Top-Three Finish at Inaugural Women's Team Race Championships

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Stanford earned third place at the inaugural women's team race national championships this weekend, narrowly behind first place Yale and second place Boston College. 

The Cardinal won 12 races over the weekend, just one behind the Bulldogs 13 race victories that secured them the title.

Stanford lined up with three different skippers over the weekend as Michelle Lahrkamp, Hannah Freeman, and Stephanie Houck all took the helm. Patricia Gerli, Gwendolyn Donahue, Sammy Pickell, Abigail Tindall, and Grace Austin rounded out the lineup as the crew.

The event started on Saturday with 56 races despite a late start waiting for the wind to begin in the early afternoon. The breeze ranged mainly between 12-16 knots with great waves and plenty of sun.

The second day of the event started with a slowly dying easterly breeze to finish out the round robin of the 12 teams. After a long wait for the weather to pick up again, the sun came out and a nice southerly filled in, allowing the last round of races to take place. 

It was a battle in the final round with close team racing all the way until the end of each race. A four-way competition to the finish ensued with Yale, Boston College, Stanford, and Brown all in contention to win the event until the final few races for each team.

The Cardinal advanced out of the first round robin into the final six with an 8-3 record, claiming victories over all but Boston College, Yale, and MIT. In the final round, Stanford recorded only one loss in five races, falling to Boston College again.

Stanford has its name in the record books as one of the 12 competitors in the inaugural women's team race championships, including an impressive third place finish.

The Cardinal are back in action next month to compete in the coed team race championships and both coed and women's fleet race championships.