Shifty Conditions No Problem for Harvard

The Harvard sailing team kicked off its season last weekend with four events around New England, and the Crimson endured shifty conditions to bring home its first team title of the year.

The co-ed team split between the Harry Anderson Trophy in New Haven, Conn. and the MIT Invite in Cambridge.

The MIT Invite brought the team’s highlight of the weekend, as Harvard dominated the competition, winning both divisions of the regatta. The Crimson finished a respectable tenth at the Anderson Trophy.

Meanwhile, the women’s team sailed in two events—the Man-Labs Trophy in Cambridge on Saturday and the Captain’s Cup in Medford, Mass. on Sunday. Harvard recorded third- and fourth-place team finishes respectively at the two events.

“We’re looking good in comparison to the competition,” junior Liz Powers said. “I’m excited. I think we can do really well if we work hard.”

HARRY ANDERSON TROPHY

The Crimson sent a co-ed squad to the Harry Anderson Trophy, hosted by Yale. Despite tough conditions—allowing only a few races to be sailed on Saturday—Harvard came out tenth in the 20-team field.

“It’s the first big regatta of the year, and it’s a pretty big event,” senior captain Jon Garrity said.

But due to the relatively windless conditions, only five races were sailed in each division throughout the weekend’s competition.

“With only five races, it’s hard to get a very accurate reading on where people really stand,” Garrity said.

The A-division boat of sophomore skipper Alan Palmer and senior crew Lauren Brants placed twelfth overall in their division, but their weekend was marked by steady improvement. After a disappointing 19th-place finish in the initial race, Palmer and Brants inched up in the standings, recording a weekend-best sixth in the final race of the regatta.

Garrity skippered the B-division boat, joined by sophomore crew Meghan Wareham. Wareham was subbing for Garrity’s usual crew, injured senior Kerry Anne Bradford.

The pair sailed to eighth overall, highlighted by a 4th-place finish in the regatta’s second race.

Roger Williams won the regatta with 55 points.

“We definitely have things to work on, but it’s a very long season so we thought it was a great place to start,” Garrity said.

MIT INVITE

The Crimson was right at home on the Charles River on Sunday, dominating the competition in a decisive win at the MIT Invite.

The B-division team of junior skipper Drew Robb and junior crew Michelle Konstadt won five of their seven races, recording second- and third-place finishes in the other two. Their cumulative score of 10 was 15 points lower than the rest of the field.

Meanwhile, their sophomore A-division counterparts, skipper Teddy Himler and crew Quincy Bock, also sailed to victory, finishing in the top four in every race with two wins.

“We had some great finishes, but those were punctuated with some early-in-the-season mistakes and difficult conditions to deal with,” Himler said. “We met that adversity with persistence and prevailed.”

Harvard finished with a combined score of 28, less than half of runner-up Rhode Island’s 63.

“All in all, it was a great weekend and a great way to start the season,” Himler said.

MAN-LABS TROPHY/CAPTAIN’S CUP

It was the freshmen leading the way for the Crimson women, as they enjoyed a successful weekend at two separate regattas.

Rookie skipper Emily Lambert and her classmate and crew Annie DeAngelo made quite an impression in their first collegiate regatta, winning the B-division of Saturday’s Man-Labs Trophy.

“It was really exciting because it was their first regatta ever at Harvard, and they weren’t really able to practice for most of freshman week,” Powers said. “They did amazingly well.”

Lambert and DeAngelo recorded four top-three finishes, including a win, on Saturday, before following up that performance with a fourth-place showing at the Captain’s Cup on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the A-division duo of skipper Powers and sophomore crew Grace Charles had a solid weekend, finishing sixth overall on Saturday and seventh on Sunday.

As a team, Harvard placed third at the Man-Labs Trophy and fourth at the Captain’s Cup.

Yale won Saturday’s event, with Boston College taking top honors on Sunday.

With the women’s top boat of Wareham and senior co-captain Megan Watson out of competition this weekend, the Crimson got some valuable experience as its season begins to heat up.

“It was good for everyone to get a chance to compete,” Powers said. “I’m feeling great, I think we have a really strong team this year. We already have three solid women’s boats so we’ll be able to challenge each other.”

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.