George Washington University
MAISA Spring Women's Championship
Sailing Finishes Third at MAISA Women's Championship
4/24/2017 12:00:00 AM | Sailing
The George Washington sailing team finished third at the MAISA Women's Championship on Sunday to qualify for the ICSA National Championship which will be held next month in Charleston, South Carolina.
Facing an 18-team field of conference competitors at the Naval Academy, the Colonials took third behind St. Mary's College of Maryland and Georgetown, while staving off Hobart and William Smith and Cornell. GW was led by juniors Miranda Bakos and Belle Strachan, who took a third-place finish in A Division thanks to remarkably consistent racing. In 15 races, the duo finished in the top-5 12 times and were never outside the top 10. Meanwhile, sophomores Riley Legault and Alexandra Fayer finished fourth in B Division on the strength of nine top-5 finishes.
"They stepped up and showed a lot of grit," said head coach Billy Martin. "There were a lot of great teams that sailed really strong all weekend, and we sailed a really nice complete event which was nice to see. We showed a lot of maturity being able to step up at an event like that and were strong the whole time. I'm really proud how they all sailed.
"Miranda and Belle led the squad with their best result of the year. It was good to see our top players step up at the right time in big moments. The team is super excited to go to Charleston because we know we have more in the tank and we're ready to show everyone that we can compete well on a national stage."
GW was also in action at the Arrigan Memorial, where the Colonials took second place, and the Admirals Cup where GW finished 14th.
Championship racing continues this weekend as the coed team heads to Cornell for the MAISA coed Championship for the America Trophy.
