Second Straight National Title

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Cardinal claimed its second straight ICSA Women's Fleet Race title and its fifth national title overall on Thursday, topping the field on the Charles River in Massachusetts. 

The title marks Stanford's fourth national title in the last calendar year (2023 - ICSA Women's Fleet, ICSA Open Fleet; 2024 - ICSA Women's Team, ICSA Women's Fleet).  

Stanford has also now won multiple national titles in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.

"It was an extremely challenging event," said head sailing coach Chris Klevan. "The conditions and competition tested us completely and we responded with grit, tenacity and resilience - the things we work on every day all year together. I believe the whole team grew immensely throughout and I know I will never forget the feeling we earned as champions."

The Cardinal started the national event strong, opening up a commanding lead in the Eastern Semifinal race. The Cardinal finished the two day semifinal event with an 88 point lead over second place finisher Cornell.

The two day final regatta was more tightly contested, but Stanford jumped out to a lead after race number six and never looked back, leading all the way to the finish at race 17.

Stanford was led by Vanessa Lahrkamp and Gwendolyn Donahue in the A boat for races 1-14, with Michelle Lahrkamp and Ellie Harned taking the helm for the remaining three races. In the B boat, Hannah Freeman and Alice Schmid sailed each race from start to finish. 

The Cardinal sailed a complete race as a team, not topping either division, but taking the best score overall by 26 points. The top three teams were Stanford at 207, Boston College at 233, and Dartmouth at 236.

In the A division, the Cardinal finished second overall with 111 points, trailing only Dartmouth's 97. In the B division, Stanford had the third best score with 96 points, behind Boston College's 78 and Yale's 92.

The Cardinal returns to action tomorrow, looking to complete another back-to-back victory in the ICSA Open Fleet Race Championship.