Warnock, Lake sail
UH into 2nd

AUSTIN, Texas » As she prepared for her last collegiate sailboat race, Jennifer Warnock turned to skip Bryan Lake and made one request.

"Let's leave it happy," she said.

Warnock won her last race and helped lead Hawaii to a second-place finish at the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Coed Dinghy Championships.

Lake and Warnock won two of four races yesterday, and had the lowest score in the "A" Division, 19 points ahead of second place. It is the third time in four years Lake and Warnock accomplished the feat at the national championships.

"We've worked really well as a team," Lake said. "It takes two to win, and that's why we've consistently beat everybody at nationals."

Hawaii entered the final day of competition 11 points behind Hobart/William Smith, but Lake and Warnock quickly cut the deficit with the first race.

The "A" team caught a strong wind and quickly pulled away, winning the first race by about 10 seconds.

"We had to come out and set the precedent," Johnson said. "Winning the first race by such a big margin is a big confidence boost."

Hawaii was six points out of first place after Luke and Warnock's win, but a foul gave Hobart and William Smith a commanding lead.

On the third of eight races, Hawaii and Hobart's "B" teams were jockeying for position with eventual 12th place Charleston also in the traffic. Charleston called a foul on Hawaii and skip Scott DeCurtis, who took a 720-degree turning penalty.

"I screwed up," DeCurtis said. "I think I lost it for my team. I'm really disappointed, but these things happen."

After taking the penalty, DeCurtis and crew Tinja Anderson-Mitterling fell to the back of the race and could not catch up in DeCurtis' only race of the day. Hawaii finished the set in 16th place while Hobart finished in first.

Hobart extended its lead from eight to 23 points, and went on to with the championship by 38 points, with 197 to Hawaii's 235.

"That set put us in a battle for second place," Hawaii head coach Andy Johnson said.

Hawaii was only three points ahead of Dartmouth for third place, but Lake and Warnock were due up, and the All-Americans were not going to falter.

Hawaii finished nine spots ahead of Dartmouth in the next race, and Lake and Warnock clinched second place with their final win.

"It was a great way to end my college career," Warnock said. "It showed all the hard work and dedication we've had and how we put our lives toward sailing."

After winning its first national championship last year, Johnson was proud of the second- place finish. Hawaii also finished in second place in 2003.

The team took advantage of strong winds similar to those on the island. Winds were usually more than 15 mph, with some gusts around 20 mph and the strongest puff recorded at 27 mph.

"We're from Hawaii, we like it," Lake said. "We always sail in this stuff. The windier the better."

Lake and Warnock did not finish lower than ninth in all 18 races of the championships, winning four. They finished with 82 total points, while the Dartmouth team finished second with 101 points. The tag-team of Lake and Warnock also won its division in 2002 and 2004.

Lake became the second skipper in championship history to win the "A" division three times.

"That's our Michael Jordan and whoever is the female equivalent of Michael Jordan," Johnson said.

Warnock is a five-time All-American and the school's 2005 Jack Bonham award winner. She led Hawaii to the 2001 Women's Sailing National Championship.

"She really put the program on the map with the national championship," Johnson said.

Lake and Warnock have been sailing together for more than a decade, when they were 7- and 8-year-olds racing against each other in San Diego. Lake noticed a girl who kept beating him, and it turned out to be Warnock.

Lake has one more year left, and after finishing her last race Warnock said, "The poor guy has to go find someone else now."

For the past four years, the duo has been inseparable on the water, as Lake refused to sail with another crew.

"I wouldn't go out there with anybody else," Lake said. "I wouldn't have it any other way, either. Even when we're fighting huge winds, and everybody else is tired and getting new crews, we stick together. And now we know who's the fastest in the nation."