MIDDLE ATLANTIC INTERCOLLEGIATE SAILING ASSOCIATION
The 2008-2009 season promises to be a very competitive one for MAISA. With no clear-cut favorite, the competition to make Nationals should be as fierce as ever.
St. Mary’s College looks to be the deepest and most talented team on paper. Despite the graduation of Loe, Lumkes, Law, and Patterson, the Seahawks return a number of All-American sailors. The Women’s team will feature two All-American skippers, Sara Morgan Watters and Megan Magill. On the Coed side, look for two-time All-American Jesse Kirkland to sail A with either Teddy Hale or Michael Menninger in B. Jeremy Wilmot and Derek Vranizan will also get a chance to start as well. Alex Bishop will be abroad in the fall but back for the spring. St. Mary’s will be helped a lot by a number of great crews including Jen Chamberlin, Galen Brew, and Caitlin Hill, as well as the completion of their new multimillion dollar sailing boathouse.
Fresh off its first ever Dinghy National Championship, Georgetown University will have some big holes to fill. With the graduation of Sailor of the Year Chris Behm and four-time All-American Blaire Herron, the Hoyas will look to some younger sailors to step up this fall. Headlining the Coed team will be sophomore All-American Charlie Buckingham. Buckingham will be helped by skippers Evan Aras, Marco Teixidor, and Nik Holtan. The real strength of the Coed team will be its fantastic crews, including Carly Chamberlain, Alex Taylor, and Caila Johnson. The Women’s team will look to senior Emily Babbitt to sail A division. Babbitt will be receiving a lot of competition for a starting spot from Ida Lewis winner Sydney Bolger and Tabor Academy sailor Lauren Burke. New Coed freshman for the Hoyas include Andrew Mason, Peter Johns, and Philip Greene.
Hobart and William Smith will look to bounce back from a disappointing spring 2008, and the team has the talent to win a lot of regattas. Getting the start in Coed will most likely be Austin Kana and John Sampson with crews Sarah Borup and Kaitlin van Nostrand, with Rob Crane sailing singlehanded events. Ned Turney, Sam Padnos, and John Moulthrop will also get a chance to sail important events. On the Women’s side the Herons return Kelly Crane and Caroline Patten, starters from last year’s MAISA Championship team. This duo should continue to improve all year. Newcomers include Austin Anderson, Patrick Kana, and Sam Blouin.
The Naval Academy lost coach John Vandemoer to Stanford, but whoever takes over will find a team full of potential. The Coed team will be led by senior Andrew Vann and junior Martin Sterling. Look for Vann’s brother Robert to get a lot of starts as well. This trio led the Midshipmen to Team Race Nationals last year, and the team is one of the favorites to make it back this spring. On the Women’s side, the loss of All-American Charlotte Hill will be tough to overcome. Trisha Kutkiewicz will most likely sail A. Once a new head coach is on board, Navy should be capable of many top five finishes.
Old Dominion University will certainly be helped by the fact the Kyle Rogachenko will be back for the whole year. Kyle will be one of the early favorites to win Singlehanded Nationals this fall. Old Dominion also has another familiar face returning: Charles Higgins leaves Kings Point to become an assistant coach at his alma mater. The Old Dominion Women’s team promises to be a championship contender. Stephanie Roble, Katrina Williams, and Morgan Wilson will be fast in both single and doublehanded regattas. The incoming freshman class consists of a group of experienced and talented regional sailors prime for development.
Could this be the year Washington College makes it to a National Championship Final? On paper you would have to give them a great chance. Coach Geoff Becker returns skippers Connor Blouin, Derek Packard, and Nick Larmore. With a little luck and some continued improvement, Washington College will be tough to beat.
SUNY Maritime will have one more year of Todd Hawkins and Dan Hesse. The duo qualified for Nationals as freshmen and juniors and have had a number of great regattas in their careers. They tend to do well in heavy air and current, so Nationals in San Francisco could be a great location for them. Skippers Ted Green and Randy Hartranft showed great improvement last year as well.
Kings Point lost its top sailor, Chris Alexander, to graduation along with James Givens and assistant coach Charles Higgins. The team will look to Chris Branning and Charles Bonner to lead in the fall. The Women’s team loses singlehanded sailor Alison Davis to graduation as well.
University of Pennsylvania suffers the biggest loss in 2008-2009 with the graduation of starting skippers Garth Fasano and Patrick Curran, and the team is a long shot to repeat the success of last season.
Other teams to look out for in MAISA include Fordham, Christopher Newport, Columbia, Hampton, and Cornell, which will be sailing out of a new million-dollar facility.
MIDWEST COLLEGIATE SAILING ASSOCIATION
In the Midwest, the only full-fledged varsity teams with full-time coaches are in the revenue-producing sports…which sailing is not. There is very good competition among some of the biggest universities, but much of the excellent home-grown talent has been recruited to varsity programs elsewhere.
The calendar for the MCSA starts with a bang with the Fall Fury at Wisconsin, the Davis Cup in Iowa, the Struefort Team Race at Minnesota, and the Cary Price at Michigan.
There were four very good Women’s teams in the MCSA last year, but three of them, Wisconsin (Patti Schmidt), Minnesota (Jessica Haverstock) and Northwestern (Erin Miller), lost starting skippers to graduation. The team that did not, Michigan, returns Maria Falcone and Christina Baker. Wisconsin might still be the team to beat with sophomores Joanna Clark and Christina Porter moving up. Minnesota returns Allison Prange and Northwestern returns Liz Hines.
The MCSA Coed teams had a few significant grads as well– Rob Pickens from Wisconsin, John Daily, Tim Roy and Chris May from Notre Dame, and David Elsmo from Minnesota.
Wisconsin still has plenty of sailors, including Bob Stelter, Leif Evenson, and freshmen Joe Kutschenreuter.
Michigan will be led by Scott Pfeffer and Blake Griffen.
Northwestern should be strong once again with Eric Defeo, Jimmy Costakis, and Tod Reynolds.
Notre Dame will go with Jaci Pace and freshmen Nathaniel Walden, and Minnesota will rely on Nick Hovland.
Miami of Ohio could move up with Ryan Zupon and Spencer Simons.
Finally, watch Toledo improve with Ryan Lashaway and Mike Spark.
NEW ENGLAND INTERCOLLEGIATE SAILING ASSOCIATION
The New England talent pool remains stocked despite the graduation of many great sailors. Gone are Harvard’s Kyle Kovacs/Elyse Dolbec, BC’s Reed Johnson/Julie Howe, Tufts’ Kaity Storck/Lyndsey Gibbons-Neff, Brown’s Charlie Enright, Andrew Perry, and Hugh Cullman, and many others. Before mentioning all the younger sailors stepping up, consider the incoming freshmen such as World Youth champion Emily Dellenbaugh (Brown), High School champion Joe Morris (Yale), junior champion Brendan Kopp (Harvard) and 420 champion Sam Williams (Dartmouth). In fact all of NEISA’s top ten or even top twenty look forward to training with fresh talent. In particular:
Boston College:
Graduated: Reed Johnson, Julie Howe, Emily Flint, Alden Reid (student leader)
Seniors: Adam Roberts, Brian Kamilar, Parker Dwyer, Leigh Kempton (spring only), Martha Pitt, along with crews Andrew Schneider, Lauren Gillooly, Carrie Amarante, and Allie Nagle.
Sophs: Tyler Sinks, Taylor Canfield
Junior: Evan Cooke
Freshman: Annie Haeger, Ian Donahue, and several crews including Caroline Quincy.
Yale:
Graduated: Zach Brown, Abigail Coplin
A: Thomas Barrows, Grace Becton
B: John Kempton
Women: All back including Jane Macky, Kate Hagemann, Sarah Lihan and Molly Lucas
Frosh: Joe Morris, Cam Cullman, Genoa Warner, Rob Strucker (British team racer)
Brown:
Graduated: Charlie Enright, Andrew Perry, Hugh Cullman, Meris Tombari.
Coed: Fred Strammer ’11, Jeffrey Knowles ’10, William Brown ’10, Mark Towill ’11 all moving up.
Maria Mahler-Haug returns as A division crew.
Women: Charlotte Lipschitz ’10, Elizabeth Barry ’11, Jennifer Adler ’11, Emily Dellenbaugh
MIT:
Graduated: Jack Field, Julie Arsenault.
Senior: Brooks Reed (really fast last spring) along with Junior Josh Leighton.
Frosh: Philip Crain
Women: Libby Palmer
Frosh: Katii Gullick and Radial-sailor Reguli Granger.
Harvard:
Graduated: Kyle Kovacs/Elyse Dolbec
A: Alan Palmer, Jon Garrity, Ted Himler
Frosh: Brendan Kopp, Jerry Tullo, Emily Lambert
Vermont:
Graduated: Matt Clark, Caitlyn Connolly, Kimmy Murtha
Juniors: Clinton Hayes and Coco Solsvig return to start A.
Seniors: Tyler Baeder and Christine Bletzer will start B.
Rising for team racing will probably be Senior Steve Widdis or Soph Coleman Bowen.
Frosh: Ellie O’Brien, Adri Kopp, Declan Kelleher, Anne Mock, and Connor Aswad
Tufts:
Grad: Michael Easton, Kaity Storck; crews: Lyndsey Gibbons-Neff, Katie Greenlee, Meredith Ginley & Chryssa Rask
Moving up: Tomas Hornos, Andrew Criezis, Baker Potts,
Frosh: Max Soriano, Renee Gagne.
Roger Williams:
Graduated: Andy Goetting
A: Matt Duggan/Maria Petrillo; Jon Enright/Kelly Gorman
Crew: Kaitlyn Hall, Cy Thompson, Sarah Mease
Frosh: Sean Bouchard, Resat Yalaz, Kelly Stannard, Mike Costello, Alex Sachs
Connecticut College:
Seniors: Matt Sterett, Candace Whipple Will be returning after being away
Soph: Maggie Shea Joey Modica
Freshmen: Bitsy Whipple, Charlie Modica, Sarah Shear
Soph: Mike Marshall, Alex Olt
Crews: Kelley Arabia, Sarah Robertson, Katriana Salk
Dartmouth:
Graduated: Ben Sampson, Adele Wilhelm, Betsy Bryant
Senior: Kendall Reiley
Junior: Becca Dellenbaugh
Frosh: Sam Williams, Bernie Roesler
Coast Guard:
Graduated: Noel Shriner, Kevin Kuhn, Adam Frye
Junior: Ian Ovitt, Krysta Rohde/Kirsten Haas, Jen Proctor/Margaret Woodbridge
Soph: Sam Ingham, John Duffett
Rhode Island:
Graduated: Craig Thompson and Jen Curtin
Women: Kim Myer/Emily Anderson in A Div. Lauren Gineo or Danielle Fleet (formerly of Eckerd) in B.
Coed: Senior skippers Will Whitman, Josh Greenfield and Chris DeCollibus with crews Brian Bartley, Lisa Costich and Nick Dovbniak.
Juniors ready are Alex Baitinger and Ben Quatromoni.
Frosh: Amy Hawkins, Liz Gunnarson, Jamie Simmons and Ryan Hughes
Bowdoin:
Graduated: Mark Dineen
A: Viktor Bolmgren/Coco Sprague
Frosh: Alex Takata & Heather MacNeil (new women’s team?)
NORTHWEST INTERCOLLEGIATE SAILING ASSOCIATION
U/Victoria looks well positioned to become competive in Northwest college sailing. Arel English will step back from his leadership position this year and focus on establishing the team for years to come. Erica Virtue has graduated and will be missed, but as British Columbia and Western Canada’s only college sailing team in the ICSA, the team should recruit talent quickly.
Western Washington University hopes to feed off one of its most competitive seasons in the last decade and reclaim the top position in Northwest college sailing. The team loses very few sailors this year but will pick up a number of Nortwest youth sailors who should add to the depth of the WWU program. Erica Vranizan will join along with Casey Tane to fill out WWU squad. Top talent Molly Jackson and Rowan Yerxa will lead A-Fleet and should be in the running for a Coed berth.
University of Washington takes a hit this year as they lose Paul Stewart and Michelle Stitzer. The Coed team will be fielded by Felipe Lopez and Glen Stelmacher. The Women’s team will also lose Hannah Darrin to exchange this year and will eagerly await her return. The team’s breadth will help as they fight to maintain their position as the Northwest’s historically dominant team.
Washington State loses one if its best team captains this year. Scott Wilson not only provided the team with great talent but was a huge motivator and established the team as a regular. This season Scotty Baxter and Pat Taylor will keep the team alive and competitive.
Portland State will lose All-Northweset crew Stevi Driver to exchange this season. The team will be lead by Tom Miron, Josh Dankovchick, and Justin Wall, and hopes to build its talent and focus on a more competitive team at both varsity and JV events.
Lewis and Clark will be lead again by Kiel Johnson and will benefit from the return of Ian Crozier. The faces a budgeting battle with the administration that may be a hindrance, but intends to focus on attending more events this season.
University of Oregon captain Taylor Chittick will stay on one last year as the team hopes to recruit new talent and vie for a Coed berth. Captain Stephanie Ostrander will be on exchange this season and female skipper Jesse Andrews has graduated, leaving the Women’s team at a loss. But the team is excited for Portland Laser sailor Elliot Drake to join and round out the Coed squad.
Oregon State is set to transition this year as senior Chris Brown hands the reigns over to Russell Burke. The team continues to work at recruiting new sailors from the Corvallis campus and has high hopes for a number of interested prospective sailors.
PACIFIC COAST COLLEGIATE SAILING CONFERENCE
Stanford will likely continue to lead the Pacific Coast Conference this year. Incoming freshman Nick Dugdale, Justin Doane, Carolyn Prioleau, Oliver Riihiluoma, and Grace Porter should help to replace graduating All-Conference sailors Eddie Conrad, Evan Brown, and Carrie Denning. Stanford expects Riihiluoma (a 29er sailor from Bermuda) and Prioleau (Radial sailor from Texas) to be immediate impact skippers. Porter will most likely fill in quickly as a strong crew. Peter Stemler, Leigh Hammel, and Megan Grove will be away for the fall but important returning players TJ Tullo, Cole Hatton, Graham Todd, Taylor Grimes, and Kelly McKenna should provide plenty of talent and leadership.
University of Southern California’s All-PCCSC juniors Chris Vetter and Christy Tatchell will lead a still young but all-returning team that continues to rebuild from the graduation of multiple All-Americans in 2007. The return of senior Chris Orlando and several incoming freshmen should help the team continue to rebuild.
Hawaii returns strong Coed skippers Will Peterson, PJ Wenner, Andrew Meade, Ryan Wild, and Sam Kahn, and welcomes incoming freshmen Matt Wenner and Corey Johnson. Look for the Hawaii Coed squad to be a bigger player this year. With a strong returning Women’s team of Shandy Buckley, Hannah Tuson-Turner, and Becky Mabardy with crews Jackie McLoughlin, Pam Magasinn, and others, look for the Hawaii women to continue to move up the rankings.
UC Santa Barbara graduates Brian Cottrell from the varsity team and loses Jess Barhydt to a year abroad, but the team returns All-Conference skipper John Heineken. New members will include Chris Williams (transfer from College of Charleston) and High School/Youth standouts Nick Kaschak and Morgan Renoir of Point Loma High School. Look for UCSB to move up as they mature.
UC Berkeley gets two very strong freshmen from the Santa Barbara area in Cody Shevitz and Willie Mcbride. Look for these guys to have a significant impact on Cal.
CSU Monterey undergoes no big changes, as returning skippers Dani Walker and Brad Schoch lead a growing and developing team.
UC Irvine has a young team that will be led by fifth year senior and PCCSC President Danielle Richards. They look at the fall as a rebuilding time but have high hopes for the spring.
SOUTH ATLANTIC INTERCOLLEGIATE SAILING ASSOCIATION
College of Charleston once again fields the team to beat in SAISA. A-division skipper Chris Lash graduated and B skipper Nick Martin may redshirt in the fall, but the Cougars still have plenty of depth. Look for Bryan Rigby, Steve Barbano, and possibly Manton Paine to start in dinghies. Incoming freshmen Zeke Horowitz and Alex Bertrand will see action, especially in singlehanded events. On the Women’s side, Charleston will once again be a favorite to win the championship. Andrea Savage will be back to take over her starting spot and Allie Blecher and Shannon Heusler will sail both single and doublehanded regattas. Perry Emsiak will also be getting some starts on the Women’s team.
University of South Florida has three incoming freshman who could be impact sailors. Sean Ross from Tabor Academy and Britton Steele and Margaret Spears from Broadneck High School should see a lot of sailing this fall. The real strength for the Bulls Coed team will be returning starters Mitch Hall and Tim King. Hall finished tied for fifth in A division at Nationals in the spring. For the Women’s side, Rachael Silvertein and Darby Smith, who lead the previously unranked Women’s team to a top-10 finish at Nationals, will be back. South Florida just recently won the bid to host the Spring 2009 Mallory High School Championships and will be purchasing a fleet of 20 new FJs.
Eckerd has a new coach in Robby Brown, who takes over from the very talented Jim Terkelson. Brown will have Andrew Keane and Arthur Blodgett back skippering for the Coed team with crews Sheehan Commette and Nicole Butchart. For the Women’s team, Cara Vavolotis and Charlotte Dorris will most likely skipper A and B this year.
SOUTHEAST INTERCOLLEGIATE SAILING ASSOCIATION
South Alabama had a fantastic season last year. The graduation of Paul Kleinschrodt and Ashley Hall leave a void at the top. Sophmore Alex Boudreaux steps up to A division and will head the sailing team for the 08-09 season. B division skippers are Adrian Roe, Chaz Stewart, and Joseph Arbour. USA has had another successful year for fundraising and expects to be competitive at many events. Volunteer coach Karl Kleinschrodt will assist in training new crews and skippers to keep the South Alabama Sailing Team at the top of SEISA and competitive at a national level.
Texas A&M Galveston will once again be near the top in SEISA. Coach Gerard Coleman always has his team competing well come springtime.
University of Texas will also be a favorite out of SEISA with Chase Dearing most likely skippering in A division.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi has a very bright outlook for the 2008-2009 season. The team will be lead by returning players and captains Jessica Stroh ’09 and Jacob Thomas ’09. Corpus Christi youth sailor and 420 National Champion Andre Denais will be joining the squad as a freshman and brings with new energy and experience to an already energetic program. New coach Ben Coutts will be taking over for Duffy Danish.
Other teams on the rise in SEISA include Tulane and University of New Orleans.
