April 21, 2013
HAMPTON, Va. – The Old Dominion University women’s sailing team earned a spot in the 2013 ICSA/Sperry Topsider Women’s National Championships for the fifth consecutive year by taking fifth place at the MAISA Women’s Championships over the weekend at Hampton University.
The Lady Monarchs took fifth with 129 points to advance to nationals on May 21-24 in St. Petersburg, Fla. In the A-Division race, junior skipper Rachel Austin placed seventh with 77 points while sophomore skipper Andrea Luna and junior Alexa Cavalieri took third with 52 points in the B-Division race.
“It was a tough weekend in terms of the shifty and veritable breeze,” said head coach Mitch Brindley. “We didn’t do a great job managing the course strategy on Saturday. Andrea and Alexa attacked the day in B-Division and found a new gear in the bigger breeze we had on Sunday. They were very quick.”
For the 12th-ranked coed Monarchs, they took eight place at the Admiral’s Cup Race in Kings Point, N.Y. in their final regular season competition of the year. In the A-Division race, senior skipper Dillon Paiva and junior crew Chloe Constants finished eighth with 106 points. In the B-Division race, freshman skipper Julia Wiesner also took eighth with 106 points. In the C-Division race, senior Zachary Runci sailed to a sixth place finish with 102 points.
Old Dominion begins the postseason on April 27-28 when the coed team co-hosts the ICSA Dingy National Semifinals with Hampton University in Hampton, Va.
Follow ODU Sailing on Twitter @ODUSailing and check them out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ODUSailin