Sailing Has Two Teams At Nat'ls

It's a National year for the Harvard and Radcliffe sailing teams.

The women's team got a ticket to the Big Dance with a second-place finish at the New England Championships on April 20-21, while the coed team also made it with a second-place finish, but instead at the New England Dinghy Championships.

Nationals started on May 30 and will run through Saturday.

Radcliffe has made it to nationals for the third straight year and the fourth time in the last five years, finishing behind Tufts in the 15-school field. The Black and White edged out Dartmouth by three points, 149-152.

Sophomore captain Laura Stearns was the A Division skipper, with classmate Jenny Heath handling duties on her crew. The duo was steady, if not spectacular, garnering eight top-five finishes and never coming in lower than 10th in the two-day event.

In the B Division, senior Gaelen Phyfe teamed up with junior Sally Berens for her first 12 races and then paired up with freshman Cori Ermler for her last two. Both combinations were strong, particularly on the second day, as Phyfe won her final race with Berens and her first with Ermler.

The co-eds, meanwhile, earned their bid to Nationals in similar fashion. Harvard was second to Tufts at the New England Dinghy Championships, which it hosted on April 27-28.

It was a two-armada battle for the overall title that the Jumbos finally claimed with their total of 127 points. Harvard (136) was second, followed by Boston College (169) and Boston University (179) in the 15-team field.

Harvard won the A Division with senior Marc Laitin and Molly Merrill working as skipper and crew, respectively. The duo won three races, all on the first day, and added an equal number of second-place finishes. Only twice during the event did they come in lower than sixth.

The B Division duties were handled by sophomore Dan Parkes and Katie Hartwell. They raced magnificently, finishing second overall, about 35 points ahead of the third-place boat. They had three first-place finishes and a pair of seconds to start off, giving a quick boost to the Crimson's chances.

Things were not as bright for Harvard at the New England Team Race Championships, also at Tufts. Harvard went 4-5 in the round-robin portion, and the fifth-place finish kept the Crimson out of the championship rounds.

Harvard Sports Stats 1995-96

Sailing

Record: N/A

Ivy Finish: N/A

Head Coach: Mike Horn

Captains: Bryan Agnetta '96, Gaelen Phyfe '96, Erin Delaney '98

Other Key Players: Laura Sterns '98, Marc Laitin '96, Sally Berens '97, Dan Parkes '98