Sailing Team Takes the Cascade Athletic Conference Title

The co-ed sailing team won the Cascade Athletic Conference fall regatta on October 5, 2025, sailed on Calder Bay in a north wind that built to 18 knots by the last race. AES finished four points ahead of the second boat. It is the team’s first conference title since 2017.

The races that mattered

AES sailed consistently rather than winning every start. The team placed first, third, second, and first across the four races that were completed. One race was abandoned when the wind dropped below the sailing instructions. Coach Renata Solis kept the same skippers for all four races: Leah Okonkwo in A division and Mateo Ruiz in B division. Both are juniors. Okonkwo is a marine-biology major. Ruiz is in coastal engineering.

The academic floor

The team posts a 3.2 GPA floor and means it. Two sailors sat out this regatta because they were below the floor at the midterm check. They practiced with the club fleet and did not travel. Athletics does not describe that as a punishment in the release. It is the rule the sailors agreed to in September, and it is the same floor the coaches send to faculty who ask.