STANFORD, Calif. - Another full weekend of competition on the water for Stanford sailing, as the Cardinal returned home after competing in three separate regattas on Saturday and Sunday.
The weekend was highlighted by a regatta win at the PCCSC South Designate, along with a runner-up effort at the Friis Trophy Open Team Race and a third-place finish in the Szambecki Open Team Race.
The Cardinal cruised to eight wins across two divisions to lead the team standings with 51 points to win the PCCSC South Designate, finishing 18 points ahead of runner-up Hawai'i. UC Santa Barbara (70 points), San Diego State (95 points), and USC (114 points) rounded out the top five in a 17-team field.
Lucas Woodworth and Amiya Stroumza manned the A boat, tallying six wins on the weekend with a division-leading 25 points. The B division duties were handled by Ava Cornell and Caroline Geiger, who also won twice with 26 points, finishing second in the division behind UC Santa Barbara's second pairing with 22 points.
"We took care of business with a young team plus someone returning from injury," head coach Chris Klevan said. "It is hard to think about this event without moving quickly to our future, immediate and long term. We have a great, young team with leaders practicing a level of maturity beyond their years. We are essentially whole for the first time in 2025, everyone who has been sailing throughout the season has stepped up to fill voids and the energy now is very high. I'm more than pleased with how this season is progressing."
The Friis Trophy Open Team Race saw the Cardinal finish in second place with a 12-4 record on the weekend, ultimately falling in the finals of the knockout stage to champions, Roger Williams University.
Competition began on Saturday with round-robin action, as the Cardinal went 7-2 against the field to advance to Sunday's championship bracket, which included the top-eight finishers in the opening round. Returning on Sunday, the Cardinal knocked off quarterfinal opponent Rhode Island in consecutive races, then defeated Harvard 2-0 to advance to the finals.
In the championship, the Cardinal would square off against the Hawks of RWU, but fell in the best-of-3 series and had to settle for second place in the 64th edition of the event.
Speaking on his team's effort, coach Klevan said "this was the premier event of the weekend and we lost the win on the last, winner-take-all race of the regatta against the #1 team in the country. We showed everyone how close we are, and I'm sure they will take that home with them and work on it- they have coaches too. We just have to work harder."
Vanessa Lahrkamp, Thomas Sitzmann, and Reade Decker were Stanford's skippers for the weekend, while crew duties were split between Ashtyn Tierney, Shay Wood, Alice Schmid, and Piper Blackband.
At the Szambecki Open Team Race, hosted by Old Dominion, the Cardinal finished third with a 9-8 weekend record. Stanford had a strong showing in Saturday's round-robin, going 7-2 against the field to advance to the top 6 round. The Cardinal went 1-2 in the top 6 round but still earned a bid to the Final 4 due to having one of the four best cumulative records up to that point. In the finals session, Stanford won 1-2-4 over Tulane but dropped its matchups to Georgetown and Navy to nab third place in the event.
Stanford was led by skippers Ellie Harned, Sophie Fisher, and Thomas Whidden, while Kit Harned, Alexandra Jones, and Abby Baird served as the crew in the regatta.
"The team was disappointed to walk away without a win but I was not," Klevan added. "They could have won, maybe, if a couple of bounces go their way. But more importantly, they can win, I'm sure of that. A couple of lessons learned will elevate practice moving forward and, in turn, improved practice will harden this group for inevitable challenges and pressures at the highest level. I believe they are game, everyone on the team is improving quickly now- including those who sailed in Virginia"
The Cardinal has two more regattas on the slate for next weekend, competing in both the Dellenbaugh Trophy Women's Team Race and Marchiando Trophy Open Team Race on March 28-29.