Szambecki Team Race Recap

By Kelly Stannard

Despite battling light wind, rain and thunderstorms the Old Dominion University team successfully hosted the Szambecki Team Race last weekend in Norfolk, Va. The College of Charleston Cougars came out victorious with a final record of 11-3. Saturday's racing was sporadic due to weather conditions. On Sunday, racing conditions were much better and competitors didn’t let a little fog or rain get in the way of getting some exciting team racing in. Two full round robins were sailed to complete the event. 

The original plan was to complete three round robins and then split into a final four and a bottom four. Uncooperative weather kept competitors, umpires, and the ODU team on their toes throughout the weekend and despite everyone’s best efforts, only two round robins were completed. An attempt to do a final four was called off after the 3:00 pm Sunday deadline.

After the first round robin, Roger Williams was in the lead with a 6-1 record, followed closely by Charleston who had a 5-2 record. Georgetown, St. Mary’s and Hobart were all tied for third after round one with four wins and three losses each. After the second round, Roger Williams slipped with a 2-5 record, Charleston kept their momentum going by winning six races and only loosing one. Hobart kicked it up a notch, and their only loss in the second round was to Charleston. Right behind them in the second round was St. Mary's who had a 5-2 record.

Charleston's ability sail consistently in tight competition and their 11-3 record put them in first place. Sailing for them were skippers, senior Zeke Horowitz, junior Mac Mace, and junior Ben Spector. Rounding out the winning team were crews, senior Alyssa Aitken, senior Perry Emsiek, junior Cory De Collibus, senior Sam Stokes, junior Brooks Clark and junior Jeff Aschieres.

Hobart finished second overall with a final record of 10-4, St. Mary's went 9-5 and Roger Williams finished 8-6. Full results can be found at http://www.odusports.com/sports/c-sail/spec-rel/szambecki-2012.html.

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