George Washington University Athletics
Sailing Heads to ICSA Nationals
5/21/2018 12:00:00 AM | Sailing
Miranda BakosSr. | Prides Crossing, MA
Bakos will skipper GW in A Division of the women's championship, compete in the Team Race Championship, and crew in A Division of the coed championship. She'll wrap her career having competed in eight different national championships.
SETTING SAIL: The GW sailing team begins an 11-day stint in Norfolk, Virginia for the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) National Championships on Tuesday when women's nationals get underway.
For the first time in program history, the Colonials have qualified for all three ICSA spring national championships. The women's event runs from May 22-25 and is followed by the Team Race championship from May 26-28. Finally, the coed championship will be contested from May 29-June 1.
SENIOR SALUTE: Over the next 11 days, GW's heralded senior class will close out their storied careers after building the sailing team into one of the top programs nationally. As freshmen, the group qualified for their first ICSA national when they reached the women's final and took 13th place. They took 10th as sophomores and 13th a year ago. GW qualified for coed nationals for the first time in 2016 when it took 17th and improved to a 12th place finish last year.
Now, as they are set to make their Team Race nationals debut, the Colonials are one of just 14 programs in the nation to qualify for all three championships.
WOMEN'S FORMAT: Seniors Miranda Bakos, Belle Strachan and Kia Olsson give GW plenty of experience as they are all headed to their fourth consecutive women's championship. The regatta begins with a semifinal round from May 22-23 featuring two 18-team divisions. The top nine from each division move on to the 18-team final May 24-25.
TEAM RACE FORMAT: GW put together its best Team Race performance of the year when it mattered most, finishing second at the Prosser Trophy last month to secure a spot in nationals. The Colonials beat out a couple of the teams they'll see in the 16-team field in Norfolk. At nationals, each team has three boats competing in head-to-head competition. After a full 16-team round robin, the top eight teams will split off for a second round robin, which will then be narrowed down to a Final Four round.
COED FORMAT: Kai Friesecke, who was named an All-American after last season's coed championship, returns to lead the charge for GW in the coed championship which mirrors the format of the women's championship. Friesecke and Bakos took an eighth-place finish in B Division last year and will move up to A Division this season as the Colonials look to improve upon their 12th place team finish.
WATCH THIS: Bakos and Strachan preview women's nationals.
Hear from seniors Miranda Bakos and Belle Strachan as we begin an 11-day stint at @collegesailing nationals tomorrow with the women's championship. #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/y4h5cVsvlh
- GW Sailing (@GW_Sailing) May 21, 2018
