chance to shine. The regatta committee attempted a double round-robin of 18 races, but were unable to get through the entire rotation, stopping 4 pm on Sunday after 15 races in each division. Throughout the entire regatta Stanford stood at the top of the leader board, winning both A and B divisions. "We have to thank our fitness trainer, Juan-Pablo, for helping us achieve a level of fitness that allowed us to sail so well through two long days," said Kehoe.
Junior and ICSA 2005 All-American Caroline Young and crew junior Becca Levin won A-division with 12 points to spare over U Hawaii. "Caroline and Becca were very focused, and sailed a calm consistent series."
In B-division, sophomores Evan Brown and Carrie Denning sailed the majority of the regatta earning 7 first-place finishes in 15 races. After Brown and Denning suffered mediocre set if 5, 6, freshman skipper Taylor Grimes and sophomore crew Mariana Beardsworth sailed two races in B, coming away with a 6, 1. "Taylor and Mariana did a fantastic job, getting the momentum back for us in B," commented Kehoe.
Women's Pacific Coast Championships 2006
| A | B | TOT | |
| 1. Stanford | 44 | 34 | 78 |
| 2. U Hawaii | 56 | 35 | 91 |
| 3. UC Santa Barbara | 53 | 46 | 99 |
| 4. UC Irvine | 54 | 82 | 136 |
| 5. USC | 52 | 104 | 156 |
| 6. Cal Berkeley | 87 | 83 | 170 |
| 7. UC Los Angeles | 105 | 71 | 176 |
| 8. UC San Diego | 92 | 93 | 185 |
| 9. CSU Monterey Bay | 133 | 128 | 261 |
This weekend marks the final two qualifiers for this year's ICSA Coed National Championships. Friday, Stanford will host the top six teams at the Pacific Coast Conference Team Racing Champs at the Morrison Boathouse in Redwood City. Saturday and Sunday, the top eleven teams will battle at Treasure Island as Cal hosts the Pacific Coast Conference Fleet Racing Champs. The top two teams in each discipline will represent the Pacific Coast Conference in the ICSA Team Race (May 28-30) and Coed Dinghy (May 31-June 2) Nationals hosted by the College of Charleston, SC.