University of Wisconsin tops Mid-Season SailMichigan Collegiate Rankings

At the half-way point in the 2011-2012 academic year, the University of Wisconsin is atop of the SailMichigan rankings of Midwest collegiate sailing teams. Rounding out the top 5 are University of Minnesota, University of Illinois-Chicago, Western Michigan University and the University of Notre Dame. The rankings (seen below) were determined by each team's top 4 finishes out of 15 MCSA-sanctioned regattas. Teams which did not compete in a minimum of 4 evaluated regattas were excluded from the final rankings. To determine the rankings, the best available scores were used from either TechScore (collegesailing.info) or the MCSA (MCSAsail.org).  Scores for the Timme-Angston and Wisco Team Race were provided by Dave Elsmo of the University of Wisconsin. A more thorough description of the criteria used for these rankings can be found in earlier posts.

Final Mid-Season Rankings (Nov. 30, 2011)

Rank	University	Score
1	University of Wisconsin	9.3
2	University of Minnesota	16.3
3	University of Illinois-Chicago	22.9
4	Western Michigan University	26.0
5	University of Notre Dame	26.5
6	Northwestern University	28.6
7	University of Michigan	29.4
8	Michigan State University	31.5
9	Ohio State University	36.7
10	University of Toledo	40.0
11	Purdue University	43.8
12	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	45.9
13	University of Chicago	54.0
14	Marquette University	56.4
15	Miami University	59.5
16	Bowling Green State University	59.6
17	Michigan Technological University	73.4
18	Robert Morris University	75.8
19	Northern Michigan University	76.5
20	Indiana University	96.9

(Other competing teams this season: Dennison University (59.4 for 3 regattas), Hope College (83.1 for 3 regattas), University of Akron (66.1 for 3 regattas), University of Iowa (72.2 for 3 regattas), University of Illinois (67.0 for 2 regattas), Wittenburg University (51.7 for 2 regattas), and John Carroll University, Lake Forest University, and Ohio University with 1 regatta each)

Throughout much of the Fall semester, the University of Wisconsin, University of Minnesota and Western Michigan University have been near the top of the rankings.  Interestingly, Western Michigan's successes have been largely from Michigan based-competitions while University of Wisconsin and Minnesota have enjoyed more broad-based/regional success. As of November 23, the University of Wisconsin sailing team was tied for 15th in the national coach's poll conducted by Sailing World magazine.

Although some MCSA teams may be participating in national bowl action, most teams will be on hiatus through the winter (with a brief reunion at Strictly Sail in Chicago). Regional competition will begin again once the ice has left the lakes in late March.