April 26, 2009
GENEVA, N.Y. -- The seventh ranked ODU Lady Monarchs finished fourth overall at the MAISA Women's Championship and qualified for a trip to the ICSA Women's National Championship at the end of May. Junior skipper Katrina Williams sailed with senior crew Alissa Ayres and finished second in B division, despite one DNF.
Williams and Ayres finished with 42 points in B division, good for second despite not finishing one of the eleven completed races. The tandem had four first place efforts and added a second and third and never finished lower than sixth.
In A division, sophomore Stephanie Roble skippered ODU to a fourth place effort with senior Jaclyn Finney and freshman Arianna Baker. Roble steered ODU to seven top five finishes and totaled 49 points at the conference championship.
The two boats combined for 91 total points, just 15 back of the St. Mary's winning team. The top six teams, including ODU, qualified for the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Women's National Championship on May 26-28. It is the ninth year in the past decade ODU qualified for the national event, including a win in Honolulu at the 2002 Championship.