Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Written by Michael Douglas

KIRKLAND QUALIFIES FOR NAT'L SINGLEHANDED CHAMPIONSHIP

MEDFORD - For the second straight year, Tufts University sophomore Zander Kirkland (Warwick, BERMUDA/Tabor Academy) of the Co-ed Sailing team has qualified for the ICSA/Vanguard North American Men's Single-handed Championship, to be held at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida on Nov. 21-23. Kirkland finished fourth at the New England Single-handed Championship this past weekend (Oct. 25-26). The top four finishers at the meet qualified for the national championship.

Kirkland's success at this weekend's regional championship was a testament to consistency. Although he finished first only twice out of the 18 races, he placed in the top ten 16 times, and in the top five 12 times. He finished with a score of 99, just eight points behind Chris Ashley of Brown, and 47 behind regional champion Clay Johnson of Harvard. Tufts senior Joel Hanneman (Houston, TX/Tabor Academy) also finished in the top-10, placing eighth with a score of 165, including four top-five finishes.

In his freshman season last fall, Kirkland finished second at the New England Single-handed championship and went on to finish fourth at the ICSA/Vanguard North American Men's Single-handed Championship, held at Rice University in Houston, Texas (Nov. 8-10, 2002). Kirkland will look to acquire yet another accolade in his young collegiate career when he travels to St. Petersburg to compete in the championship next month (Nov. 21-23).

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