Hawks overcome Georgetown, Boston College to secure the first team national championship in Roger Williams University history

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National Champions! RWU Sails into First Place at Team Nationals

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Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger6-8-2011National Champions! RWU Sails into First Place atTeam NationalsPublic Affairs, Roger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationPublic Affairs, Roger Williams University, "National Champions! RWU Sails into First Place at Team Nationals" (2011). Featured NewsStory. 8.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/85/7/2018 National Champions! RWU Sails into First Place at Team Nationals | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/national-champions-rwu-sails-first-place-team-nationals-0 1/3Home News News Archive National Champions! RWU Sails into First Place at Team NationalsNational Champions! RWU Sails into FirstPlace at Team NationalsHawks overcome Georgetown, Boston College to secure the rst team national championship in Roger Williams UniversityhistoryJune 8, 2011 BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams Universitysailing team took home its  rst team racingnational championship in school history on May29, overcoming 13 other top collegiate teams towin the Walter C. Wood Memorial Trophy. Held inOregon’s Columbia River Gorge, the three-daycompetition was the University’s  rst appearanceat the APS/ICSA Team Race NationalChampionship.“We’ve never even quali ed for this national racebefore,” says Amanda Callahan, head coach of the Roger Williams sailing team. “So to have that pressure of newcompetition and to still come through and win was just amazing!”The collegiate competitors arrived at the sailing venue to a steady 15-knot breeze and a cool 45 degrees. It was a closeand exciting regatta down to the end as the winds continued to gust in the 20-knot range and each team fought tomove on. Alongside the Roger Williams squad, Georgetown University, Boston College and the College of Charlestonsecured spots in the competition’s Final Four. The Hawks sailed well through the weekend, until Sunday morning whenthey lost the  rst races of the day. At that point, they knew they had to win all three races in the Final Four to win thechampionship.5/7/2018 National Champions! RWU Sails into First Place at Team Nationals | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/national-champions-rwu-sails-first-place-team-nationals-0 2/3“The break in the middle of the day [between the Gold Round and the Final Four] gave us a chance to get focused,”Callahan says. “Once they hit the water, they knew what the job was and they went out and did it. It couldn’t have beena more nail-biting, exciting regatta.”The Hawks tied Boston College going into the last race of the Final Four. BC was ahead at the start of the race, and thepairings kept changing all over the course. By the leeward mark, Boston College was spinning a penalty turn and RogerWilliams advanced up the beat to win the race,  nishing with a  rst and second combination. The team’s focus helpedthem stay in the race and win the event.“Not only did everything came down to the last race, but we were pitted against BC – one of the best teams incollegiate sailing,” says Cy Thompson ’11. “To have that storybook ending where it was just us against them in the  naland to pull o  the win – you couldn’t have written it any better.”Boston College placed second in the competition, with the College of Charleston and Georgetown Universityrounding our third and fourth places, respectively. The Columbia Gorge Racing Association and the Northwest ICSAserved as regatta hosts.In addition to the national championship, three Hawks team members – Alec Anderson ’13, Kelly Stannard ’12 and CyThompson ’11 – were named to the ICSA All-American team. Chosen by a committee of coaches who represent theseven conferences in the ICSA, the All-Americans are selected based on their competitive record in district and NorthAmerican Championships. This was Stannard’s second straight year receiving the honor and the third for Thompson,making him the only three-time ICSA All-American in RWU sailing history.  Roger Williams University joins an elite list of schools that have previously won the national team race title including St.Mary's College of Maryland, Boston College and Georgetown University.Sailing for the Hawks were skippers Cy Thompson ’11 (St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands), Alec Anderson ’13 (Tortola, BVI),Sean Bouchard ’12 (Bermuda) with crews: Kelly Stannard ’12 (Salem, Conn.), Sophie Bellacosa ’13 (Winchester, Mass.),Bianca Rom ’13 (Amityville, N.Y.), Tyler Wilson ’12 (Woodville, Mass.), Cameron Pimentel ’13 (Paget, Bermuda), JoshuaSaltmarsh ’11 (Wayland, Mass.), Haley Powell ’13 (St. George, Bermuda), and Alyssa Seifert ’13 (Duxbury, Mass.).To watch a video of Hawk’s  nal victory over Boston College, visit Sailgroove here.Share This: REQUEST INFO  VISIT CAMPUS  APPLY  MAKE A GIFT5/7/2018 National Champions! RWU Sails into First Place at Team Nationals | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/national-champions-rwu-sails-first-place-team-nationals-0 3/3Map & DirectionsContact UsDirectoryNewsEventsAthleticsrwu.eduUndergraduate SiteGraduate SiteSchool of LawSchool of Continuing Studies    © 2018 Roger Williams University. All rights reserved.  GMAIL AT RWU BRIDGES MY RWU IT HELP SITE POLICIES WORK AT RWUOne Old Ferry Road, Bristol, RI 028091-800-458-7144

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National Champions! RWU Sails into First Place at Team Nationals

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