Following the conclusion of the 2023 College Sailing National Championships, the ICSA has announced the 2023 All-America Team, Open and Women’s Sailor of the Year, Mitch Brindley Crew of the Year, Sportsman of the Year, Inductees to the ICSA Hall of Fame and the winner of the Leonard Fowle Trophy.
2023 Award Winners & Hall of Fame Inductees
- Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year
Carmen Cowles, Yale University 2025 - Everett B Morris College Sailor of the Year
Jack Egan, Yale University 2025 - Robert H Hobbs Sportsman of the Year
Leo Boucher, St. Mary’s College of Maryland 2023 - Mitch Brindley Crew of the Year
Anisha Arcot, Yale University 2023 - Jim Rousmaniere Award for Outstanding Student Leadership
Michelle Lahrkamp, Stanford University 2023 - Meritorious Service
Samuel Blaine Pedlow - Leonard Fowle Trophy for the Best Overall Team
Stanford University
2023 Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year: Carmen Cowles, Yale University, 2025
From Carmen: “I am proud to join an accomplished group of women who have won the Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year Award. Winning this award is a reflection of the hard work that my teammates and I have put in this past year. I’m also very proud to be a part of the current group of highly skilled women sailors across college sailing.”
2023 Everett B. Morris College Sailor of the Year: Jack Egan, Yale University, 2025
Finalists: Robert Bragg Dartmouth College 2023, Lachlain McGrannahan Harvard University 2024
From Jack: “I am extremely grateful to receive College Sailor of the Year. Many of the people who I have looked up to as mentors are previous recipients, so this means a lot to me. I’d like to thank my teammates, coaches, and specifically Catherine Webb and Nathan Sih without whom I couldn’t have achieved this.”
Robert H. Hobbs Sportsman of the Year: Leo Boucher, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 2023
Finalist: Walter Henry, Connecticut College 2023
From Leo: “Very excited to be awarded the sportsman of the year for college sailing. Being able to have such great competitors that I can call friends is something worth cherishing.”
2023 Mitch Brindley Open Crew of the Year: Anisha Arcot, Yale University, 2023
Finalists: Ellie Harned, Stanford University 2026, Abigail Tindall, Stanford University 2023, Catherine Webb, Yale University 2023
This Spring, the ICSA Board at the recommendation of the All-America Committee, voted to establish an ICSA Crew of the Year Award. Charles Higgins said, “While the Everett Morris and Quantum Awards seek to honor outstanding sailors in both Open and Women’s competition, to date there had not been a crew that had been named as a finalist for either award. There has been widespread support for many years over the creation of an award that honors the top crew in a similar manner.”
In the creation of this award, the topic of who it should be named after came up and the intent was to name it after someone who exhibited all of the qualities of a top-level All-American Crew: Exemplary competitive record, Quality of competition in achieving that record, Results achieved with different skippers, Outstanding boat-handling skills, Demonstrated Leadership, Proven ability to improve the results of skippers with whom he/she/them sails.
With those qualities in mind, the committee and board unanimously agreed that this new award should be named after Mitchell Brindley, Class of 1989, Old Dominion University.
During his time at Old Dominion, Mitch was both a team captain and a multi-discipline National Champion. He was named an ICSA Crew All-Star in both his junior and senior seasons. Along with numerous division wins, his career was highlighted with a Sloop National Championship in the fall of 1988, as well as a dominant win in A-division to secure the National Championship in the 1989 Coed Dinghy National Championship for the Henry A. Morss Trophy en route to claiming the Fowle Trophy in the same year.
Mitch later became an Assistant and then Head Coach at Old Dominion, leading the program to 8 National titles, where dozens of crews have earned All-America Crew honors under his tutelage.
Charles continued, “We are pleased to name this award in honor of Mitch Brindley, an individual who represents all of the qualities that a recipient of the ICSA Crew of the Year Award should also share.”
Congratulations to Anisha Arcot on an amazing season and a well deserved win!
From Anisha: “I am overflowing with gratitude to be the first winner of the Mitch Brindley Crew of the Year Award. My teammates have been my greatest source of inspiration these last five years and it certainly wouldn’t have been possible without my Yale family and our amazing coaching staff. Thank you to everyone who made this award possible and supported my college sailing career, including especially my skippers Teddy Nicolosi and Carmen Cowles.”
ICSA Hall of Fame Inductees
The Hall of Fame Committee was made up of: Gail Turluck, Chair (MCSA), Adam Werblow (MAISA), Ken Legler (NEISA), Phil Gordon (NWICSA), Brian Stanford (PCCSC), Dave Herbster (SAISA), Karl Kleinschrodt (SEISA).
James Rousmaniere Award for Outstanding Student Leadership: Michelle Larhkamp ‘23 of Stanford University
From Michelle: “I’m honored to receive the 2023 James Rousmaniere Award for student leadership. It's been a challenging, exciting, and rewarding experience being on the Stanford Sailing team, PCCSC board, and ICSA TIDE task force. On our sailing team, one of our core values is resilience. Over the last few years, we have learned to overcome unprecedented situations and positively grow as a team in those challenging moments. Chris Klevan and Brian Swingly lead Stanford Sailing to success by building a team, and I owe it to them for allowing me to learn to lead as a freshman. Within the PCCSC and ICSA, I’ve had the privilege to learn from role models such as Cori Radtke, Preston Anderson, Mackenzie Berwick, and many individual leaders within the PCCSC and ICSA such as Alison Keenan, Emi Ruth, Izzy Cox, Lily Allen, and Noah Barton. Working alongside them has given me perspective on community impact, conference development, and opportunities for positive change in sailing. College Sailing stretches beyond competition and there is a village working toward positive change within the sport of sailing and being a part of it has allowed me to grow and learn as a leader. I hope to inspire others to see the opportunities to learn from other conferences and teams and work together to make our sport inclusive, accessible, welcoming, and sustainable.”
Meritorious Service: Samuel Blaine Pedlow
From Blaine: “I am humbled and honored to be inducted into the ICSA Hall of Fame as a recipient of the Meritorious Service award. College Sailing has made a lasting impact in my life since my undergraduate years at Berkeley nearly 25 years ago, and I am so appreciative of the friends, colleagues, and experiences that the ICSA has provided. College Sailing provides an unmatched opportunity for young people to participate in our sport, and I am so pleased to have played even the smallest role in helping to promote these opportunities for the next generation of sailors. The list of volunteers honored by this award is impressive and I am inspired by their contributions. I look forward to continuing to be of service to the ICSA and the sport of sailing in the years to come. Thank you for this honor.”
Leonard Fowle Trophy for the Best Overall Team: Stanford University
From Chris Klevan, Head Coach of Stanford University: “I’ve always thought the Fowle Trophy was an apt barometer measuring the team in college sailing with the most quality- the most diversity of talent. If that definition applies to this team, I feel it’s quite remarkable as we are such a small team. To win three nationals and to finish runner up in 3 others, sailing five different drivers and five different crews at those championships on a team of 15 total sailors, shows our depth in ability. But to do this, especially this spring season, sailing a small group of young people, sailing from 9am to 8pm some nights, for eleven straight days, while taking classes and missing school shows something different and absolutely astounding. It shows the strength of character our team possesses, cultivates and emboldens. I could not be more proud of the way this team competed all year, the strides they made as sailors and people and the bonds they built together.”
ICSA All-American Honors
The All-America Selection Committee consists of one representative from each of the seven ICSA Conferences and one additional representative each from MAISA and NEISA.
The All America Selection Committee was made up of: Bill Healy, Chair (NEISA), Rebecca McElvain (NEISA), John Mollicone (NEISA), Isaac Clark (MAISA), Dillon Paiva (MAISA), Geoff Pedrick (MCSA), Emily Shanley-Roberts (MCSA), Chris Klevan (PCCSC), Esteban Forrer (SAISA), Charles Higgins (SEISA).
Honorable Mention All American Crews
Grace Austin, Stanford University 2024
Lydia Brown, Tulane University 2023
Julia Christie,U.S Naval Academy 2024
Gabbi DelBello,Cornell University 2023
Jack Farrell, U.S. Coast Guard Academy 2023
Benjamin Markert, Yale University 2023
Molly Matthews, Roger Williams University 2023
Maaya Prasad, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2022
Andrea Riefkohl-Gonzalez, Tulane University 2024
Meredith Ryan, Yale University 2023
Sara Schumann, Boston College 2025
Ryan Wahba, U.S. Naval Academy 2025
All American Crews
Anisha Arcot, Yale University 2023
Shaanti Choi-Bose, University of Pennsylvania 2024
Izzy Cox, Brown University 2023
Patricia Gerli, Stanford University 2023
Ellie Harned, Stanford University 2026
Kennedy Leehealey, Harvard University 2026
Sarah Moeder, Yale University 2026
Sam Muir, St. Mary’s College of Maryland 2022
Lauren O’Neill, U.S. Coast Guard Academy 2024
Nora Ong, Brown University 2023
Ellie Sekowski, St. Mary’s College of Maryland 2023
Aisling Sullivan, Dartmouth College 2022
Abigail Tindall, Stanford University 2023
Helena Ware, Yale University 2023
Catherine Webb, Yale University 2023
Yumi Yoshiyasu, Dartmouth College 2024
Savannah Young, Brown University 2025
Honorable Mention All American Women’s Skippers
Caroline Bayless, Brown University 2023
Emily Bornarth, U.S. Coast Guard Academy 2024
Eva Blauvelt, U.S. Naval Academy 2025
Cordelia Burn, Harvard University 2025
Sarah Burn, Harvard University 2024
Piper Holthus, Georgetown University 2025
Elizabeth Kaplan, Bowdoin College 2023
Blaire McCarthy, Brown University 2023
Michaela O’Brien, Boston College 2024
Ciara Rodriguez-Horan, Tulane University 2022
All American Women’s Skippers
Carmen Cowles, Yale University 2025
Emma Cowles, Yale University 2025
Hannah Freeman, Stanford University 2024
Bridget Green, Cornell University 2025
Maddie Hawkins, Dartmouth College 2024
Dana Haig, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2022
Michelle Lahrkamp, Stanford University 2023
Vanessa Lahrkamp, Stanford University 2026
Mia Nicolosi, Yale University 2025
Colleen O’Brien, Boston College 2024
Honorable Mention All American Skippers
Stephan Baker, Yale University 2026
Guthrie Braun, Brown University 2026
Sam Bruce, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2024
Mitchell Callahan, Harvard University 2026
Mariner Fagan, Georgetown University 2024
Cameron Giblin, Tulane University 2023
Owen Hennessey, St. Mary’s College of Maryland 2025
Gavin McJones, U.S. Naval Academy 2023
William Michels, Dartmouth College 2025
Teddy Nicolosi, Yale University 2024
Colman Schofield, U.S. Coast Guard Academy 2025
Nathan Smith, U.S. Naval Academy 2026
Daniel Unangst, U.S. Coast Guard Academy 2024
All American Skippers
Leo Boucher, St. Mary’s College of Maryland 2022
Robert Bragg, Dartmouth College 2023
Jordan Bruce, University of Pennsylvania 2024
Justin Callahan, Harvard University 2026
Carmen Cowles, Yale University 2025
Jack Egan, Yale University 2025
Maddie Hawkins, 2024, Dartmouth College
Michelle Lahrkamp, Stanford University 2023
Vanessa Lahrkamp, Stanford University 2024
Lachlain McGranahan, Harvard University 2024
Connor Nelson Brown University 2024
Liam O’Keefe, Brown University 2026
Criteria for Selection to the All-America Sailing Team
The ICSA annually confers All American honors on competitors who demonstrated outstanding performance in competition during the year. In selecting All Americans, the committee considers the competitive record of each candidate. This record consists of each candidate’s individual results in Intersectional competitions and in District and North American Championship competitions, if any.
In determining the quantity and quality of a record, the committee has particular regard for the following factors:
- How the record compares to those of fellow competitors
- The quality of competition in which the record was achieved
- Results achieved competing with different skippers and crews
- Whether the record spans the Fall and/or Spring seasons
- How the record compares to those of All-Americans selected in previous years
The committee does not consider the following factors:
- Candidates’ records in previous years
- Candidates’ records in non-college events
- The diversity of teams and conferences represented
The committee selects All-Americans in the following categories.
- The number indicated are the maximum that may be chosen in a year. The committee is not obligated to select the maximum.
- Up to 18 Coed All-Americans (skippers) and additional Honorable Mentions, together totaling not more than 25
- Up to 14 Women All-American (skippers) and additional Honorable Mentions, together totaling not more than 20
- Up to 20 All-American Crew and additional Honorable Mentions, together totaling not more than 30 with selection based on the following:
- Competitive record, judged in a manner similar to that of a skipper (as above)
- Demonstrated leadership (may consider seniority)
- Demonstrated outstanding body mechanics and boat handling skills
- Proven ability to improve of the results of the skipper(s) with whom he or she sails
Open Team Race National Championship Update:
The College Sailing Open Team Race National Championship results were amended after awards presented. Harvard University withdrew from a race against Brown (race 141) which moved Brown University to third place and Yale University to fourth.