George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Navy Fall Women's Intersectional
GW Sailing's Shanahan Qualifies for ICSA Laser Nationals
10/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Sailing
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RESULTS: MAISA Men's Singlehanded Championship | Navy Fall Women's Intersectional | Tom Curtis Regatta
ALEXANDRIA, Va. & ANNAPOLIS, Md. - GW sailing sophomore Brendan Shanahan finished runner-up at the Carl Van Duyne MAISA Men's Singlehanded Championship on Sunday to earn the program's first ICSA National Championship berth since 1954.
By virtue of his top-four finish in Annapolis, Shanahan has qualified to compete at the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Men's Singlehanded National Championship hosted by Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington from Nov. 7-9.
It marks the Colonials' first bid to an ICSA National Championship since 1954 when the then club program placed fifth in the coed competition. It also continues the upward trajectory of the third-year varsity program which garnered its first-ever national ranking at No. 20 in the coed ranks on Sept. 25.
After opening with ninth- and 17th-place finishes in Saturday's first two races, Shanahan won three of the next four and placed in the top-five in nine of the event's final 12 races en route to 77 points and a runner-up showing behind Georgetown's Nevin Snow (60 points).
"I'm so excited for Brendan, he sailed awesome," said Head Coach John Pearce. "He did exactly what he needed to do which was sail aggressive and fast, but he also managed his risks very well and didn't expose himself to any bad races. I think he's going to do awesome at nationals and it's great for our team to have its first nationals appearance in 60 years."
Also in Annapolis, GW finished in 17th at the competitive Navy Fall Women's Intersectional with 572 points amassed across three divisions and 15 races. Seven teams ranked in the women's top-15 competed at the 18-boat event, though unranked St. Mary's (Md.) captured the title with 269 points.
GW's A Division of junior Hannah McNomee and senior Jennifer Wilson placed 17th with 193 points, the B Division of senior Alex Hitchcock, freshman Shira Golub and sophomores Gabriella Marki and Madison Oleson finished 12th with 173 points, and rookie Kia Olsson came in 16th with 206 points in the Laser-class C Division. At Georgetown's local, 13-boat Tom Curtis Regatta on the Potomac River, GW's two teams finished second and third behind the host Hoyas (38 points).
Team Colonials totaled 96 points and Team Buff and Blue accumulated 99 points with neither GW team finishing worse than ninth in any of the regatta's 11 races. Team Colonials got a third-place effort from junior Jay Spector and sophomore Kelly Dong in A Division (49 points, Race 9 win) and fourth-place performance from freshman Riley Engelberger and senior Madeline Taggart in B Division (47, Races 1 & 11 wins).
Team Buff and Blue had freshmen Sam White and Matt Homa finish second in A Division (48, Race 11 win) and senior Matthew Ricci and freshman Chapin Graham place fifth in B Division (51, Race 4 win).
GW will look to continue its momentum with two regattas next weekend at the Navy Fall Intersectional in Annapolis and the Yale Women's Intersectional in New Haven, Connecticut.
LoadingNATIONALS BOUND! 2nd at MAISA Singlehanded Champs and headed to @collegesailing Singlehanded Nationals in November! Great performance by @brendan_shanahan. First Nationals appearance for GW since the mid-1950s. #RaiseHigh #ColonialNavy
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