BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Sailing team qualified for the ICSA/APS Team Racing National Championship this past weekend as part of a strong weekend of competition.
 
At the New England Team Race Championship/Fowle Trophy, hosted by Connecticut College, the Hawks finished in second place to punch their ticket to team race nationals. Roger Williams got off to a fine start in the opening round robin, posting an 8-3 record with wins over Bowdoin, Brown, Boston University, Dartmouth, Connecticut College, Harvard, MIT, and Tufts. In the second round robin, the Hawks continued their winning way with a 5-2 record. RWU claimed wins over Boston College, Harvard, Dartmouth, Connecticut College, MIT, and Bowdoin. With a 13-5 overall record, the team firmly secured their place at nationals. Racing for Roger Williams were Mackenzie Bryan (Christiansted, USVI), Jennifer Agell (Huntington, N.Y.), Martim Anderson (Lisbon, Portugal), Rebecca Anderson (Northport, N.Y.), Conner Harding (Naples, Fla.), and Michael McBrien (East Patchogue, N.Y.).
 
At the Coast Guard J70 Open, Roger Williams earned their second runner-up finish of the weekend, taking second of the eight-team field. Alden Crowe (Summerland, Calif.), Henry Stames (Duxbury, Mass.), Riley Read (Portland, Ore.), and Paul de Souza (Nassau, Bahamas) all sailed for Roger Williams in the single-division regatta. They would finish fourth or better in every race, notching two wins and four second-place showings.
 
At the Mystic Lake Team Race, hosted by Tufts, the Hawks finished in fourth place. RWU began the weekend going 7-2 with wins over Brown, Boston University, Coast Guard, Harvard, Northeastern, and both Tufts teams to advance to the top six. In the next round, the Hawks did not fare as well as the opening round robin. The team earned one win against Rhode Island in their five races. Spencer Cartwright (Nassau, Bahamas), Emily Gildea (Palos Park, Ill.), Edward Lebens (Oyster Bay, N.Y.), Kylie Freitas (Escondido, Calif.), Preston Duclos (Westport, Mass.), Rachel Holick (Lawrence, N.J.), and Peter Neal (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) all sailed for RWU on the weekend.
 
At the Emily Wick Trophy, hosted by Yale, the Hawks finished in 13^th place. At A Division, Kelsey Shakin (Boston, Mass.) and Megan Roach (Newport Beach, Calif.) took 14^th place via tiebreaker with Tufts. They earned three finishes in the top ten including a high of fourth in the first race. Janel DeCurtis (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and Ariana Smaldone (Tiverton, R.I.) finished in 11^th place for RWU after logging five top-nine races including a sixth-place finish.