LONG BEACH, Calif. - The University of Hawai`i coed team capped a successful weekend in Southern California by finishing in a tie for first at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Yacht Racing Association Dinghy Championships hosted April 30-May 1 by USC. By finishing as a top two qualifier, the coed team returns for the fifth straight year to the Intercollegiate Sailing Association's Dinghy National Championships, where it will defend its 2004 title.

UH tied USC at the top of the standings with a point total of 112. The two teams were dominant over the weekend with the nearest competitor, third-place Stanford, finishing 38 points off the pace. A total of 40 races, 20 each in A and B divisions, took place in excellent conditions. Sailing for Hawai`i were All-Americans Jennifer Warnock and Bryan Lake, who were tops in the A division with 47 points. Junior Scott DeCurtis, freshman Rebecca Mabardy, junior Matthew Stine, sophomore Cassandra Harris and sophomore Shandy Buckley sailed in the B division.

A week after failing to qualify for the women's nationals for the first time in eight years, UH turned it around this week with the coed team qualifying for both the Dinghy and Team Race National Championships. The coed team had earlier qualified for the Team Race Nationals by finishing second in the PCYRIA Championships on April 29.

The ICSA Team Race National Championships will be held in Austin, Texas from June 5-7, with the Coed Dinghy National Championships held June 8-10. The University of Hawai`i coed team is currently ranked 20th in the nation by Sailing World.

Final Standings A-B-Total
1. USC 49-63-112
Hawai`i 47-65-112
3. Stanford 77-73-150
4. UC Irvine 78-77-155
5. UC Santa Barbara 83-86-169
6. UC San Diego 112-97-209
7. UC Los Angeles 159-144-303
8. UC Berkeley 152-162-314
9. UC Santa Cruz 187-143-330
10. CSU Monterey Bay 151-188-339

-UH-