Cougars Aim for Fowle Trophy Three-Peat at ICSA National Championships

Tuesday, May 21

Newport, R.I.

ALL DAY

College of Charleston

Sperry Women's National Championships

Photo by: Sarah Wilkinson

Cougars Aim for Fowle Trophy Three-Peat at ICSA National Championships

5/20/2019 5:19:00 PM | Sailing

CHARLESTON, S.C. --- As another superb season enters its final rotation, the third-ranked College of Charleston sailing team travels to Newport, R.I. for the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association National Championships in search of the program's ninth overall and third consecutive Leonard B. Fowle Trophy.

"The team has been training hard and is excited to put forth a strong effort on the water in all three disciplines in the ICSA National Championships," Director of Sailing Kevin Jewett said. "We are currently ranked in the top five in all three disciplines – women's, team racing and coed – so we are fully expecting to contend for our third straight Fowle Trophy."

The Cougars captured the prestigious honor given to the best sailing team in the nation based on results at the six national championship events for the second straight season in 2018 after beating out Boston College with a second-place finish in the coed championship.

Charleston enters this week's ICSA National Championships ranked third in coed and fourth in women's after winning 16 regattas to date this season. The Cougars won both the SAISA Team Race and Coed Championships and finished second at the SAISA Women's Championship.

The quest for the Cougars' ninth Fowle Trophy begins on Tuesday in the two-day Sperry Women's Western Semifinal which pits Charleston against five of the top 10 women's teams in the nation. Allie Toppa will skipper in A-Division with crew Annabel Carrington with skipper Marian Williams and crew Elizabeth Mignon sailing in B-Division. Liza Toppa, Nicole Simon and Hannah Kinder will be on hand as alternates. The top nine teams from each semifinal will advance to the 18-boat Sperry Women's National Championship on Thursday and Friday.

Charleston will set sail in the LaserPerformance Team Race National Championship on Saturday, May 25 through Monday, May 27. Racing will begin on Saturday with a single round robin first round featuring all 16 teams. The top eight from the first round will advance to a single "championship" round robin followed by a "final four" round robin. The national championship and second through fourth place will be determined from the final four. The pairings of Augie Dale and Katie Lounsbury, Toppa and Carrington, and Steven Leuck and Payton Alexander will represent the Cougars in the team race national championship.

The Gil Coed National Championship will begin on Tuesday, May 28 with the two-day semifinals. Charleston will compete in the Gil Coed Western Semifinal against four of the top 10 teams in the latest coed rankings. The top nine teams in each semifinal round will advance to the 18-boat Gil Coed National Championship on Thursday and Friday.
Dale and Lounsbury will sail in A-Division for the Cougars with Toppa and Carrington representing the Maroon and White in B-Division.

Fans can follow all the action via a live stream currently scheduled to cover the final day of Sperry Women's, the final round of eight and final four of LaserPerformance Team Racing, the last day of Gil Coed Semifinals, and both days of the Gil Coed Finals. The live stream, as well as up-to-the-minute race scores and additional event information is available via the event website at https://2019nationals.collegesailing.org/.