October 5, 2008
#19 WC Finishes Second at Tom Curtis Memorial
Packard and Shepherd Win A Division

WASHINGTON, DC -- The 19th-ranked Washington College sailing team finished second of 18 schools at the Tom Curtis Memorial, hosted this weekend by Georgetown. Senior skipper Derek Packard (Excelsior, MN/Breck) and sophomore crew James Shepherd (Chicago, IL/Lincoln Park) won A Division.

Packard and Shepherd finished in the top four in seven of the eight A Division races, winning two of them. The first-place divisional finish was the second for Packard in his collegiate career and the first in A Division. It was also the second career first-place divisional finish for Shepherd and his second in A Division.

Sophomore skipper Guy Tawney (Baltimore, MD/St. Paul's School) and freshman crew Hannah Beekman (South Kingstown, RI/South Kingstown) were sixth in B Division. Beekman was sailing in her first collegiate regatta. Tawney and Beekman won the fourth B Division race.

Fordham won the regatta, while fourth-ranked St. Mary's (MD) was third. Light winds hampered the regatta all weekend, especially on Saturday, when just three races in each division were sailed in north-northeast breezes of 3-5 miles per hour. Five races were completed in each division on Sunday in shifty winds.

Next weekend, the Washington College sailing team will compete at the Hobart/William Smith Fall Intersectional.