Cougars Make Late Charge, Finish Second At Sperry Women's National Championship

Tuesday, May 22

Norfolk, Va.

College of Charleston

ICSA Women's National Championships

Cougars Make Late Charge, Finish Second At Sperry Women's National Championship

5/25/2018 9:08:00 PM | Sailing

NORFOLK, Va. --- The second-ranked College of Charleston women's sailing team came within inches of capturing its first Sperry Women's National Championship since 2006 on Friday, but it was not to be as Boston College overcame a four-point deficit in the final race of the championship to finish tied for first with the Cougars and claim the title via tiebreaker.

The Cougars and Eagles finished tied for first in the championship with identical point totals of 246 after 18 rotations and two days of hotly contested sailing. The second-place performance is the Cougars' highest finish at the Women's National Championship since 2007, when Charleston finished second. Alie Toppa (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) skippered the Cougars to fifth in A-Division alongside crew Annabel Carrington (White Stone, Va.). The duo finished the regatta with 143 points and eight top-five finishes – including a race win in the 11^th rotation.

Skipper Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) led the Cougars to a third-place finish in B-Division with crew Liza Toppa (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Henken and Liza Toppa accumulated 103 points and nine top-five finishes, including wins in the first, fifth, and 13^th rotations.

Charleston battled through shifting winds and stiff competition on Thursday, and after the completion of 12 rotations on the first day of the finals, the Cougars sat four points out of first in second place. The Cougars quickly capitalized on their position as competition resumed on Friday morning, leapfrogging MIT in the first rotation of the day to take over the lead with a 13^th-rotation win in B-Division that put The College one point ahead.

The College held the lead through the 14^th rotation, before a tough start to race 15A landed the Cougars in 17^th and dropped Charleston six points behind Boston College. The Eagles would widen the gap to as many as 10 points following the 17^th rotation, before a crucial swing occurred in race 18A.

Boston College was called for an individual recall at the start of 18A and Charleston's duo of Alie Toppa and Carrington took full advantage, slicing their way through the field to finish second and jump four points ahead of Boston College after the Eagles placed 16^th.

The championship came down to the final race of the week and both teams jumped out to a quick start with Boston College ahead by a handful of boats. By the halfway turn, the Cougars had closed the gap to two boats and with a stiff wind filling their sails, were come up fast on the Eagles.

As the fleet converged heading to the line, several teams from the rightward pack and cut in front of the Cougars to extend the Eagles' lead to four as the field crossed the finish line. The four-boat gap proved large enough for the Eagles to pull even with the Cougars atop the leaderboard, and claim the championship by virtue of the high finish tiebreaker.

The Cougars will continue their national championship pursuit in the LaserPerformance Team Race National Championship, which gets underway on Saturday and runs through Monday, May 28.