The co-ed sailing team edged out rivals Harvard and Dartmouth this June to capture the Dinghy National Championship for the fifth time, also Tufts' 23rd overall sailing title.
With only one race remaining in the A division and Tufts sandwiched in third place, 14 points behind Harvard and just ahead of Dartmouth, senior Laurin Manning was chosen to substitute for sophomore Caroline Hall alongside sophomore Pete Levesque in the Flying Junior (FJ) boat. The new combination of Manning and Levesque grabbed second place, enough to propel the team into first place overall by just one point.
Such substitutions are not uncommon for three-day races, said coach Ken Legler.
"Manning waded through the surf and hopped into the FJ with Levesque, replacing Caroline Hall for the last A division race as our first and only substitution," Legler said. "It worked."
A bit of good fortune a month earlier gave the Jumbos a chance for such dramatics. The team had entered the New England Dinghy Championships at Wheeler Park in Rhode Island in May, poised to win after a strong performance in April. It looked as though the season would end prematurely when a slow start by the A division boats led to a sixth place finish. The result left Tufts out of contention for nationals until Intercollegiate Sailing Association president Mike Horn granted the Jumbos an at-large bid along with three other teams.
Given a second chance, the Jumbos returned to Wheeler Park for the national championships a month later, and avenged the sixth place setback with a national championship that gave coach Ken Legler's team a final ranking of third in the nation.
Tufts got off to a sturdy start on the first day, finishing in a fourth place tie with Georgetown and Charleston. Boston College ended the first day on top of the competition, followed by Harvard in the two spot.
Day two was bumpier for the Jumbos, as strong winds helped knock the team back to 14th place. Led by Levesque and Hall's races in the A division, Tufts surged into fourth place at the end of day three, and set the scene for a wild fourth day.
"One look at the standings on the final morning gave us great concern about the team in fifth: Harvard," Legler said. "They could have easily won."
That concern proved to be a legitimate one, as Harvard ultimately vaulted into the lead by the end of the morning. Eight lead changes took place during the first half of the final day, with Harvard making the strongest charge of any team after three successful races and instigating Manning's substitution.
On the heels of Manning and Levesque's race, seniors Adam Deermont and Lisa Keith finished up the final set of B division races to secure the Jumbos' victory.
The women's team claimed victory in the home-based New England Women's Championships on May 21st and 22nd. The A division races were led by seniors Manning and Jen Provan, while senior Lee Icyda, sophomore AJ Crane, and junior Claire Dooley led the B division races.
The women's team was unable to duplicate the co-ed team's national championship performance one month later. Instead, Tufts settled for fifth place at the national championships, ranking number three overall.
The season also ended strongly on an individual basis for both the co-ed and the women's teams. Seven of the Jumbos were chosen as All-Americans. Deermont and Levesque were chosen as coed all-Americans and Icyda and Provan were selected from the women's team. The Jumbos also added several crew members to the list in seniors Keith, Manning, and Hall.
After a championship spring season, the Tufts sailors will enter the upcoming fall campaign with high expectations. Despite graduating several key athletes last year, the team will once again be in contention for the national title.
"The team will need to figure out how to set a higher standard once again in both performance and sportsmanship," Legler said.
