March 28, 2004
WC Finishes Second at Owen Trophy
Horrocks & Thompson Place Third in A Division

PROVIDENCE, RI -- The Washington College sailing team finished second of 16 teams at the Owen Trophy, hosted by Brown University this weekend. Washington finished with 82 points in the regatta, nine points behind first-place Harvard and two in front of third-place Brown.

Sophomore skipper Carl Horrocks (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro) and freshman crew Nat Thompson (Frederick, MD/Westtown, PA) led the Washington effort with a third-place finish in A Division. Horrocks and Thompson finished in the top five in six of the eight A Division races held.

In B Division, junior skipper Chad Hillyer (Summit, NJ/Morristown-Beard) and freshman crew Vanessa Anderson (Narragansett, RI/The Prout School) finished fifth.

Saturday's races were sailed under an overcast sky with temperatures in the upper 40's to mid 50's. The wind was south with small oscillations at 5-9 knots until 3:30 p.m. The breeze then went east-northeast at 10-14 knots. On Sunday, 20-25 knot breezes with higher gusts greeted competitors as they arrived at the regatta and the forecast called for the strong breezes to remain throughout the day. After a quick coaches' meeting at 9:30 a.m., it was unanimously decided to cancel sailing for the day.

Next weekend, the WC sailors will compete at the UMBC Spring Open.