April 16, 2003

Providence, RI - The Stanford Women's sailors competed in the annual Dellenbaugh intersectional at Brown University in Providence this past weekend. With the majority of the women's team returning from Winter Quarter abroad, this regatta was their chance to get back in the swing of things leading up to the Pacific Coast Championships April 26-27. With 18 of the top teams in the country competing in this last major intersectional of the year before Nationals in June.

The Stanford Women earned 11th overall at Brown. Saturday's Nor'easter weather brought wind and rain, in A-Division, skipper Jen Porter sailed the first six races with crew Liz Shearer. In B-DIvision, Ashley Frush took the water with Jessie Duncan (races 1,2) and then Shadi Mehraein (races 3-7). After Saturday's 8 races, the Cardinal women were solidly in 8th overall.

Sunday's weather conditions were more challenging, as winds blew through erratically. In one race, conditions would change from light to windy and back to light. Many teams had their worst races of the series in thes conditions, and the Stanford team was no exception. The Stanford women dropped from 8th to 11th overall. Racing in the four races Sunday were the teams of Jen Porter/Jessie Duncan in A-Div and Liz Shearer/Shadi Mehraein in B-Div.

The bright spot in the weekend's disappointing performance was beating in-district rival USC. The Trojan women finished 15th in the 18-team fleet. The Women will next face USC and other in-district rival U Hawaii along with the other PCIYRA teams to battle for the two berths to the Women's Nationals (Detroit, June 2-4). Stanford will have the advantage of sailing in their home waters as they host Women's PCC's on April 26-27 in Redwood City.

                             A    B  TOT
  1. St. Mary's             37   37   74
  2. Brown                  69   64  133
  3. Old Dominion           72   87  159
  4. Hobart/William Smith  112   51  163
  5. Charleston             70  101  171
  6. Tufts                  77   95  172
  7. Harvard                95  103  198
  8. Dartmouth             129   74  203
  9. Boston College         83  134  217
10. Georgetown            109  112  221
11. Stanford              117  114  231
12. Connecticut College   133  108  241
13. Yale                  143  141  284
14. Boston University     166  124  290
15. Southern California   104  188  292
16. Rhode Island          180  137  317
17. Bowdoin               162  183  345
18. North Carolina        187  200  387