Hobart and William Smith Colleges

16 July 2015 2 Herons to compete for Team USA in Pan Am Games

Two former William Smith College sailors will compete for Team USA at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. Kathleen Tocke 95 and Caroline Patten 11 will represent the Stars and Stripes when sailing events begin on Sunday, July 12.

Tocke, of Hamburg, N.Y., will race in the Snipe class with Augie Diaz. They qualified for the games by winning the Snipe Trials in San Diego in October. Tocke and Diaz won a silver medal at the 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Tocke is a three-time Snipe North American Champion, a five-time US Snipe National Champion, and has made the US Sailing Team Sperry in an impressive four different classes (49erFX, RS:X, Europe and Snipe) over the last four Olympic cycles.

Tocke graduated from William Smith with a bachelors degree in Asian studies. In addition to being a member of the nationally ranked Hobart and William Smith sailing team, she also competed with the club ice hockey team and club skiing team.

Patten, of Basking Ridge, N.J., will race in the Lightning class with Justin Coplan and Danielle Prior. They qualified for the Games by finishing first among U.S. entries and third overall at the 2015 Lightning Midwinter Championships in St. Petersburg, Fla., in March. The qualifying regatta featured 67 boats from five countries.

A 2011 ICSA Womens Skipper honorable mention All-American, Patten sailing in four consecutive Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Womens Dinghy National Championships during her career at the Colleges. As a junior, Patten and the Herons finished ninth at nationals, which at the time, matched the programs best finish in that regatta. As a first-year, she helped William Smith win the 2008 Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association Championship. As a senior, Patten earned the Ady Symonds 96 Most Valuable Sailing Award and the Marion Harrison Greene 20 Award, the latter is presented to an outstanding senior athlete who has made a significant impact on her team and William Smith athletics. She was also a two-time recipient of the Christine Jurczak 00 Sailing Coachs Award.

Patten graduated from William Smith with a bachelors degree in environmental studies.

The Games opening ceremony is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. tonight in Rogers Center, the home of the Toronto Blue Jays, which has been temporarily renamed Pan Am Ceremonies Venue. The sailing events run through July 19.