Sailing Triumphs In Regatta And Earns Awards
The MIT sailing team experienced a wealth of good fortune in the past week, winning the Smith Trophy and earning recognition from the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association for two team members.
Team wins trophy regatta
After placing in the top five in 15 of 30 rounds, host MIT finished first out of 28 teams at the Smith Trophy this past weekend. It marked the first time this fall that the Engineers won a trophy regatta.
A-Division skipper Jacob M. Muhleman ’08 and crew Desiree D. Amadeo ’11 finished first four times, while also taking a pair of second-place marks during the two-day event. The duo finished first overall after 15 races in the higher group.
In B-Division, which also went 15 rounds, skipper Joshua C. Leighton ’10 and crews Gina E. Fridley ’09 and Victoria E. Lee ’10 took four third-place slots and finished second once. The trio placed third overall in the lower circuit.
“It was a huge win for senior Jake Muhleman,” head coach Matt Cohen said. “He has been sailing great this year, with freshman crew Desiree Amadeo. They’ve been working hard in practice and are really coming together well as a team. Jake’s got a great feel for the typically tricky Charles River conditions, and this is a great win for Jake against a talented field. Sophomore Josh Leighton sailed well also.”
Amid a sun-splashed day along the Charles River, Tech’s quintet fought off tricky and shifty conditions with a northerly breeze of 8-12 knots on Saturday. Then, with a bit of haze seeping in on Sunday, the Cardinal and Gray battled a northeast wind that swung to the east at 7-10 knots.
Overall, MIT finished with a score of 189, beating out Brown University and neighboring Tufts University by nine and 13 points, respectively.
Tech also finished 11th out of 14 teams at the Women’s Regis Bowl at Boston University. Yale University won the two-day event with a score of 96.
MIT will host the Sir Ian MacFarlane Trophy this weekend.
Seniors named to All-Academic Team
A-Division skipper John M. “Jack” Field ’08 and crew Julie C. Arsenault ’08, two of MIT’s long-standing talents on the water, were named to the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association All-Academic Team. Field was awarded First Team honors, while Arsenault made the Second Team. The All-Academic Team award honors outstanding male and female scholar athletes who have succeeded at the highest level in the sport and in the classroom.
Field, the perennial leader of Tech’s outstanding sailing cast, is majoring in Aeronautics and Astronautics and has a GPA of 4.8 out of 5.0. Arsenault, the gifted second-in-command, is majoring in Mechanical and Ocean Engineering and has a perfect 5.0 GPA. Both honorees, who hail from Connecticut — Field from Noank, and Arsenault from Thompson — were nominated by MIT for their academic and athletic performances during the 2006–2007 academic year.
“Both these individuals have met a certain balance between sailing on a competitive team and academic excellence, and they reflect great credit upon the collegiate sailing community,” said ICSA Secretary Capt. Eric Wallischeck.
Field and Arsenault were also two of the main reasons that MIT earned its No. 10 slot in the Sailing World College preseason rankings this fall.
The 2007 ICSA All-Academic Team recognizes 10 First Team and 10 Second Team student-athletes who maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a scale of 4.0, contributed as a key starter or reserve member on their school’s sailing team, and reached junior standing at his or her university.