Sailing ended the fall season with two championship regattas, both with standout performances. At the MAISA Women's Fall Dinghy, hosted by Fordham University on Oct. 25 and Oct. 26, the Red continued its streak of exceptional placing with a second-place finish. On the same weekend, the War Memorial Regatta had a similarly impressive performance with a seventh overall placing in an intense 18-school competition, hosted by Hobart & William Smith Colleges.
Kicking off the MAISA Women's Fall Dinghy on Saturday, the weather was tricky. With a north-facing breeze at 8-10 knots, A Division was able to compete in ten races while B Division completed 8 races, regardless of the less-than-desirable weather conditions.
Scoring 76 points across 14 races per division, the Red was able to secure a second-place finish, close behind Georgetown University, who scored first by 8 points. With that impressive placing, the Red continued its weeks-long pattern of placing over Princeton University, as well as placing over strong conference competitors like University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and George Washington University. There was a significant gap in points between second and third place, with the Red scoring 76 points and Penn scoring 136.
In A Division, senior skipper Sophia Devling paired with senior crew Sophia Mulvania had an outstanding showing of talent as they conquered the fleet with six race wins and 12 top-three finishes. With this impressive display of skill, they won the title with 28 points, the lowest recorded total in both A Division and B Division. With similar impressive showings, B Division sailor sophomore Gilda Dondona and freshman Grace Penque dominated their fleet, placing 2nd with a total of 48 points, 2 wins and 6 top-three podium finishes.
At the War Memorial Regatta hosted by Hobart & William, the Red persevered through unpredictable conditions yet had an impressive showing nonetheless. Finishing at seventh place in an 18-school competition, the co-ed squad scored 150 points over eight races in each division, scoring over schools like Columbia, Princeton and George Washington. With unstable weather conditions, Seneca Lake started the day off with cool temperatures and light west-facing winds, but as the day continued, the wind direction shifted from west to the northeast with building strength, which eventually dropped as the day went on.
Regardless of the weather, the squad performed well, adapting to the constantly shifting wind conditions. In A Division, sophomore Ava Gustafson and Laine Reshefsky guided the division to ninth place with a third-place finish near the end. In B Division, junior Pilar Cundey and senior Maya Conway led the squad to eighth with two top-five finishes.
With the fall season coming to an end, the Red will close off the season when Dondona competes at the ICSA Singlehanded Championship on Nov. 8 and 9 in Norfolk, VA.
