October 31, 2011

Harvard Coed Sailing Qualifies for Atlantic Coast Championship

Kopp skippered the A-division team in the Schell Trophy this weekend and helped contribute to a second-place finish and a birth into the Atlantic Coast Championship. (Photo Courtesy of Gil Talbot)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard coed sailing team posted a second-place finish at the 70th Erwin Schell Trophy over the weekend, qualifying for the Atlantic Coast Championship. The Crimson women’s team also competed this weekend placing 14th at the Victorian Urn.

The Harvard coeds finished second of 18 teams at the Schell regatta hosted by MIT, as senior Brendan Kopp skippered crew Sarah Pierson and Reid Bergsund, who split time during the weekend. Of the 18 races that were sailed, the A division squad earned a top-10 finish 14 times including a first-place showing in the sixth race. The trio finished second in their division with 116 points. 

Harvard’s success was compounded with the strong performance of its B division team of seniors Emily Lambert and Alexandra Jumper and sophomore Ben Lamont. The squad sailed to 15 top-10 finishes, highlighted by wins in the first and 13th races. Harvard secured 228 points and finished only two points behind regatta-winner Dartmouth. Yale rounded out the top three, finishing two points behind Harvard.

In the Victorian Urn hosted by the Crimson, Harvard had the A team of sophomores Morgan Russom and Caitlin Watson and B-division squad of Isabel Ruane and Caroline Lowe. Russom and Watson secured five top-10 finishes for 149 points during the weekend, while Ruane and Watson had two top-10 showings and 154 points in their grouping. The Crimson finished with 303 points overall. Dartmouth once again took top honors, with Rhode Island and Connecticut College coming in second and third, respectively. 

The Atlantic Coast Championship will be hosted by MIT, Nov. 12-13.