CHESTERTOWN, Md. -- Capping a tremendous weekend of sailing on the Chester River in Maryland, the Christopher Newport University sailing team captured a win of The Grant regatta hosted by Washington College (Md.). The Captains finished with 90 points to edge out Penn State University by 11 points for the team victory. 

CNU had a dominant showing in B division, opening the regatta with four straight wins to get out to a lead early. The Captains won B division with 31 points and finished third in A division with 59 total points. Overall, CNU collected six total bullets and 14 finishes among the top three boats in the 24-race event. 

In B division, Josh Bendura sailed with Jon Matney for the hot start and division win over the weekend. After the four straight bullets, Bendura and Matney finished second in the next three and held a five-point lead on Penn State after seven total races. CNU closed the day with a fifth-place effort and the Nittany Lions won the race to pull back within one to end Saturday's action. 

On Sunday, Penn State held onto the lead for two races, but the Captains came through with a timely victory in the 11th race of the regatta in B division. Surging ahead, a seventh place finish in the final race was good enough to seal the B division win. 

In A division sailing, the Captains picked up a win during the first race on Saturday and finished in the top five in the first five. On Sunday, CNU had 15 points over four races to surge up to third place in A division as Aston Atherton and Berend van Der Meer finished with 59 total points. The Captains closed the event just three points behind a two-way tie for the top spot which Columbia won on a tiebreaker over SUNY Maritime. 

With the victory, Christopher Newport qualified for the America Trophy on April 19-20 in New York.