The Milton Academy Sailing Team arrived home Sunday night from Grosse Point, Michigan as the 2002 Interscholastic Sailing Association National High School Team Racing Champions (Toby Baker Trophy).
The team sailed in 420s on Lake St. Clair, against 12 teams from around the country in the two-day competition. It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Milton team. Faced with windy, wavy and rainy conditions on Saturday, the Milton team worked hard to finish Saturday’s in second place behind Tabor Academy and advance to the double round-robin tournament on Sunday against Tabor, Newport Harbor High School (CA) and Jesuit High School (LA).
The final four teams raced a double round-robin on Sunday and carried their first round scores forward. Sunday’s weather was much improved, and the Milton team finished the first round robin undefeated before suffering two disappointing losses to Newport and Jesuit in the second round. The team was able to remain positive and in the last race of the day, beat Tabor. The competition ended in a 13-4 tie with Tabor, but Milton was awarded the championship after beating the Tabor Seawolves 2-1 in head-to-head sailing.
The Milton Academy team members who competed were Sami Kriegstein (Class II), Erin Morley (Class II), Martha Pitt (Class IV), Charlie Enright (Class I), Rip Hale (Class I), Ethan Brown (Class I), Kit Will (Class II) and Aubrey Mayer (Class II). The team is coached by Anna Longstaff and Dennis Glynn.
Winners and top finishers at the national championship are offered an opportunity to compete overseas against other top high school teams, at the British Schools Dinghy Racing Association (BSDRA) Team and Fleet Championships, at the Fastnet International Schools Regatta in Ireland and the National Schools Sailing Association (NSSA) International Schools Regatta in the UK.
