Title Defense: Cougars Ready To Challenge For Fowle Trophy Repeat

Tuesday, May 22

Norfolk, Va.

College of Charleston

ICSA Women's National Championships

Photo by: Michael Wiser

Title Defense: Cougars Ready To Challenge For Fowle Trophy Repeat

5/21/2018 12:46:00 PM | Sailing

CHARLESTON, S.C. --- With another banner season nearing its end, the second-ranked College of Charleston sailing team heads to Norfolk, Va. for the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) National Championships with its eyes firmly fixed on securing the program's eighth Lenoard B. Fowle Trophy after winning the prestigious award for the seventh time last spring.

"We are all excited for the national championships," said director of sailing Greg Fisher. "While we know this is going to be one of the most competitive and challenging nationals we have sailed, we feel the team is extremely prepared for the challenge. Our coaching staff in Ward Cromwell and Mitch Hall have done a great job to prepare our sailors from a technical aspect, while managing the team's emotions to ensure they are at an all-time high ahead of the biggest event of our season."

The Cougars took home the Fowle Trophy – given to the best sailing team in the nation based on results at the six national championship events – in dramatic fashion last spring, winning the final race on the final day of the 2017 championships in Charleston to lift the school's seventh Fowle Trophy.

"This team is certainly one of the most close-nit and special groups I have had the privilege to be around," continued Fisher. "Nearly the entire team stayed behind after finals to help the rest of the team train for nationals, which really underscores the comradery of this group and how invested they are in each other. Despite several members of the nationals team competing overseas during that timeframe, we were still sending 18 boats (nearly 40 student-athletes) out on the water every day – and we have 48 in the varsity program."

Charleston enters this week's ICSA National Championships as one of the leading contenders to lift this year's Fowle Trophy after finishing second at match race nationals, and placing a total of four sailors in the top five at men's and women's singlehanded nationals – including a second career singlehanded victory for senior Stefano Peschiera (Lima, Peru). Junior Gerald Williams (Sai Kung, Hong Kong, China) placed second at men's singlehanded nationals; sophomore Kelly-Ann Arrindell (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad) and Marian Williams (Sai Kung, Hong Kong, China) placed third and fifth, respectively, at women's singlehanded nationals.

Peschiera, one of the frontrunners for college sailor of the year, will anchor the Cougars in two of the three events – team and coed – alongside senior crew Grace McCarthy (San Diego, Calif.). The senior duo has put together a phenomenal final campaign at The College, helping the Cougars to five regatta victories – including a four-point win at the prestigious Danmark Trophy.

Joining Peschiera and McCarthy in the Cougars' lineup for the team race will be skippers Christophe Killian (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Augie Dale (Pewaukee, Wis.) alongside crew Elizabeth Pemberton (Osterville, Mass.) and Katie Lounsbury (Jensen Beach, Fla.).

The Cougars cruised to a 26-point victory at the SAISA Coed Championship to qualify for nationals, thanks in large part to a dominating performance in B-Division from Dale, Lounsbury, and Carter Cameron (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.). Peschiera, McCarthy, and Pemberton will sail in A-Division for the Cougars, who are expected to be among the frontrunners for their sixth Coed National Championship, and fourth since 2013.

Charleston's women's team has enjoyed a tremendous resurgence over the past several seasons, especially since the arrival of both Alie Toppa (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and 2016 Olympian Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.). After leading the Cougars to a fourth-place finish at Women's Nationals last spring – the program's best performance in the event since 2007 – the Cougars enter this week's championship as the second-ranked team in the nation.

Henken, Alie Toppa and the Cougars' women's team have been on a tear this spring with four regatta wins – including a gritty three-point victory at the Emily Wick Women's on April 8. The pair of dynamic skippers will be joined in the Cougars' lineup by a superb crew compliment consisting of juniors Annabel Carrington (White Stone, Va.), Caroline Bracken (Bridgewater, Mass.), and Elizabeth Mignon (Bay Head, N.J.), and freshman Liza Toppa, as the Cougars look to capture their first women's national championship since 2006.

The 2018 ICSA Spring National Championships will get underway with the Sperry Women's Championship, which runs from Tuesday, May 22 through Friday, May 25. The LaserPerformance Team Race National Championship will follow from Saturday, May 26 through Monday, May 28, before Gil Coed Nationals get underway on Tuesday, May 29 and run through Friday, June 1. All three national championship events will be hosted by Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va. For complete results and up-to-date information from the 2018 ICSA National Championships, visit scores.collegesailing.org.