Cardinal Aiming to Repeat

STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford sailing team hopes to defend two trophies this weekend in the Mark Healy Coed Conference Championships and the Carter Ford Team Race Conference Championships in nearby Redwood City. 

Stanford coasts into the first weekend of the postseason on a tear, having won four of its last five events, and seven total in the spring. This degree of success is nothing new to the Cardinal, but after losing a bevy of contributing seniors in the offseason, it certainly was no formality.

“It is always tough as a team to follow up a historic year like we had last year and it is even tougher to do that with a whole new line up,” said seventh year coach John Vandemoer. “We are close to where we finished last year but the team has done it in their own unique way.”

Senior captain and All-America skipper Kieran Chung added that the youthful transition has re-invigorated the Cardinal since last season. “The younger guys and girls bring so much energy to the squad; they’re like sponges with the amount of information they soak up” said the Newport Beach native. 

“We lost a lot of leadership from last season but we had plenty of guys and girls ready to step up,” added John Cannistraro, a sophomore crew from Massachusetts. “Our younger sailors have shown great maturity down the stretch.”

With more postseason sailing on the horizon though, Stanford is keen on what lies beyond the conference championship. 

“Our goal is always to win the conference championship of course, but the conference title is a stepping stone to nationals,” said Vandemoer. “We focus on improvement in every regatta; we want to get more out of it than just a conference title.” 

Stanford’s latest win came at the 80th Boston Dinghy Cup, the oldest trophy in college sailing, but only after capturing the 2015 Carley Dole Memorial Women’s Conference Championship two weekends ago in Santa Barbara. 

Maeve White, Haley Fox, Yuki Yoshiyasu, and Julia Lambert led Stanford to its 11th consecutive women’s conference championship. The Cardinal lapped the field, finishing with 34 points, less than half of second-place UC Santa Barbara’s point total. 

Competition this weekend begins with the PCCSC Coed Championships which are to be held on Friday and Saturday. The PCCSC Team Race Championships will take place on Sunday, concluding the weekend’s action.