Bulls win Mendelblatt

Of all the USF sports teams that play at the intercollegiate varsity level, there is only one that does not compete on or near the Tampa campus.

That team, the USF sailing team, has enjoyed considerable success this season away from the spotlight.

This past weekend, the Bulls won the Mendelblatt Regatta, which they hosted Saturday and Sunday. The Bulls scored a total of 30 points, six less than second-place Connecticut College.

Each of the eight entrants fielded an A and a B team in eight races, for a total of 16 races. The scores from each finish – one point for a first-place finish, two for a second-place finish, etc. – were added, and the team with the lowest score won.

The USF A-division team of Garth Reynolds and Ali Deese scored a total of 19 points in their eight races, second behind Connecticut (17). The B-division team, with Genoa Griffin, Claudia Aguado and Amanda Olivier, scored 11 points to place first in the division, and combined with the 19 points from the A team, gave the Bulls the win.

Twelve races were completed Saturday, when winds were light at 5-8 mph from the northeast. The final four races took place Sunday, when the winds picked up to 12-18 mph. There was one constant – the cold temperatures topping out in the upper 50-degree range.

A second team representing USF finished third overall with 61 points. That team consisted of John Hirsch, Mili Protic and Nick Myers in the A division, plus Mike Haase, Amber Cockburn and Erik Dekle in the B division.

Earlier this season, the Bulls were ranked in the top 25 nationally and won the Irish Intersectional at Notre Dame Sept. 8-9, easily defeating the likes of Wisconsin and Cornell.

  • Contact Khari Williams at oraclekhari@yahoo.com