ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Patiently waiting out a lengthy delay, the 14th-ranked Eckerd College women's sailing program advanced to the last stage as the Sperry Top-Sider Championship Semifinals wrapped up and moved into the finals on Wednesday.
Six races were completed in finals competition between the 18-team field after the cut was made following the cancelation of additional scheduled semifinals action.
Easterly winds had subsided early in the morning and had become inconsistent for racing conditions. With temperatures in the 80's, it turned into a waiting game before winds from the south at 10 knots filled in.
Just like yesterday, racing was temporarily halted again due to more mid-afternoon thunderstorms before the day was called around 7:30 p.m.
The Tritons are currently 13th of 18 in the finals field after closing semifinals by holding on to a third-place showing at the Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove.
“We finished semis great,” said EC Head Coach
Kevin Reali. “We will need to eliminate costly mistakes like penalties and bad starts. The last set of the day, races five and six, went much better. If we can control our mistakes, then we will improve.”
EC was leading at the first mark in both divisions in the opening finals race, but the aforementioned mistakes Reali alluded to, slowly began to take their toll.
As a team, the Tritons were comfortably in third heading into the fourth race of the finals, but shifted into the lower half of the field soon after.
Sophomore
Melany Johnson and freshman
Jessica Resnick ended up tying for first in “B” division semifinals action.
Johnson and Resnick navigated their way to a win in 4B in the finals, edging out Boston College in the Eagles' string of three consecutive second-place efforts. The EC duo added seventh and fourth-place finishes to close out the afternoon in races five and six.
In “A” division, senior
Emily Mitchell and junior
Solvig Sayre enjoyed their finest race in the opener with a third-place showing behind Navy and Dartmouth.
Racing will continue tomorrow as competition continues to heat up on the water.
