May 26, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- The ninth ranked Lady Monarchs won the first ever Women's National Semi-Final on Monday, as junior skipper Katrina Williams sailed with senior Alissa Ayres and junior Ashley Brusso to win A division by 12 points. Old Dominion advances to today and tomorrow's championship regatta with the win. ODU has three ICSA Women's National Championships, with the most recent coming in 2002.
The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association instituted the National Semi-Final for the first time this season in the women's dinghy class, making the Lady Monarchs the first to win the event. The top nine finishers advance to the ICSA National Championship held Tuesday and Wednesday.
Katrina Williams sailed with veteran crew, Ayres and Brusso, to win A division by 12 points. The Lady Monarch sailors never finished outside of sixth place and had one win on the day. In seven completed races, ODU totaled 26 points in the division.
Sophomore skipper Stephanie Roble sailed with senior crew Jaclyn Finney and freshman Arianna Baker to a sixth place effort in B division. The division was extremely tight, with just eight points separating ODU from the first place boat, URI. Roble steered the Lady Monarchs to a win and a second place finish in the final two races of the day to finish with 44 points.
As a team, ODU totaled 70 points, taking an 11-point victory ahead of the Dartmouth Big Green.
Racing for the ICSA Women's National Championship begins Tuesday morning and will continue through Wednesday afternoon. Stay tuned to odusports.com for updates!
Final Results:
Team A B TOT
1. ODU 26 44 70
2. Dartmouth 43 38 81
3. Georgetown 38 46 84
4. Boston Univ 44 42 86
5. Boston College 41 47 88
6. U. Rhode Island 52 36 88
7. Connecticut Coll 49 41 90
8. Brown Univ 67 39 106
9. Eckerd Coll 47 62 109
10. U. Hawaii 66 53 119
11. U. South Florida 49 84 133
12. U. Southern Cal 98 63 161
13. U.S. Naval Acad 71 91 162