This past weekend New Trier sent an 8-sailor squad to Grosse Pointe Shores, MI (Grosse Pointe Yacht Club) to compete in the Midwest's qualifying regatta for the Mallory Trophy, the Double-handed National Championship. Ten high schools were represented: New Trier, Loyola Academy, Lake Forest, St Ignatius, Wayzata and Minnetonka (both from MN), Traverse City, Grosse Pointe North and South and Grosse Ile from Michigan.
The New Trier team sailed well in a wide range of conditions, 4-24 knots of wind on Saturday. Coach Matt Clark mixed up his usual pairs in an effort to put "heavy air" skipper crew combinations on the water. Steph Hudson sailed in the A division with Cole Rice and later Michael Cornew and Scott Bartuska; Drew Shea sailed in B with Mark Gargula. Both boats did well in very difficult wind conditions which reached gusts of up to 40 knots.
While air temperatures were in the low 80's, the water temperature was a chilly 45 degrees. In the early going, the bigger crews had their way as Lake Forest's Will Haeger and Ian Schappe won the first two races of the A division. New Trier's Stephanie Hudson and Cole Rice tried to keep pace with finishes of 3-2. During the second rotation of A division, Loyola's Alex Post and Kevin Kennedy found their groove, with a 1-2. Lake Forest sailed to a 3-1 while New Trier, with the addition of Michael Cornew, rolled to a 2-5. The third rotation was more of the same for Loyola which won both races. NT and LF finished with 2-2 and 6-6, respectively.
In B division, the Seago brothers (Ryan and Mike) of Grosse Pointe North started strongly with two firsts and two thirds. LF's Will Howard and Lindsey Taylor went 3-3 and 2-1 in their first two rotations while Loyola's Tommy Holmberg and John Kinzel raced to 2-4-1-5. New Trier's Drew Shea and Mark Gargula were fourth with 4-2-6-2. Howard, who finished third at the Cressy, fell off the pace when the winds lightened up, finishing with a 5-6. In the third rotation, Minnetonka made a late charge with a 2-1 followed by Loyola 3-3 and Grosse Ile 1-5.
The Race Committee pulled the racers off the water when storms threatened. After a two hour postponement to let the storm front go through, the teams went back out to the race course in winds 5-8 knots. These conditions suited the team from New Trier which again changed crews as Scott Bartuska substituted for Michael Cornew as the A division was called to sail their fourth rotation. He and Steph finished 2-1 while LF finished 5-4, Loyola 3-6, creating a cushion in the event that B division completed the rotation. Michael Lee of St Ignatius won the seventh race. With Amy Baxter preparing in the wings for the fourth B division, the race committee called the action for the day due to lack of wind. That evening, Loyola led the overall standings followed by Lake Forest and New Trier in a tie for second, Grosse Pointe North fourth, and Minnetonka fifth.
Sunday the winds were very light. Coach Matt reviewed the skipper/crew pairings with the team to ensure they matched the winds. Unfortunately, the day also brought overcast skies and dense fog - there was zero visibility and you could not see the committee boat 100 yards offshore! As the sun rose the fog burned off and the winds began to build to 4-5 knots. Again the light air pairings went out. First on the water was the B division. New Trier's Drew Shea and Kim Johnson set the tone by winning both races in their rotation by comfortable margins. Shea sailed both races with wire to wire leads. The scores of the rest of the B division varied greatly, but Loyola, Lake Forest, GPN, and Minnetonka were still in the hunt.
With time for just one more race in both A and B divisions, Lake Forest and New Trier closed out the championship with race wins. Overall, New Trier won the team title in dominating fashion by winning both the A and B divisions. Stephanie Hudson, with crews Scott Bartuska, Michael Cornew, Cole Rice won the A division with only 23 points over nine races. Will Haeger, Ian Schappe, and Connor Adams of Lake Forest finished second with 28 points followed in third by Loyola's Alex Post, Kevin Kennedy, and Ciara McHugh with 33 points. New Trier's Drew Shea won the B division with crews Mark Gargula and Kim Johnson with just 25 points over nine races. He was followed by Ryan and Mike Seago of Grosse Pointe North in second, just two points behind, while Loyola's Tommy Holmberg, John Kinzel, and Juliann Sargis finished in third with 30 points.
Based on their performances, New Trier and Loyola will represent MISSA at the upcoming ISSA Mallory National Championships. The regatta will be hosted by the University of South Florida and SAISA. Congratulations Trevians!!!
Next up - MISSA Team Race Championships - Baker Qualifier
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