May 3, 2010
SEATTLE, Wash. - The Old Dominion sailing team claimed a spot at the 2010 ICSA National Championships after finishing fourth in an 18-team field at the Western Semifinal in Seattle, Wash.
Old Dominion's 112 points easily secured the 19th-ranked Monarchs a national championship berth as the top nine team's advanced. No. 4 Yale won the regatta with 89 points, No. 2 St. Mary's claimed second and No. 5 Roger Williams earned third.
No. 9 Harvard, No. 8 Hobart & William Smith, No. 15 Salve Regina, No. 17 NY Maritime and No. 16 Stanford rounded out the field of qualifiers.
Senior skipper and team captain Alan Alkins guided ODU to a fourth-place finish in the B-Division. In the first eight races, Alkins and teammate Wilson Stout posted five top-five finishes, including a pair of wins. Alkins then paired up with freshman Dillon Paiva for the final two races and earned one top-five finish.
In the A-Division, junior Stephanie Roble and senior Michael Komar once again teamed up and guided the Monarchs to a sixth-place result. The duo finished no worse than ninth in 10 races and posted eight top-six finishes.
Saturday started with a postponement on shore as a light southerly wind switched to the north. A-Division races started in the afternoon in a steady wind of eight knots. Winds began to die at the start of race 2A and remained light for the remainder of the afternoon. A pair of races were finished in the two divisions.
Sunday's races got underway early in a steady southerly wind that stayed between 6-10 knots. Shifts came from both sides of the course and kept races close all day.
The ICSA Co-ed National Championships will be held in Wisconsin June 1-3.
-ODU-