Sending Senior Sailors of NWISA Off To Exciting New Adventures
As is true for student athletes in any high school sport, senior year is steeped in tradition for sailors around the Pacific Northwest. Each team has their own way of saying goodbye to those who are graduating and moving on to new adventures. For me, it meant recognition for my skipper and I at our end-of-season celebration with our friends and family, a handshake from my coach at my last regatta and, of course, the “senior splash” courtesy of my teammates. The “splash” tradition entails picking the seniors up, carrying them to the high section of the dock at Sail Sand Point (SSP), and pitching them into the water below (often fully clothed) at their last SSP regatta. I obviously would never condone this behavior due to the boldly printed NO SWIMMING signs…
But this year, the the spring sailing season has been canceled. Outgoing seniors of the Northwest Interscholastic Sailing Association (NWISA) aren’t getting their victory lap around the buoys. They don’t have the opportunity to feel the warmth of community recognition in the typical ways. Thus, we will honor their commitment to their programs and personal progress and on the water in a different fashion.
48° North has teamed up with local coaches to congratulate senior sailors around the region, and to showcase the future generation of the sport of sailing. Although we can’t present them with flowers at a banquet, shake their hands, or toss them into Lake Washington; we want these sailors to know that all of us in the sailing community of the Pacific Northwest are proud of what they’ve accomplished and can’t wait to see what their futures hold.
In this first installment, we will recognize the Oregon-based sailors affiliated with Willamette Sailing Club. Willamette Sailing Club is a community sailing program in Portland, Oregon, and their high school sailing team draws sailors from around the area.
A Personal Note from Willamette Sailing Club Interim Head Coach, Drew Ehlers:
To all of my senior sailors, I wish you the very best in your future sailing and life adventures. You are not only role models for your team, but you are role models of all Northwest sailing. Each and every one of you brings great energy to every practice, regatta, and event we go to. You always fill my E-tank (emotional energy tank).
As your coach, I am so proud of the group of sailors I have gotten to know over the years. You are not only role models to those around you, but incredibly kind and caring people. Sailing is about sportsmanship before competition and is something that you all have grown to understand and embody, which is all I could ask for as your coach. As you all embark towards new horizons I know two things: you will always find sailing in your lives, and you will lift the sport to its very highest standard of kindness. You all have a Corinthian spirit!
Cyrian Le Breton
High School:
Lincoln High School
Where are you going/sailing next?
Probably in British Columbia
What drew you to the sport of sailing?
I spent a lot of time on a boat when I was a kid with my parents who brought me around the world on a sailboat.
Ellia Baldwin
High School:
Northwest Academy
Where are you going/sailing next?
Hopefully I’ll be sailing across the Atlantic.
What drew you to the sport of sailing?
Curiosity drew me to the sport, and after feeling the excitement and freeness of being on a sailboat I will always return to it.
Casey Pickett
High School:
Lincoln High School
Where are you going/sailing next?
I am planning on sailing in college for the Cal Poly sailing team.
What drew you to the sport of sailing?
I first got introduced to sailing at a summer camp at the Willamette Sailing Club. I didn’t know that sailboat racing even existed as a sport until I wanted to find a way out of playing soccer in third grade. My parents told me I needed to pick a new sport if I wanted to quit soccer and so I asked if I could just sail year round. They didn’t believe there would be such an opportunity, but, to at least humor my suggestion, my mom called WSC and was surprised to find out that there was a youth sailing team! I soon felt at home in the sailing community and loved the attributes that make sailing such a unique sport. I still enjoy how every day brings a different set of challenges and that racing sailboats has taken me to the most amazing and beautiful places in the world.
Mikaela Lee
High School:
Lake Oswego High School
Where are you going/sailing next?
I am going to Oregon State University Honors College to study animal sciences and will likely join the sailing team there.
What drew you to the sport of Sailing?
I became interested in sailing the summer of 2014 when my family and my dad’s friend’s family went on a sailing trip in Croatia. I loved being out on the water so much that I had to do it again. When I found that Willamette Sailing Club had “learn to sail” programs and a high school team, I got involved and and have been sailing ever since.
Sam Hopper
High School:
Westview High School
Where are you going/sailing next?
I don’t know where I’m going yet but wherever it is I’ll be sailing!
What drew you to the sport of sailing?
My dad is what got me into sailing. I’ve been doing it since before I can remember.
Megan Waller
High School:
Oregon Episcopal School (OES)
Where are you going/sailing next?
Hopefully sailing at College of Charleston!
What drew you to the sport of sailing?
The community aspect and how sailing is both a mental and physical sport! I have been able to travel and make friends from all over the PNW which I would have never done otherwise.
