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Miami Beach’s Burnham holds top spot on U.S. sailing team
by Jim Varsallone
Posted on Saturday, 09.10.11 Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham, 37, of Miami Beach is ranked No. 1 on the U.S. women’s sailing team. She recently returned from Weymouth, England, where her team won a bronze medal in Match Racing at the Pre-Olympic London Prepares Regatta. The regatta is the test event for the 2012 Olympics. One boat per country raced, and the finals used the same race committee, protest committee, judges, etc., as the Olympic Games. The first stage of the U.S. Olympic trials for Match Racing is in October at the Key Biscayne Yacht Club. The top four teams will then compete in the second trials in May in Weymouth, Mass. Growing up in Corpus Christi, Texas, Burnham has been sailing since she was 7. A graduate of Yale University, she trains locally, nationally and internationally. • The National Volleyball League brings its largest event of the year to Miami Beach in conjunction with the Models, Music and Fashion Festival. The event offers the largest NVL prize purse of the year ($100,000) as more than 100 of the nation’s top players will visit South Beach. Nearly all of the top players who competed this summer internationally on the FIVB tour will participate in Miami on Saturday and Sunday. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh, ranked second in the world with Misty May-Treanor, will play for the first time with Jess Gysin; Olympic gold medalist and MVP Phil Dalhausser, ranked second in the world with his longtime partner Todd Rogers, will compete with Cooper City’s Nick Lucena, while Rogers recovers from knee surgery; fifth-ranked Jen Kessy and April Ross are registered along with other internationally top-ranked U.S. teams that are trying to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Also competing: Jake Gibb/ Sean Rosenthal, ranked eighth in the world; Sean Scott/ John Hyden; John Mayer/ Matt Prosser; Ty Loomis/ Mark Williams; Rodrigo Monteiro/ Fred Souza; Joaquin Acosta/ Ty Tramblie; and Brad Keenan/ Billy Allen; Lauren Fendrick/ Brooke Hanson, ranked 10th; Angie Akers/ Nicole Branagh, ranked 15th; Jenny Kropp/ Whitney Pavlik; Lisa Rutledge/ Brittany Hochevar; Jen Snyder/ Christal Engle. The legendary Sinjin Smith will host a free youth clinic at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, before the women’s final, which is 2:30 p.m. The men’s final follows at 4 p.m. The NVL recently signed a national deal with Fox Sports Net, and the show will air Sept. 25. Visit www.thenvl.com. • The Panther/Somerset Judo Club of Pembroke Pines completed its summer circuit with top honors. The season started in Toledo, Ohio, with the USJA/JF Nationals where the team won four gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Next the team traveled to the Doral Country Club & Spa in Miami for the Jr. U.S. Open. The event featured more than 600 athletes from throughout the world. Panther Judo won two gold medals, six silver, four bronze and five honorable mentions. Charles Roche earned the Outstanding Judoka Award. To complete its summer season, the team traveled to the Texas for the Junior Olympics National Championships in Irving, Texas. More than 900 entrants made it one of the most successful Junior Olympic National Championship tournaments in years, including qualifying matches for USA Judo’s Junior World Team. Panther Judo won three gold medals, two silver, two bronze and five honorable mentions. The Miami Herald jvarsallone@MiamiHerald.com
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