Though they aren’t the most well- known, the sailing team has made its national debut with a victory at Nationals. Competitions were held at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, from May 7-9, 2010. Winning Cathedral’s first national title in sailing, the team received the Mallory Trophy.
This is the sailing team’s second trip to Nationals in two years – the CCHS sailing team won second in 2009.
Those who qualified for Nationals include seniors Judge Ryan, Shelby Hamilton, Erica Parker, and Mallory Schluter; junior Alex Ranum; and sophomores Breanne Baldino, Nevin Snow, and George Ryan.
The competition began on Friday with spring New England weather that was conducive to the competition. However, cold weather and thunderstorms were intermittent throughout Nationals as well.
A total of twenty schools competed in Nationals, and Cathedral Catholic competed in both the A and B division. Judge Ryan placed third in the A division and Nevin Snow placed second in the B division; their placement gave Cathedral Catholic a narrow victory over Point Loma High School by 12 points.
Shelby Hamilton said, “We all have a lot of experience sailing together and we are a close-knit team.”
The team practices regularly at the San Diego Yacht Club with Coach Rob Hallawell. Bre Baldino said, “Our coach has been pretty supportive over the course of this season, and he helped us make it to Nationals.”
In order to qualify for Nationals, the sailing team had to first compete together in regional qualifying meets.
Alex Ranum said, “I have been sailing for twelve years and I wanted to do more sailing, so I joined the CCHS sailing team. I felt like I achieved my job at Nationals by keeping the boat flat and helping Judge Ryan with tactics.”