GORGE SAILING TEAM MEMBERS Colson Zack, Pierce McAlpine, Audrey Becker, and Leif Bergstrom (left to right) pose with their trophy after taking first at the state regatta Sunday.
GORGE SAILING TEAM MEMBERS Colson Zack, Pierce McAlpine, Audrey Becker, and Leif Bergstrom (left to right) pose with their trophy after taking first at the state regatta Sunday.
Local sailors defended the state title for the Gorge Sailing Team, last weekend, once again taking first place in the Oregon High School Sailing state regatta, held Sunday near the Hood River Marina.
The 2017 state champions are Leif Bergstrom, Audrey Becker, Pierce McAlpine, and Colson Zack of Hood River Valley High School. Bergstrom and Becker were part of the team that took home the prize in 2016 as well.
Of 45 competitors, the Gorge Sailing Team put two teams up on the podium and ended the day with first, third, fourth, seventh, ninth, 10th, and 11th places. The competition from teams throughout the state was fierce, with a team of mixed Portland schools taking second place, Saint Mary’s taking fifth, Oregon Episcopal School sixth, and Newport eighth.
Conditions for the event could not have been better, with a 10-15 knot breeze that held steady through the day. Many spectators claimed that it was some of the closest sailboat racing they had ever watched, said Lars Bergstrom, assistant coach for the Gorge Sailing Team.
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