REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - The Cardinal earned second overall in the ICSA Women's Team Race Championship this weekend, improving upon last year's third overall finish. Stanford's 17-2 record was just behind Yale's 18-1 mark for the victory.
The No. 2 seed in the event, Stanford sailed strongly throughout the entire competition, only dropping two races, both to the eventual champion Yale.
"I could not be more proud of our team," said head sailing coach Chris Klevan. "Not only did we host and run an amazing event, we worked together, trusted each other and competed with class. We sailed like champions and it is hard to come up short on our goal of winning. We will be back."
The event had very different conditions on the two days of competition. On the first day, racing began after 45 minutes of a delay due to a lack of wind. On Sunday, however, strong winds throughout the day had the racing beginning right on schedule and concluding the competition by 2:30 p.m.
The Cardinal advanced to round two which consisted of the top-six teams in second place and with a 10-1 record. After decisive wins against MIT, Boston College, Brown, and Cornell, Stanford moved on to the final round along with Yale, Brown, and MIT.
The Cardinal earned a 3-0 record in the last round, besting Yale, Brown, and MIT, but it wasn't enough to overtake Yale for the event victory.
Eight sailors suited up for Stanford, led by Michelle Lahrkamp, Vanessa Lahrkamp, and Hannah Freeman as the skippers. Ellie Harned, Patricia Gerli, Abigail Tindall, Grace Austin, and Sophie Fisher took control of the crew duties.
Stanford's silver medal in the Women's Team Race is the best in a women's national event in program history, topping the previous best mark of third in the Women's Fleet Race and third in the Women's Team Race from last season.
It's also the Cardinal's best overall finish in a national event since 2021, when Stanford took second in the Open Fleet Championship.
Stanford returns to action at the end of May for the remaining three national championship regattas. The contests begin with the ICSA Women's Fleet Race National Championship in Kings Point, New York from May 23-26.