October 2, 2005
#18 WC 5th at Tom Curtis,
Also 8th at MAISA Sloops

CHESTERTOWN, MD -- The 18th-ranked Washington College sailing team finished fifth of 18 teams at the Tom Curtis Memorial hosted by Georgetown and eighth of 12 teams this weekend at the MAISA Sloop Championships hosted by Navy this weekend.

At the Tom Curtis, sophomore skipper Chase Hillyer (Summit, NJ/Moorestown-Beard) and freshman crew Brad Wright (South Orange, NJ/Columbia) represented finished 10th in A Division, while sophomore skipper Meredith Dodd (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper St. Clair) and sophomore crew Shri Puri (Bethesda, MD/Bethesda-Chevy Chase) were fifth in B Division. Dodd and Puri finished in the top five in four of the six B Division races at the event.

Seventh-ranked Georgetown won the Tom Curtis, followed by Navy in second and ninth-ranked St. Mary's in third. Six races in each division were sailed on Saturday in winds from the southeast at 3-8 miles per hour. Two A Division races were sailed in a five mile per hour wind from the southeast on Sunday, but the wind died completely before B division could run a race.

Senior Carl Horrocks (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro), sophomore Alex Hood (Newport, RI/Portsmouth Abbey), and sophomore Parker Mitchell (Malibu, CA/Malibu) represented Washington at the MAISA Sloop Championships. Washington finished just one point behind seventh-place New York Maritime.

Ninth-ranked St. Mary's won the MAISA Sloop Championships, followed by seventh-ranked Georgetown in second and 19th-ranked Old Dominion in third. St. Mary's and Georgetown qualified for the ICSA National Sloop Championships with their first and second place finishes. Eight races were completed in winds of 5-8 knots from the southeast on Saturday and three more races were completed in winds of 3-5 knots from the east on Sunday.

The Washington College sailing team will compete at the Hap Moore Team Race, hosted by Coast Guard, and at the Navy Fall Women's Intersectional next weekend. Also next weekend, Horrocks will represent WC at the Carl Van Duyne Trophy, the MAISA Men's Singles Championship, at Kings Point.