The puzzle pieces are coming together nicely for Georgetown sailing in its ongoing quest for national championships – and it’s only the first week of the fall season.

The Hoyas took two top finishes in both overall and individual competition as sailors raced at three different events last weekend.

Senior Andrew Campbell handily took the crown at the Navy Laser Open in Annapolis, Md., winning five out of six races for seven points. Even though the sailors barely sailed half the normal number of races due to light winds, Campbell finished a commanding 27 points ahead of his nearest competitors, junior Alex Steele of St. Mary’s and sophomore Jay Mills of Hobart, who tied for second with 34 points each.

“He sailed really well, as we expected him to do,” Georgetown Head Coach Mike Callahan said.

With his score, Campbell qualified for the October district championships. The top three at that event go to nationals, which Campbell has already won twice.

Junior Langdon Mitchell, Georgetown’s other entry at Navy, placed eighth with 65 points, just shy of the cutoff for district. He will have another opportunity to earn a berth in the district championship next weekend at the Laser Qualifier South, also in Annapolis, Md.

“Hopefully he’ll qualify,” Callahan said. “It’d be good to have two Georgetown sailors there.”

While the Hoyas took first place overall at the Navy Laser Open, the foursome at Old Dominion’s Riley Cup were also busy sailing to a team victory. The sailors in Norfolk, Va., though, had much better luck with the weather conditions, which featured moderate to strong winds of 14 to 26 knots and water that developed from flat at the beginning of the course to moderately choppy by the end.

At an event in which the best in the district compete, Georgetown won with a combined 87 points, while Kings Point came in second with 120 and St. Mary’s was third with 150.

Junior skipper J.B. Turney and sophomore crew Liz Rapp captured the top spot in the A division with 38 points. Aside from one ninth-place finish, Turney and Rapp ended in the top four in every race.

Prior to the event, Callahan said that he would send his two best freshmen to the Riley Cup to determine how well they stack up against the district’s competition. Skipper Nik Holtan and crew Carly Chamberlain earned the nod, and they came in second place in the B division with 49 points, 11 behind St. Mary’s and six ahead of SUNY-Maritime.

“Second out of 17 is a good finish for them,” Callahan said. “We were pleased with that.”

Callahan said that he still sees room for improvement in the two, though, citing some “pretty deep” races that led to inconsistent finishes.

The third event on the slate for the Hoyas was Dartmouth’s Captain Hurst Bowl. Held in light winds on Lake Mascona in Enfield, N.H., the regatta included 24 schools, and Georgetown finished 11th.

“We were looking to finish in the top 10,” Callahan said. “It was OK, but not what we expected.”

Though the B team of sophomore skipper Chris Behm and senior crew Nick Deane delivered a tie for second place, the A team of senior skipper Ed duMoulin and sophomore crew Leigh Fogwell did not bring its A game.

DuMoulin and Fogwell’s score of 93 included only one finish in six races that was not in double digits, with the best in fifth and the worst in 23rd, putting them in 18th place in the division.

“That was a real problem. They sailed really poorly and had a lot of bad races,” Callahan said. “Their bad finish took us out of the top 10.”

Behm and Deane, meanwhile, took first in the two opening races. Though they struggled in the next two races, finishing in 12th and 16th, they bounced back for a third-place finish before ending the last race in 12th again. When it was all said and done, the two Hoyas had 45 points, placing them in a tie with Yale for second and two points behind the winner, St. Mary’s.

Georgetown sailing will be busy this weekend as the Hoyas will participate in four regattas.

The women’s team opens its season tomorrow at the Mrs. Hurst Bowl, also held at Dartmouth. At last spring’s national championships, Georgetown took third, its highest finish overall. The Hoyas are looking to build on that success, but that will be a tough task this weekend without No. 1 skipper Darby Anderson, a senior who earned honorable mention all-American last year despite missing her fall semester to study abroad.

In Anderson’s place, sophomore Blaire Herron, also an honorable mention all-American last year, will be the starting skipper for the A team along with junior crew Emily Siguler.

For the B team, senior skipper Jackie Schmitz will compete with Chamberlain, the freshman who last sailed in the co-ed Riley Cup.

Callahan said that he hopes to see the women place in the top five, but he would be satisfied with a top-10 performance.

“It’ll be interesting to see how the girls do,” he said. “If they sail to the best, they can win.”

Meanwhile, the co-ed team will split up to attend three events: the Merchant Marine Academy’s Nevins Trophy in Kings Point, N.Y.; SUNY-Maritime’s Freshman Groundbreaker in Throgs Neck, N.Y.; and the Ocean County College Fall Regatta in Toms River, N.J.

The Nevins Trophy will be an important event for the Hoyas. They stand a good chance to win, especially with Campbell sailing lasers, but Georgetown’s fate will rest on duMoulin and Fogwell, who will need to improve from last weekend’s 18th-place finish to a top-10 finish this weekend if the Hoyas want to be competitive.