May 28, 2008

CHESTNUT HILL, MA - The Boston College women's sailing team has captured the 2008 ICSA Women's National Championship in dramatic fashion this afternoon. The Eagles, after 18 races and three days of competition, pulled away from Brown in the final race to earn the title in Newport, Rhode Island.

It is the first national title earned by a Boston College sailing team. The closest the Eagles came to a national title in sailing came five years ago in the coed competition.

The Eagles were down by two points with a race to go. In the 18th race of the championship, Leigh Kempton and Emily Flint placed fourth in the A division, while Martha Pitt and Lily Beck earned a second place finish in the B division. Brown placed ninth in the A division and first in the B division, giving the Bears 10 points to BC's six points and an Eagle victory.

Boston College finished in first place with 186 points, while Brown placed second with 188. Yale finished in third place with 202 points, while Stanford (206 points) and Charleston (224 points) rounded out the top five.

Kempton, BC's skipper, sailing with Flint catapulted the Eagles to the top of the scoring when they captured first place finishes in the 15th, 16th and 17th races of the competition. The B division team of Pratt and Beck earned two second place finishes in the final four races in the Eagles victory.

Championship Photos by Robert A. Migliaccio