ST. MARY’S CITY, Md. — Three weeks into the spring sailing season, and the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Seahawks are riding a wave of dominance, clinching their third consecutive regatta victory at the Washington College Team Race on March 15-16, 2025. The team’s flawless 5-0 run in Chestertown capped a busy weekend that also saw them snag fourth at the Graham Hall Team Race and ninth at the St. Mary’s Women’s Fleet Race, proving their depth and grit on the water.
At Washington College, the Seahawks didn’t just win—they owned the round robin, sweeping every race with a mix of precision and swagger. They delivered two perfect 1-2-3 finishes against Princeton and the host team, leaving no room for doubt. Michigan fell 1-2-4, Fordham crumbled 1-2-6, and Maritime took a 2-3-4 hit. Leading the charge were first-year skipper Joe Marynowski and crew Elise Jones, senior skipper Max Kleha with junior Gina Bonazelli, and sophomore Mats Braaten paired with junior Hattie Rigney—a lineup that clicked like a well-tuned rig. “It’s about trust and timing,” a team spokesperson hinted, reflecting the synergy that’s propelled St. Mary’s to the top.
Over at Annapolis, the Graham Hall Team Race hosted by Navy tested the Seahawks against a stacked 16-team field. They emerged fourth with an 11-4 record, trailing Navy’s commanding 14-1 haul. Georgetown and Harvard, both 13-2, took second and third, with the Hoyas edging out the Crimson in a tiebreaker. St. Mary’s flexed with four 1-2-3 sweeps—Miami, George Washington, Merchant Marine, and Wisconsin couldn’t keep up. Yale, Penn, Old Dominion, and Cornell also bowed to the Seahawks’ relentless pace, with skippers Charlie Anderson, Owen Hennessey, Raam Fox, and Landon Cormie steering the effort, backed by a versatile crew including Fox doubling up, Brooke Bertrand, Henry Haddon, Zoe Hoctor, Emily Shioutakon, and Jane Wright.
Closer to home, the St. Mary’s Women’s Fleet Race saw the Seahawks finish ninth among 18 teams, tallying 207 points against Georgetown’s winning 58. Junior Cho-Cho Williams, with crew Indiana Theurer and Grace-Anne Phillips, sailed Division A to seventh with 99 points, holding steady in a choppy field. In Division B, sophomore Lina Carper and senior Lillian Newman nabbed 10th with 108 points, spiking the scoreboard with a fourth in Race 10B and a fifth in Race 5B—flashes of brilliance in a tough regatta.
St. Mary’s, a sailing powerhouse with a legacy of national titles per its athletics site, is hitting its stride early. The Intercollegiate Sailing Association ranks the Seahawks among the Mid-Atlantic’s elite, and with over 220,000 active members nationwide per ICSA data, the competition’s fierce. Next up, the team splits for Kings Point, Throggs Neck, and Newport News on March 22-23, chasing more hardware at the USMMA Team Race, Admiral Moore Team Race, and Hanbury Trophy. For now, the Seahawks’ perfect streak signals a season that’s just getting started.
