The Lead: It was a great weekend on the water for the MIT sailing team as the Engineers earned a trip to the Women's ACC Championship with a second-place finish in round one qualifying over the weekend. MIT also had strong performances at the highly competitive Danmark Trophy and Smith Trophy.
 
SMITH TROPHY | Cambridge, Mass. | 5th and 6th of 20 (125 and 126 points)
 
- The Engineers hosted the Smith Trophy, the last regatta to feature competition in MIT's tech dinghies. Cucchiaro Family Sailing Master Fran Charles challenged the sailors in some races by allowing unlimited kinetics to increase the athleticism required.
 
- In the 'A' division, the Engineers 1 boat of sophomore Julius Heitkoetter (Austin, Texas) and senior Abby VanLonkhuyzen (Yarmouth, Maine) finished second with 31 points and three wins. The MIT 2 boat earned three top-five finishes as senior Emily Scherer (Oshkosh, Wis.) and sophomore Yitan Zhu (Katy, Texas) guided the boat to a seventh-place finish.
 
- The MIT 2 boat finished fifth in the 'B' Division as juniors Matthew Elliott (Waterford, Mich.) and Karen Liberman (Sao Paulo, Brazil) earned 55 points and three top-five finishes. The Engineers 1 boat finished 13th as senior Alex Abate (Kemah, Texas) and senior Sarah Aaronson (Ashland, Ore.) scored 95 points.

 WOMEN'S ACC SERIES | Cambridge, Mass. | 2nd of 17 (109 points)
 
- The top nine teams from each of the ACC regattas over the weekend (the other was held at Brown) qualified for the ACC Championship in two weeks, and MIT will be one of the teams competing as the Engineers finished just two points behind Harvard for the top spot.
 
- Conditions were challenging, especially on Sunday, but the Engineers showed great skill and teamwork to handle the conditions.
 
- MIT had a dominant performance in the 'A' Division led by graduate student Dana Haig (Beach Haven, N.J.), senior Grace Mao (Overland, Kan.), and sophomore Shayne Bersin (Port Washington, N.Y.). The team won the division with 56 points, ten ahead of second-place Harvard. They finished with one win and eight total top-three finishes.
 
- In the 'B' division, the team of sophomore Brooke Schmelz (Monmouth Beach, N.J.), sophomore Lucy Brock (Austin, Texas), sophomore Samantha Karlson (Groton, Conn.), and junior Jemma Schroder (Menlo Park, Calif.) finished third with 53 points and four wins.

DANMARK TROPHY | New London, Conn. | 12th of 19 (290 points)
 
- Competing at the top coed regatta of the weekend, the Engineers' boats held strong against some of the best sailors from all over the country while dealing with extreme conditions on Sunday with winds gusting over 30 mph.
 
- The Engineers 'A' Division boat of junior Sam Bruce (Severna Park, Md.), graduate student Maaya Prasad (Yorktown, Va.), and sophomore Julius Heitkoetter (Austin, Texas) finished 13th with 157 points and two top-five finishes.
 
- Junior Maks Groom (Seattle, Wash.) and sophomore Nicholas Abate (Kemah, Texas) competed in the 'B' Division and finished 12th with 133 points and one victory. 
 
UP NEXT:

- MIT is back in the water next weekend for the Stu Nelson Trophy and the Coed ACC Round Robin.

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