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MIT Sailing collects academic accolades

Five athletes receive Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association All-Academic honors
MIT's Walter C. Wood '17 Sailing Pavillion
Caption:
MIT's Walter C. Wood '17 Sailing Pavillion
Credits:
Photo: Justin Knight

The MIT Sailing Team had an association-high five athletes receive Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) All-Academic honors, in addition to placing one on the All-Conference Team. The Engineers accounted for one-third of the first team: Andrew Sommer ’13 was a repeat honoree and was joined by Steven Drapcho ’13 and rising senior Iris Xu on the list. Taylor Burfield ’13 and Eben Freeman ’13 earned spots on the second team while rising senior Keren Gu represented the Cardinal and Gray on the All-Conference team.

A total of 19 sailors were voted to the All-Academic Team while 32 more landed on the All-Conference Team. In addition, Tufts University was the only other Division III program to receive an All-Academic Team selection as it earned a second-team placement.

The 2013 ICSA All-Academic Sailing Team recognizes collegiate sailors who have achieved excellence in national and inter-conference competition as well as excelling at the highest academic level for the 2012-13 academic year. A nominated sailor must have a minimum of a 3.5 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale), junior or senior academic standing and they must be a key starter or reserve on a school’s sailing team. MIT has compiled 18 accolades in the six-year history of the award.

A mechanical engineering major, Sommer competed in 16 regattas this past season as a skipper and was named to the All-NEISA Coed Skipper second team for the second time. He finished 12th in the A Division of the ICSA Dinghy National Championship as MIT ranked 14th overall while his sixth-place performance in the A Division of the ICSA Western Semifinal put the Engineers in the championship for the first time since 2008. Sommer was the runner-up in the A Division of the Boston Dinghy Club Challenge Cup and secured third place in the A Division of the Moody Trophy. He clinched fourth place in the A Divisions of the Danmark Trophy and the Hoyt Trophy, which MIT won.

Drapcho competed in 14 regattas as the crew and was named to the All-NEISA Coed Crews second team while majoring in physics. He was selected the NEISA Coed Sailor of the Week after finishing atop the standings of the B Division of the Hoyt Trophy. Drapcho helped the B Division boat finish 12th at the ICSA Dinghy National Championship, captured third place in the B Division of the NEISA Dinghy Championship and finished sixth in the B Division of the ICSA Western Semifinal. Drapcho was the runner-up in the B Divisions of the Danmark Trophy and Erwin Schell Trophy and secured third place in the A Division of the Moody Trophy.

Xu, who is studying computer science and mathematics,  competed in 12 regattas as the crew and was selected to the NEISA All-Women’s Crews second team. She finished 11th in the A Division of the Women’s New England Championship and captured fifth place in the A Division of the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championship. In addition, Xu secured third place in the A Divisions of the Toni Deutsch Regattas, the Yale Women’s Intersectional and the Women’s Intersectional.

In her final season with the team, Burfield competed in 15 regattas as the crew and graduated with degrees in mathematics with computer science, management science and economics. She helped the B Division boat finish 12th at the ICSA Dinghy National Championship and captured sixth place in the B Division 0f the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championship. Burfield ranked eighth in the B Division of the Women’s New England Championship and was the runner-up in the B Divisions of the Hatch Brown Trophy and Victorian Coffee Urn.

Freeman closed out his career with 15 appearances as the crew, capped by contributing to 12th place finishes in the A and B Divisions of the ICSA Dinghy National Championship. He placed sixth in both the A and B Divisions of the ICSA Western Semifinal and ranked 12th in the A Division of the NEISA Dinghy Championship. Freeman won the A Division of the Firefly and FJ Invite, and captured fourth place in the B Division of the Smith Trophy and the C Division of the Boston Dinghy Club Challenge Cup. In June he graduated with a degree in mathematics.

Gu, who is majoring in electrical engineering and computer science in addition to mathematics, competed in seven regattas as the crew. She was the runner-up in the A Division of the FJ Invite, captured third place in the A Divisions of the Toni Deutsch Regatta and Yale Women’s Intersectional, finished fifth in the A Division of the Victorian Coffee Urn, and ranked eighth in the A Division of the Stu Nelson Trophy.
 

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