The Hobart and William Smith Colleges sailing team turned in a pair of strong performances at the MAISA fall championships this weekend. HWS won the MAISA Match Race Championship in Kings Point, N.Y., to claim its 16th conference championship. Heron sailors finished third in the MAISA Women's Fall Championship.
 
Juniors Greiner Hobbs and Noah Barrengos, senior Sam Hallowell, and first-year Maya Weber helped the Colleges claim their first MAISA Match Race Championship over the weekend. Dealing with heavy winds that ranged between 18-30 knots, crews were able to compete one round robin and the semifinal knockout round before racing was called at 6:02 p.m. on Sunday evening.
 
HWS advanced to the semifinals in third place after finishing the round robin with a 5-2 overall record. The round robin saw one of the more exciting finishes for the Colleges. In HWS' head-to-head race with Merchant Marine, the Colleges were edged by the Mariners in the final 25 meters.
 
On Sunday, the semifinals started at 4:30 p.m. HWS was paired up against Fordham. The Colleges beat the Rams 2-0 to secure a spot in the final. It was the first time this season that HWS defeated Fordham head-to-head. In the other semifinal, Georgetown beat Merchant Marine 2-0 to claim the other final spot. Prior to the semifinals, the regatta committee called for the last race to start at 6:02 p.m., sunset. Because the second Georgetown Merchant Marine race was not completed by 6:02, the championship was awarded to HWS due to tie-breaking procedures. The Colleges had defeated the Hoyas 2-0 in the round robin. Merchant Marine was awarded third place because they defeated Fordham in the round robin. Both HWS and Georgetown advance to the ICSA Match Race National Championships Nov. 18-20 in San Diego. This is the first time that the Colleges have advanced to the match race national championship since the 2003-04 season.
 
In Norfolk, Va., William Smith finished third out of 17 teams at the MAISA Women's Fall Championship. The Herons finished the weekend with 59 points, nine behind second place Georgetown and 12 points behind first place St. Mary's College (Md.). William Smith also dealt with high winds that completely wiped out Saturday's racing. On Sunday, winds topped out at 17 knots but six races were completed. In A Division, sophomore Bailey Carter and first-year Emily Lorimer posted a third place finish. They claimed two victories and five top three finishes. The Herons also captured third place in B Division. Senior Christine Moloney and first-year Kate Cox finished with 31 points, four points out of first place. They posted four top-five finishes, including a second in the second race.
 
The Colleges were also in action at the Hoyt Trophy in Providence, R.I. HWS finished in 14th place out of 18 teams. In B Division, first-years Pierre Thibodeau and Jessica Lietz, and sophomores Russell Merchant and Kate Homet finished tied with Coast Guard for 10th place. The Bears were awarded 10th due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. Thibodeau sailed with Lietz in races 1-6, claiming two top-10 finishes, Merchant in races 7-8, posting a fourth place finish in race eight, and Homet in races 9-13, finishing in the top-10 three times. In A Division, sophomore Charlie Miller, Homet and Merchant finished 13th with 132 points. They had six top-10 finishes, including two second places.
 
The Colleges will be back on the water next weekend, Oct. 29-30 when they travel to St. Mary's City, Md., for the War Memorial Regatta.