The Lead: The MIT sailing team opened the spring portion of its season over the weekend with two regattas, the Sharpe Trophy and the Harvard Women's Team Race. The weather played a big part over the weekend canceling Saturday racing for the competitors. Overall, the Engineers had a strong start to their season.

SHARPE TROPHY | Providence, R.I. | 6th of 8 (2-5)
 
- The Engineers used skippers junior Maks Groom (Seattle, Wash.), sophomore Julius Heitkoetter (Austin, Texas) and junior Matthew Elliot (Waterford, Mich.), and a crew of senior Wendy Wu (Andover, Mass.), sophomore Nicholas Abate (Kemha, Texas), senior Abby VanLonkhuyzen (Yarmouth, Maine), junior Jemma Schroder (Menlo Park, Calif.) and graduate student Maaya Prasad (Yorktown, Va.) to earn a sixth-place finish with a 2-5 overall record.
 
- The team finished strong closing out the day with wins over Northeastern and Salve Regina.

HARVARD WOMEN'S TEAM RACE | Cambridge, Mass. | 4th of 8 (4-3)
 
- MIT went 4-3 during competition, defeating Brown and winning three straight against Roger Williams, Tufts, and Rhode Island. The Engineers fell to Yale in the last race of the day.
 
- The skippers of the MIT boat were sophomore Brooke Schmelz (Monmouth Beach, N.J.), senior Emily Scherer (Oshkosh, Wis.), and sophomore Lucy Brock (Austin, Texas). The crew was sophomore Samantha Karlson (Groton, Conn.), sophomore Mercedes Escandon (Brick, N.J.), sophomore Shayne Bersin (Port Washington, N.Y.), sophomore Yitan Zhu (Katy, Texas), and senior Grace Mao (Overland Park, Kan.).
 
UP NEXT:

- The Engineers are back in the water next weekend, March 11-12, for two more regattas with the Wood Trophy and the inaugural Franny Charles Trophy.

STAY CONNECTED:

- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.