RILEY CUP

NORFOLK, Va. -- Taking on the familiar shifting weather of the Hampton Roads area, the Christopher Newport Captains sailing team looked right at home in the 2025 season debut regatta as they captured a pair of top-ten finishes at the Riley Cup in Norfolk, Virginia.

On Saturday, temps were over 90 degrees with clear skies, affording the fleet an opportunity to race eight A division races and six in B division. On Sunday, a cold front whistled through the area and dropped the temperature 30 degrees. Five more A division races and seven B division races were completed to finish with 13 total in the event. 

CNU captured a seventh place finish with one team and a tenth place showing with their second group. The Captains 2 group notched a sixth-place finish in A division with 94 points while the Captains 1 were led by the B division tandem, finishing in fifth with 80 total points. 

The Captains 1 B division boat was sailed by Grace Watlington and Jon Matney and the duo had a tremendous finish on the first day with the team's lone victory in the final race. They finished in the top ten in 12 of the 13 completed races and started out the event with a second-place finish in the B1 race won by the eventual champions from Navy. 

Their A division teammates, Aston Atherton and Berend Van der Meer captured an eighth place showing with 101 points. The veteran pair weathered the cooler temperatures on Sunday with aplomb, finishing the final three races with a 2-2-3 effort to climb the leaderboard. 

The Captains 2 team were paced by a sixth place finish in A division from Josh Bendura and Hannah Roethel. Their 94-point performance was anchored by a strong first day that included five top-five showings in seven total races. The pair finished with a second-place showing in the sixth race of the event to highlight their overall strong performance. Their B division cohort was Noah Hubbard and Griffin Donahoe, who took 11th place with 128 point. Hubbard and Donahor crossed the line third in the fifth race overall and completed eight top-ten efforts overall. 
 

ILCA South

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Six races were completed on the first day of the ILCA South regatta hosted by the United States Naval Academy, but only one was able to finish on Sunday, resulting in a weather-shortened event. Walter Roou was a part of the 15-sailor fleet that completed seven total races in the regatta. 

Roou finished in 13th place with 90 points.