NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion Sailing team is back in action on Saturday and Sunday with three races. The three races the teams will be competing in are the Navy Women's Team Race in Annapolis, Maryland, the John Jackson team Race in Alexandria, Virginia and the CNU Women's Fleet race in Hampton, Virginia.
The Monarchs travel to Annapolis for the Jan Harris Team Race hosted by the US Naval Academy at the Annapolis Sailing School. This will be the first big test for the women as they take on the top schools from across the country. Competing in the race this weekend along with the ODU are teams from Cornell, Penn, George Washington, Navy, Hobart and William Smith, Yale, Boston College, Brown, College of Charleston, South Florida and Tulane. The field constitutes seven of the 12 finalists from the 2023 Women's Team Race National Championship and should be the most competitive women's team race event so far this spring. With the forecast calling for breezy conditions this weekend, Old Dominion will be starting senior Elizabeth Gildea with freshman Morgan Auth, senior Megan Geith with sophomore Lindsey Kaufmann and freshman Gianna Dewey with junior Jean Volk and freshman Molly Hanson rotating in with her. The Monarchs have faced off against Penn, Navy, College of Charleston and Tulane so far this spring and will get their first look at Cornell, George Washington, Yale, Boston College and Tulane. Racing begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday out of the Annapolis Sailing School.
Traveling to Alexandria for the second weekend in a row, the open Monarch team also faces their first big test of the year as they face off against Georgetown, Penn, Fordham, Boston College, Vermont, Connecticut College and Tulane at the Washington Sailing Marina. The Monarchs will have their first matchups with Fordham, Penn, Boston College, Vermont, Connecticut College and Tulane this weekend, having faced Georgetown and Cornell last weekend in the DC Team Race. Senior Rider Odom will start with sophomore Parker Younger, senior Parker Purrington with sophomore Cadence Goodnight, sophomore Diogo Silva with senior Ethan Tutt, and freshmen Milo Miller and Blake Goodwin will be rotating in as needed. Conditions are predicted to be windy in Alexandria and racing will begin at 10 a.m. out of the Washington Sailing Marina on Saturday.
Close to home, sophomores Emma Friedauer and Kaylin Irving, along with sophomore Olivia Gilmore and junior Isabelle Kanach will head over to Fort Monroe to sail at Youth Sailing Virginia in Christopher Newport University's first home event of the year. They face off against in-conference teams from Christopher Newport, Princeton, St Mary's College and Washington College, as well as out-of-conference teams from North Carolina State and Miami. The format of the event will be combined division fleet racing with 14 boats from seven teams racing against each other. Racing begins at 10 a.m. over at Fort Monroe on Saturday.
The team is back in action next weekend at the Graham Hall team Race in Annapolis, Maryland and the St. Mary's Fleet race in St. Mary's, Maryland.
Sailing Set To Compete In Three Races On Saturday and Sunday
