The Immaculata La Salle Sailing team has done it again and are on their way to nationals for the 3rd year in a row.

This past weekend, the top seven teams from SAISA-North and the top seven teams from SAISA-South (division that covers high schools from North Carolina to the Caribbean) gathered and competed at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg . 

The weekend had waves of unpredictable weather but for the most part winds varied from 12-14 knots.

On day one of racing, senior Mitchell Callahan and junior Caroline Caudron, who alternated with senior Brianna Ross, got the day kicked off in A division. After a bit of a rocky start, the two were able to end the day in 3rd for the division.

Division B sailors included senior Justin Callahan and junior Danny Riano. The two had a close to perfect day of racing and finished in 1st place for all but one race. 

Justin Callahan has been off the waters for most of the season after suffering a shoulder injury at last year’s nationals. Callahan’s performance was unmatched by any skipper at this regatta and was exceptional, especially for someone who recently recovered from a sailor’s most crucial tool being impaired. 

“It took a lot of hard work and a lot of doctor’s appointments to get to where I am today with my shoulder. I’m very proud of the team and I know that as long as we continue to put in the work, we have a really good shot at winning nationals,” said senior Justin Callahan

Conditions were stable until 3:30 when thunderstorms came through and forced the day to be cut short at race 8A. 

Immaculata La Salle finished the day in the lead with 47 points followed up by St. Thomas Aquinas with 51 points. 

Day two of races began with cloudy skies and light rainfall. By around 11 am, clouds began to disappear and the sun began to shine through. Wind conditions were very light with 5-8 knots coming from the south. 

Mitchell Callahan and Ross continued to finish in the top 5 for A division, and Justin Callahan and Riano continued to finish in 1st place for B division.

ILS finished the regatta with just 78 total points and had a 35-point lead over 2nd place. The talk of the regatta was the performance of La Salle’s B-division which dominated the event with only 14 total points in 12 races winning 10 of the races and 2 second-place finishes. This consistency at the highest level of competition is unprecedented.

After sedulous efforts and a very hardworking season, the ILS Sailing team proved their worthiness and will be attending Nationals in early June in San Diego, California.