Sailing Finishes National Runner-Up at ICSA Women’s Championship

Wednesday, May 19

Annapolis, Md.

Tulane University

ICSA Women's Championship

Sailing Finishes National Runner-Up at ICSA Women’s Championship

May 20, 2021 | Sailing

By: Pierce Feltner

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Tulane University women's sailing team finished as the National Runner-Up at the ICSA Women's Championship Regatta on Thursday, May 20.

"It is an amazing feeling," Tulane head coach Charles Higgins said. "Obviously this year has been hard for everyone and after achieving so much this week makes it all feel good. The girls are super excited. Without a doubt, they would have loved to have gotten that one point to come away as champions, but in no way does that take away from how excited they are to be runner-up. It is still an amazing accomplishment. It took more than just this year. It took a long time to get to this point and we are very excited.

The Green Wave closed the regatta with 202 total points, just one point off the champions from College of Charleston.

Tulane's B Division boat, skippered by Caroline Benson and crewed by Andrea Riefkohl-Gonalez, closed the final day with 85 points to claim the B Division title. The score was the second-highest across all divisions.

The boat opened the day with a first-place finish and placed outside the top five in only one of the six races on the day. Benson and Riefkohl-Gonalez closed races 12, 13, 14 and 16 in fourth.

This effort was paired with Wednesday's races when their boat was the second fastest on the day, finishing with an impressive 59 points. The pair finished in the top three of four races and in the top 10 in all but two.

"It is a very short list of individuals who can claim that they have won their division at a national championship," Higgins said. "For each of those girls, this is their first national championship in their careers. To come into their first national championship and win was really big for them. They never let the moments get too big. They stayed humble and prepared each and every race. They certainly approached it like champions and came out on top in their division because they deservedly sailed better than all of their competition."

The Green Wave's A Division boat, skippered by Ciara Rodriguez-Horan and crewed by Grace Siwicki, logged 117 total points. The pair placed in the top 10 in five of the six races on the day. Rodriguez-Horan and Siwicki placed third in the 11^th race, fourth in the 12^th and fifth in the 14^th.

"In many respects, this result validates the work that has been put in so far," Higgins said. "I don't think it at all signals that we've made it, but it is really signals that this is just the start. This is a young group with a lot in front of us and we are only getting started here. I still feel that our best finishes with this team are in the years to come. This is a very good beginning."

On Wednesday, the duo scored a 78, making them the sixth fastest boat on the water. Rodriguez-Horan and Siwicki placed second in the seventh race, third in the eighth race and first in the tenth race.

"This performance was more than just that of the ladies competing here this weekend," Higgins said. "This was a full team effort, and I am incredibly proud of the entire team for having their hard work rewarded in this way."

This regatta wrapped up the women's only season, but the team will be back in action on June 2-3 for the ICSA Team Race Championship in Annapolis, Md.

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