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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jan Harley, Media Pro Int'l, 401-849-0220
U.S.
Olympic Team Trials-Sailing
Hall, Wadlow and Spaulding, Lovell and Ogletree
and Cronin, Filter and Haberland Are Winners
 Portsmouth,
R.I. (February 22, 2004) – Persistence paid off for Kevin Hall (Ventura,
Calif./Bowie, Md.), when his fourth bid for an Olympic slot was a winner in
the Finn class of the US Olympic Team Trials-Sailing being held in Ft.
Lauderdale, Fla. Hall had previously finished eighth at the '92
Olympic Trials in the Finn class, fifth at the ’96 Olympic
Trials in the Laser, and second in the 2000 Olympic Trials in the 49er
class. Undeniably, the fact that Hall only picked up sailing the Finn
within the last year speaks volumes about the talent that has made him a
noteworthy sailor since he won his first world championship in 1986. By
winning the first four races of the Trials, conducted from Lauderdale
Yacht Club, Hall established a commanding lead in the 23-boat Finn fleet.
Over the remaining races, he would cross the finish line first an
additional five times, including the 16th and final race of the
series -- which he did not have to sail. Although Hall picked up a DSQ in
race seven for an on-the-water infraction, he never finished a race out of
the top-four. Heading into today, he had a comfortable 21-point cushion
separating him from his closest competitor, Geoff Ewenson (Annapolis,
Md./Newport, R.I.), and with a third-place finish in the opening race
today, Hall mathematically secured his win of the Trials. The win of the
final race of the series gave him a low score of 26 points, to the 53
points belonging to Ewenson after he placed 4-6 today. Eric Oetgen
(Savannah, Ga.) posted finishes of 1-3 for 55 points to take third
overall, just one point over Bryan Boyd (Edgewater, Md.) who finished 5-8.
Down the coast, light air once more kept the 49er, Tornado and Ynlging
fleets postponed ashore, until when, at the stroke of noon, the flag came
down and all three fleets headed out on Biscayne Bay.
 In
the opening race today for the Yngling fleet, with just four boatlengths
to spare, Carol Cronin (Jamestown, R.I.), Liz Filter (Stevensville, Md.)
and Nancy Haberland (Annapolis, Md.) crossed the finish line first and
secured their place on the USA’s 2004 Olympic Team. That winning finish
made them mathematically unbeatable, and they elected to sit out race 16
as the remaining five teams fought through the last race to determine the
final standings for the fleet. Counting seven points for the DNS (did not
start) in the last race, which they then discarded along with their worst
placing in the series, a fifth in race four, Cronin, Filter and Haberland
won with a low score of 31 points. Hannah Swett (New York,
N.Y./Jamestown, R.I.) with Joan Touchette (Newport, R.I.) and Melissa
Purdy (Tiburon, Calif.) finished 4-3 to retain second overall on 36
points. Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wisc.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe Farms,
Mich.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) kept third place overall after
finishes of 2-4 gave them 38 points. Jody Swanson (Buffalo, N.Y.), Cory
Sertl (Rochester, N.Y.) and Elizabeth Kratzig (Miami Fla./Houston, Texas),
who were tied on points yesterday with Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.), Lee
Icyda (Stuart, Fla.) and Suzy Leech (Annapolis, Md.), prevailed in that
battle. Their win of the final race of the series, combined with a third
in the day’s first race to give them 41 points to the 44 earned by Alison,
Icyda and Leech after placing 5-2 today.
Cronin and Filter have been teammates in the Yngling for three and a half
years, adding Haberland to the mix only a few months ago. To win the
series, held from Key Biscayne Yacht Club, they had to beat two teams that
had won Yngling world championships in 2003: Swett, Touchette and Purdy
won the women’s world championship in Spain, while Alison, Icyda and Leech
won the open world championship in Germany. Not only will Cronin, Filter
and Haberland get to compete in Athens, but they will do so in the event
making its Olympic debut at the 2004 Summer Games.
 The
49er class also saw their champions decided before the final race of the
day. Tim Wadlow (San Diego, Calif.) and Pete Spaulding (Miami, Fla.)
opened the day by winning their 10th race of the series and
followed that with a second place finish. That performance allowed them
to take a DNS (did not sail) score for the final race of the series, which
they then dropped, for a total of 48 points. Dalton Bergan (Seattle,
Wash.) and Zack Maxam (Coronado, Calif.) posted finishes of 2-1-1 to move
back into second overall on 59 points, while Andy Mack (White Salmon,
Wash.) and Adam Lowry (San Francisco, Calif.) dropped back one spot in the
overall standings -- to third -- on 64 points after finishes of 3-3-4.
 After
trading wins yesterday with Lars Guck (Bristol, R.I.) and Jonathan Farrar
(Niantic, Conn.), two-time Olympians John Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and
Charlie Ogletree (Houston, Texas) put the hammer down in today’s first
race, turning a sizeable lead into a win. When Guck and Farrar crossed
the finish line fifth, Lovell and Ogletree became mathematically
unbeatable. Both teams elected to sit out the final race of the series,
and the winners collected 16 net points to the 24 points netted by Guck
and Farrar. Robbie Daniel (Clearwater, Fla.) and Enrique Rodriguez
(Miami, Fla.) placed 3-3 to retain third place overall with 38 points.
The winners of these Trials now become members of the USA’s 2004 Olympic
Sailing Team wich will compete be next August in the Games of the XXVIII
Olympiad in Athens, Greece. For complete results:
www.ussailing.org/olympics/OlympicTrials/2004/.
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