After a merciless battle during districts, the ILS Sailing team proved their worthiness and will be attending Nationals on June 6th to June 8th in Cleveland, Ohio.

Last weekend the team appeared in the District Championship Regatta took place in College of Charleston, South Carolina, where the ambition of the team took off.

Division A was lead by junior Justin Callahan and Division B was led by junior Mitchell Callahan with junior Brianna Ross and sophomore Danny Riano apart of the crew. As weather conditions took a turn down south and the temperature in the 60’s , the team was met with very challenging obstacles

Sophomore Danny Riano stated, “This past regatta was in Charleston, South Carolina, the weather conditions were in the 60s which made things a little more difficult.”

As the team remained sailing smart and consistent, ILS ended off beating all Florida schools as well as other southern eastern states. ILS finished off in 2nd place right behind the Antilles team from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“With a slow start in 4th place for the first few races, I’m happy the team was able to make a comeback and slowly make our way back to 2nd place for the last couple of races, which overall landed us in 2nd place,” said sophomore Holland Ramos.

The SAISA is divided into North and South Divisions. SAISA North represents all northeast Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and northern Alabama. SAISA South represents the remaining of Florida, except the Florida Panhandle. and the Caribbean.

The SAISA Mallory Qualifier combines the best teams from the North and South divisions, and the top three overall finishers will represent SAISA at the Mallory Fleet Racing National Championship.

With a challenging season led by Coach Lior Lavie, the team proved there worthiness to nationals through rigorous training and determination.

The team has made an appearance in Nationals in the past back in 2019, finishing off in 4th place and unfortunately weren’t able to attend the 2020 nationals due to covid. This year the team is determined to win 1st place and be able to bring home that win back to Ils.