In six of the past 10 years, a member of the Georgetown sailing team has won the Everett B. Morris Memorial Trophy for the Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year. Current senior Nevin Snow is the most recent example of the program’s run of dominance, capturing the award in 2015 after finishing as runner-up in 2014.

The program has established an environment that emphasizes teamwork and teaching. The team’s upperclassmen consistently work with the younger sailors in order to help them acclimate to the collegiate circuit, which in turn helps the younger sailors in competition.

“We always have the upperclassmen looking out for the underclassmen to make sure that everyone’s making the right decisions and doing the right things. We want to make sure they’re just regular Georgetown students who don’t burden themselves with too much stuff right from the beginning and settle into their own routine,” Head Coach Michael Callahan said.

Snow, a three-time All-American, will return for his senior season looking to assume a larger role as a leader.

“With stuff like College Sailor of the Year I obviously felt pressure to succeed on individual terms,” Snow said. “Now as a senior, it’s really coming full circle, and I want to make sure that I push and try to be as good of a leader as I can, to make sure that we put ourselves in a position to win the team nationals.”

Although Snow will undoubtedly take on an important role on this year’s team, he is far from the only talented sailor who will suit up for Georgetown this season.

Senior Isabelle Luzuriaga was named an Intercollegiate Sailing Association Crew All-American last year and will return looking to earn her second All-American honor.

In addition, the team will bring in a talented class of freshmen. Callahan thinks particularly highly of Haddon Hughes, who is expected to pair with sophomore Lola Bushnell to form a formidable tandem.

“Our new freshman class is one of the more talented ones we’ve had in the last years,” Callahan said. “For the girls, we have Haddon Hughes from Houston, Texas, one of the best singlehanded sailors in the country. … So we’re excited to have her this year. Last year we recruited a great freshman, who’s now a sophomore, in Lola Bushnell, and Lola and Haddon will make a very good team.”

The team will begin its fall schedule Saturday, Sept. 12. Georgetown will send some of its best female sailors, including Bushnell and Hughes, to the Women’s Radial Regatta.

In addition, three Hoyas will be entered in the co-ed Navy Laser Open, while some of the team’s freshmen will compete in the Riley Cup. The Navy Laser Open and the Women’s Radial Regatta will take place in Annapolis, Md., while the Riley Cup is in Norfolk, Va.

Later in the fall, the team will compete in several more events, including the New York Maritime Fall Regatta, the Tom Curtis Regatta, the South #1 Regatta, the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association Men’s and Women’s Singlehanded Championships and the MAISA Match Race Championship.

At several of those events, the Hoyas will look to build on past success, as they will be defending champions at the Tom Curtis Regatta, the South #1 Regatta and the MAISA Match Race Championship. In addition, Snow will defend his title at the Men’s Singlehanded Championships in October.
Over the course of the year, however, the team has its eye on a more prestigious prize.

“My goal for this year, especially coming off a successful individual season last year, is really to bring it full circle,” Snow said. “Since I’ve been at Georgetown we haven’t won the co-ed team nationals. All the individual stuff was just icing; it’s time to really win the whole thing.”