Six Big Green Sailors Earn Ivy League Recognition

Photo by: Rebecca Osowski

Six Big Green Sailors Earn Ivy League Recognition

5/6/2024 3:02:00 PM | Sailing - Open & Women's

Two sailors were named to the All-Ivy First Team while four members of the Big Green were named to the All-Ivy Second Team

By: Rebecca Osowski

HANOVER, N.H. – On Monday afternoon, the Ivy League office announced this year's women's sailing All-Ivy Teams and major award winners, naming six members of the Big Green to All-Ivy teams.

Two Dartmouth women were named to the First All-Ivy team, senior Skipper Maddie Hawkins, and senior Crew Yumi Yoshiyasu.

Hawkins, who has not only cemented herself as a starter for the Big Green, but one of the best sailors to watch in college sailing, has helped the Big Green to immense success on the water this year, as well as put herself in national spotlight, being named to the NEISA Women's Skipper of the Year Watchlist. This season, Hawkins has competed in seven regattas, helping the Big Green to top five finishes in all but two. Most recently, Hawkins competed in the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Open Team and Women's Team National Championships. At the Open Championship, the Big Green finished sixth while the Women's Championship saw the Big Green finish fourth, a huge improvement from last year's eleventh-place finish.

Yoshiyasu, a unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection, has also been dominant on the water this season. In seven regattas this spring, Yoshiyasu led the Big Green to top five finishes in all but two regattas, including a second place, third place, and three fourth place finishes. Similarly to Hawkins, Yoshiyasu has received national recognition, having been named to the All-NEISA First Team Open Crew. Most recently, Yoshiyasu competed at the ICSA Open Team Race National Championship and the Women's Team Race National Championship, helping the Big Green to sixth and fourth-place finishes respectively.

In addition to Hawkins and Yoshiyasu, the Big Green had four women named to the All-Ivy second team, junior Reese Bragg, junior Gray Hemans, sophomore Madeline Koelbel, and junior Sarah Young.

Bragg has sailed in six regattas this spring, oftentimes competing alongside Hawkins and Yoshiyasu. Bragg's best performances of the season came at the Marchiando Team Race hosted by MIT in which Bragg and the Big Green placed second overall with a 13-5 record and at the Thompson Trophy hosted by the Coast Guard Academy in which a 12-7 overall record for the Big Green earned them third place. Last weekend, Bragg also competed at the ICSA Open and Women's Team Race Nationals earing sixth-place and fourth-place finishes.

At three team regattas this season, Hemans has helped the Big Green to all top-five finishes, a 15-6 overall record for third place at the Seahawk Women's Team Race, a 10-6 record for third place at the Dellenbaugh Women's Team Race, and an 11-8 record for fourth place at the ICSA Women's Team Race Nationals.

Koelbel has competed in five team regattas this season, helping the Big Green to all top-five finishes, including third place at the Seahawk, Dellenbaugh, and Yale Women's Team Races, and fourth place finishes at the NEISA Women's Team Race Nationals and the ICSA Women's Team Race Nationals. Koelbel's best record posted was 15-6 at the Seahawk Women's Team Race hosted by St. Mary's at the end of March.

Young, who has competed in most of the same regattas as her teammates that were named to All-Ivy teams, has lost more than six races at one regatta only two times, still posting top five finishes in all five regattas she competed in. In addition to the fourth place finish at the ICSA Women's Team Race Nationals, a bounce back performance from last year's eleventh-place finish, Young helped the Big Green to a fourth place finish at the NEISA Women's Team Race Championship as well, posting a 10-7 overall record.

The Big Green will return to sailing on the Charles River in two weeks for the ICSA Women's Fleet Race and Open Fleet Race National Championship.