Spread across multiple regattas this weekend, the Hoya sailing team found success in many different places.

Sophomore Charlie Buckingham and junior Alex Taylor, whose dominating performance in division B secured Georgetown’s third national title last spring, continued to establish themselves as one of the nation’s top duos with a scintillating Saturday at the Senator’s Cup in Annapolis, Md. Poor sailing conditions brought an early end to the weekend’s premier regatta, however, leaving the sixth-ranked Hoyas just short of a near-miraculous comeback victory.

A few poor opening races put Georgetown as far back as 31 points of host St. Mary’s, but they almost overcame the deep deficit with nearly perfect racing the rest of the way. After a finishing sixth and second in their first two races, Buckingham and Taylor reeled off four consecutive victories. Sophomore Evan Aras and junior Caila Johnson earned a win and second place on Sunday to secure the A division title.

Head Coach Michael Callahan was pleased with the performance of his star pairing, but not at all surprised. “It’s great to see [Buckingham and Taylor] both already in really good midseason form,” Callahan said. “They’re two of the best sailors in the country. You sort of expect that from them now.”

The B division pair of freshman Lauren Burke and senior Madeleine Maguire closed strong, winning the final race to finish fourth. Burke, competing in her first college regatta, showed remarkable progress over the course of the weekend. “She showed a lot of improvement. They didn’t start out too well, but by the end they were doing much better,” Callahan said.

Light winds allowed only two Sunday races, not enough for a comeback, and Georgetown finished with 58 points, three back of champion St. Mary’s. Along with third-place Old Dominion (88 points), they both qualified for the Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship at the War Memorial Regatta, which will be held Nov. 1 to 2. Georgetown came in second place last year at the championship.

In other races, the Hoyas sent a young lineup to the six-team Jesuit School Intersectional, where they defended the Jesuit Cup title. Sophomores Michael Campbell and Ginger Cutler won five of 10 races to easily win the A division, and freshman Andrew Mason and sophomore Leah Volk finished second in the B division to secure a 12-point victory over second-place Vermont.

Vermont grabbed the early Saturday lead, and 10 races into the 24-race regatta Georgetown found itself tied with Vermont, three points ahead of host Fordham. The Hoyas finished the day strong, and victories in three of the day’s final four races gave them a commanding seven-point lead through 16 races.

Calm conditions allowed only four races to be run on Sunday, but that was still long enough for the Hoyas to extend their lead to 12 points. Campbell and Cutler won both of the day’s A division races to cap a remarkable finish. They won their final four races to catch Fordham and claim the A division title by six points and put away any overnight comeback hopes Vermont or Fordham may have harbored.

ason and Volk remained in the hunt for the B division title until the very end, but a fourth-place finish in the final race left them three points behind Vermont. That would prove to be more than enough to return the Jesuit Cup to Georgetown for another year.

Although it was a smaller competition, the Jesuit Cup victory still means a lot to the Hoyas. “You want to beat the other Jesuit schools,” Callahan said. “It’s a pride thing.”

Elsewhere, junior Marco Teixidor placed second in a rainy Laser South Qualifiers at Navy. He will join Buckingham and Aras at the MAISA Men’s Singlehanded National Championship on Oct 11 to 12. Sophomore Scott Furnary finished in seventh and newcomer Philip Greene placed 11th in the 16-boat regatta. Senior Emily Babbitt placed eighth and junior Amanda Hassler 16th of 18 in the Faye Bennet Memorial Regatta to qualify for the ICSA Women’s Singlehanded National Championship.

Next weekend, the Hoyas will be back on the water for three regattas. They will race for the Danmark Trophy in New London, Conn., and at the Finger Lakes Women’s Intersectional in Geneva, N.Y. Georgetown will host the annual Tom Curtis Memorial Regatta on the Potomac River, a race that has Callahan particularly fired up.

“The Tom Curtis gives a lot of people a chance to sail at a home event,” he said. “It’s our only one here and we hope to put on a good show.”

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