While the Wesleyan sailing team does not get a lot of attention around campus, the Sailing Cardinals compete in regattas across New England every weekend as part of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association, and have quietly had a great year. On the weekend of April 7, they finished second in a qualifier for the New England Dinghy Championships.

“This is a big deal,” said team captain Maritza Ebling ’12. “The team has never qualified for this event before, and we will be sailing against the best teams in the country.”

In that April 7-8 qualifying event at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI, Wesleyan’s A boat, sailed by John McGlynn ’13 and Caroline Eisenmann ’12, and the B boat, sailed by Anges Page ’12 and Lewis Fowler-Gerace ’15, combined to give Wes a second-place finish out of ten teams. That qualified them for the New England Dinghy Championship, the cumulative New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA) regatta of the season, for the first time in school history.

The top 18 teams in the NEISA competed in the Championship on April 14 and 15, with the top eight teams earning a chance to go to the national semi-finals. Wesleyan was one of only a few club teams present, as the competitive NEISA consists mostly of varsity squads.

“While it is hard to compete with fully funded and school-supported teams,” Ebling said. “Simply qualifying for the event is recognized as a significant achievement, and the entire team is very proud of this accomplishment.”

Wes was ranked 18th going into the event, so they understood that they faced an uphill battle. While they finished in 18th place, both the A and B boats improved greatly as the event progressed.

“The sailors went into the regatta looking to learn and improve for next year, and they were able to accomplish that,” Ebling said. “They are looking forward to higher finishes next year.”

About Drew Hudson

Drew Hudson grew up in the heart of basketball country, Charlotte, North Carolina. He is a huge basketball and football fan, but also loves golf, tennis, and the occasional baseball or hockey game. Drew also loves poetry, Cocoa Puffs, walks on the beach, rap music, and reading a good book in his Snuggie. His sports idols are Tyler Hansbrough, Steve Smith, Sean May, Baron Davis, and Julius Peppers. Drew one day hopes to write for the sports section of a major newspaper or sports network.