The Bainbridge sailing team came home with another district title this weekend at the double handed district championships in Poulsbo.
Sailors from ten schools, some as far away as Portland, gathered to vie for the right to represent the Northwest district at the national championship for double-handed sailing. That regatta, known as the Mallory, will be held in Long Beach, Calif., on May 12-13.
The breezes were light and fickle for most of the 22 varsity and 22 “junior varsity” races. Sailors had to be alert to shifts in direction and velocity of the wind to succeed in finishing consistently ahead of their opponents.
Bainbridge sailors excelled in these conditions and took first place in both sections of the regatta.
In the varsity A division, co-captain Glen Stellmacher, whose personal goal was to win this event, lead his team in effort and determination, finishing well even in races where he had to restart after the fleet due to having started too early.
Whether sailing with Haley Lane, Max Fleischfresser, or Sarah Clarke, Stellmacher was very consistent, earning three first place finishes and remaining consistently in the top three places, an impressive display of raw boatspeed and an outstanding record in a fleet so competitive.
In the parallel varsity B division, sophomore teammate Emma Hartmann carried the torch as skipper, and, assisted by crews of co-captain Amy Allen, Clarke, Fleischfresser and Lane, finished consistently in the top four to complement the A division performance. This too is an impressive record.
Like most of the other teams, Bainbridge is a varsity team. However, since this Mallory elimination regatta is limited to between four and eight sailors per school, the Northwest district runs an additional set of races for the rest of the sailors, calling this series a “JV” fleet.
Twenty-two races were run in A and B divisions in this JV fleet as well. Here the top skipper was Maddie Jackson, who dominated the A division with six first place finishes. Nico Papajani also skippered in this division, with a best finish of first. Crews included Lukas Woltjer, Andrew Selzler and Papajani.
The B division was ably skippered mainly by freshman Sean Willerford, who earned a very fine record including five first place finishes and some seconds. The last race was skippered by sophomore Annie Lukins who finished third. Crews in this section included Evan Stewart, Kyle Grosten, and Lukins.
They will likely take the lessons learned from this experience to the other district championship event, which tests skills in team racing for selection of the Northwest representative to the national high school team racing championship, or Baker Regatta. That elimination regatta will be held at Orcas Island May 5-6.
The Baker Regatta is Memorial Day weekend in New Orleans, La.
Tennis readies for the playoffs
The Bainbridge tennis team had a easy go of it against Cleveland Monday, winning 11-0 in a Metro League crossover match.
Becky Gottlieb and Brooke Shorett won their doubles match by forfeit as did Molly Donohue in her singles match.
The rest of the team did their job, as Darton Gibbons won his singles match in straight sets while Taylor Lea and Erik Saksa won their doubles match in straight sets as well.
It was a much closer meet against O’Dea and Holy Names, however.
Molly Donohue, Anna Judson and Hannah Trageser all lost to the Cougars in girls’ singles.
The boys singles didn’t fare much better, with Nash Reijnen losing to JT Hunting in straight sets and number one singles player Spencer Cheng losing to Jerry Ellison 6-4, 6-3.
Both players made great shots, but Cheng felt he didn’t dictate the match the way he wanted to.
“The goal was for me to make him play every point and to try and dictate each point,” Cheng said. “But I didn’t stay in each point as long as I should have. I ended up giving him a lot of free (points) on serves, serve returns.”
It was the doubles teams that came through for the Spartans when they needed it.
On the boys side, the number one doubles team of Gibbons and Erik Saksa defeated Angelo Jimenez and Dan DeRocco 6-0, 7-6 (3), while the number two boys doubles team of Ian Saksa and Dylan Skeffington defeated Pat Blair and Josh Simpson 6-2, 6-3.
The girls doubles team of Jamie Slonaker and Brooke Shorett defeated Kate Blackstone and Simone Heard 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 but Ali Loechl and Gottlieb lost to Jacki Iwanski and Noelle Erikson 1-6, 6-3, 4-6.
The mixed doubles team of Birgitte Gingold and Jesse Colkitt won their match over Megan and Jake Dupuy 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.
With the team score tied at five, Lea and Abraham Abdolhossem went back and forth in a great match before Lea pulled out the win 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (4).
Bainbridge plays O’Dea/Holy Names again this Friday at home at 3:30 p.m. for third place, then the boys host West Valley of Yakima Saturday at 11 a.m. while the girls participate in the North Kitsap Invitational at North Kitsap High at 9 a.m.
