ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The 14th-ranked Eckerd College women's sailing program is positioned well following a strong performance on the first day of the Sperry Top-Sider Championship Semifinals at the Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove on Tuesday.
The Tritons' aspirations of reaching the finals were further solidified with a third-place showing on the water with 18 programs vying for nine berths.
Co-hosted by Eckerd and the University of South Florida, opening-day action featured a total of eight races that started at 9 a.m. and extended past 7 p.m. due to a pair of delays. Wind and mid-afternoon thunderstorms resulted in over an hour of stoppage.
EC climbed from fifth into third following the eighth and last set of races in the day. A pair of Ivy League schools currently lead the team standings with Cornell University in first and Dartmouth College in a close second.
“The girls sailed great and I think they will do well tomorrow, but we won't let up,” said EC Head Coach
Kevin Reali. “They did a great job of taking feedback and using it to make a change that improved their next race.”
“I'm very comfortable going into tomorrow and not nervous,” continued Reali. “Tomorrow, we will race until noon and then we will switch into the finals round with a 45-minute break in-between. Hopefully, we'll be in the finals round.”
“A” division featured senior crew
Emily Mitchell with junior skipper
Solvig Sayre. “B” division included sophomore transfer skipper
Melany Johnson and freshman crew
Jessica Resnick.
Johnson and Resnick made early noise in “B” division and are projected to be currently leading, winning the first race and the fourth set of the day. The EC pairing edged out URI and Tufts University in the fourth set while having a quarter leg margin of distance to win the opening race this morning.
Mitchell and Sayre grabbed second place in the fifth set of the day and the team moved up to fourth. The Tritons were holding fifth when racing was stopped for the storm.
Semifinals action will conclude tomorrow morning with another 9 a.m. start. Reali is hoping a maximum of six races can be completed before the quick transition right into the championship finals.
