April 17, 2009
NORFOLK, Va. -- The 18th ranked sailing Monarchs head to Throgs Neck, New York for the America Trophy regatta this weekend, in search of the MAISA Championship and a trip to the ICSA Semi-Finals. The team will lean on seniors Michael Brown, Alissa Ayres and Jaclyn Finney sailing in their final co-ed conference championship event.
Brown and Ayres were the 2007-08 MVP's of the sailing team and have sailed well together in their final campaign. Finney has an enormous resumé of championship experience and most recently led Old Dominion to a first place finish in the Women's Division at the St. Francis Intersectional.
ODU has been nationally ranked all season, under the direction of head coach Mitch Brindley in his 14th season at the helm. The Monarchs will need a top eight finish at the America Trophy to earn a bid to the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) National Semi-Final in Boston later this year.
The co-ed championship this weekend is the first of a pair of conference championship regatta's in the next two weeks. The women's event will wrap up the spring regular season next weekend in Geneva, N.Y.