Summer Notes: Rowing national champs, top sailor, golf honors & results, coaching moves
%20Rylan%20Dudley%20(Bow%20Seat)%20Maite%20Thorndike%20(2%20Seat)%20Gianna%20Attento%20(Stroke%20Seat)%202026.jpeg "The moment just after the St. Thomas Aquinas girls’ junior 4+ rowing team won a national title, a program first.")
A local girls’ rowing team, representing St. Thomas Aquinas High School, made history by winning the Scholastic Rowing Association of America (SRAA) National Championship in the Girls Junior 4+ event.
The champs are Hailey Chaiken (Coxswain, responsible for steering the boat, making race calls and leading the crew.), Rylan Dudley (Bow Seat, her strokes have the greatest effect on steering, requiring exceptional timing and boat control), Maite Thorndike (2 Seat, the “engine room” of the boat, demanding tremendous power and strength), Alana Fernandes (3 Seat, the “engine room” of the boat, demanding tremendous power and strength) and Gianna Attento (Stroke Seat, sets the rhythm and pace for the entire crew).
The coaches are Megan McDevitt and Kathlyn Wojtas.
This marked the first rowing national title in the school’s history.
Rowing is not a traditional high school sports program at St. Thomas Aquinas. While the athletes compete for St. Thomas Aquinas, they do not train on campus. Instead, they train through the Hollywood Rowing Club, a nonprofit organization that relies heavily on community support and volunteer efforts.
For land training, the team practices once a week in the backyard of a Presbyterian church in Fort Lauderdale, which generously allows them to store their rowing machines (ergs) in a trailer on the property. The athletes unload the equipment, complete nearly two hours of training and then pack everything away when practice is finished. To build endurance, they also run through nearby neighborhoods as part of their conditioning program.
Overall, the team trains six days a week, year-round, regardless of weather conditions. Their success is the result of countless hours of dedication, the commitment of their parents, the support of donors, and the guidance of their coaches.
The program qualified two boats for those 2026 SRAA National Championships at Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
• Girls Junior 4x - Semifinalists - Grace Miner, Olivia Hickey, Lucia Magilligan, Emma Yeager..
• Girls Junior 4+ - National Champions (5:57.41) - Hailey Chaiken, Rylan Dudley, Maite Thorndike, Alana Fernandes, Gianna Attento.
According to the team, no Broward County high school has won a gold medal at the SRAA National Championships in the past decade.
These young women have demonstrated that determination, teamwork and community support can overcome limited resources and create champions.
Sailing
Palmer Trinity School seventh grader Audrey Roachell placed first of 228 sailors at an event under the auspices of the United States Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) near the Fairhope Yacht Club (FYC) in Fairhope, Alabama.
A small, single-handed sailing dinghy, the Optimist, or Opti, is for use by young people up to age 15.
The USODA is the national-class organization for Optimist sailing in the nation, and Roachell has qualified to represent the United States at the 2026 Optimist World Championship in Tangier, Morocco.
Originally from Texas, Roachell joined the Palmer Trinity community in sixth grade and is recognized for excelling both academically and in sailing. Her aspiration is to one day compete at the Olympic level.
“Audrey’s accomplishment is a testament to her extensive training and preparation to be able to compete at this level,” said Head of School Patrick Roberts. “We will be watching with keen interest as she competes internationally.”
Golf award
The American Junior Golf Association and the United States Golf Association (USGA) are pleased to announce the 2026 Honorable Mentions for the USGA-AJGA Presidents’ Leadership Award, and Miami’s Cole Durham is one of them.
These junior golfers have displayed dedication to working hard on and off the golf course. Their diligent efforts have made an impact on their communities, and the USGA-AJGA wants to recognize them for their hard work.
The USGA-AJGA Presidents’ Leadership Award was created to recognize male and female junior golfers who demonstrate leadership, character and community service through their involvement with the Leadership Links program – a joint initiative founded by the USGA and AJGA in 2005 to further develop junior golfers through volunteerism and philanthropy.
Fifteen boys and three girls were honorable mention selections, including Durham.
Durham, a Miami Herald All-Dade Boys’ Golfer of the Year, will be a sophomore in the fall at Ransom Everglades High School.
Golf event
The fifth season of Steph Curry’s UNDERRATED Golf Tour officially kicked off its U.S. season at Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville.
Following three days of competition, Lucas Gimenez of Jacksonville claimed the boys’ division title at 5-under par, while Ashley Shaw of Litchfield Park, Arizona captured the girls’ division title at 1-under.
As the first U.S. stop of the five-stop tour, UNDERRATED Golf welcomed new and returning golfers and their families to Gainesville with a welcome dinner and University of Florida golf panel. Led by head men’s golf coach J.C. Deacon and featuring members of the Gators’ support staff, including the program’s nutritionist, recruiting coordinator and a former student-athlete, the discussion provided junior golfers with an inside look at collegiate golf.
During Tuesday’s practice round, members of the Woodland Park Boys & Girls Club joined U.S. Ambassador Will Lowery for a day of mentorship, learning more about golf and hearing firsthand how the tour has impacted participants on and off the course.
Tuesday evening’s panel featured Olympian and world champion heptathlete Anna Hall alongside Zac Brust, Bria Janelle and Derek Russell, who discussed how sports can open doors to careers in entrepreneurship, marketing, corporate partnerships, community impact and beyond.
Locals who competed/participated included: Boca Raton’s Bento Assis (Coral Springs Charter); North Miami Beach’s Kalani Centeno-Glenn (Florida Christian School), Miami’s Danielle Hernandez (Palmer Trinity School), Boca Raton’s Gabe Holtz (Pembroke Pines Somerset Academy) and Lauderhill’s Patrick Pinkey Jr. (Archbishop McCarthy).
Holtz tied for second at 2-under par. Pinkney Jr. tied for fifth at even par. Assis and Centero-Glenn tied for 17th at 7-over par.
UNDERRATED Golf, established by NBA star and entrepreneur Stephen Curry in 2022, is a purpose-driven platform committed to expanding equity, access and opportunity in the game of golf for student-athletes from underrepresented communities and female players.
Inspired by Curry’s own journey as an overlooked athlete, the initiative celebrates the underdog while working to level the playing field in a sport where opportunity has historically been limited. Through a competitive junior golf tour, mentorship programming and career development initiatives, UNDERRATED Golf provides talented young golfers with a national stage to gain exposure, build meaningful connections and unlock pathways to success on and off the course.
For more information, visit www.underrated.golf
Basketball coach
Miami Beach High School hired Oliver Berens as its new boys’ basketball coach.
Berens did a tremendous job, leading the girls’ team at St. Thomas Aquinas High School to four consecutive FHSAA state titles (2021-24), before taking time off the past two seasons.
A former Miami Herald All-Broward Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year, Berens tied for the third-longest championship streak in Florida girls’ basketball history and the second-longest by a Broward County school.
Volleyball coach
Lee Ann Niesel Gasbarro is the new volleyball coach at Western High School in Davie.
Gasbarro is a dedicated educator with more than 22 years of experience in coaching, teaching, leadership, and supporting student athletes in their academic and personal developments.
A 1995 FHSAA state champions volleyball player with St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Gasbarro competed in softball and volleyball at Nova Southeastern University in Davie. She later coached volleyball at Nova High School and started the Wildfire Volleyball Club. Her teams have achieved success on the local, state, region and national levels.
Send sports results
If you have summer sports results (with stats) on high school-aged athletes or middle school-aged athletes -- who are from Broward or Miami-Dade counties -- email hssports@miamiherald.com.
They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. You will be alerted when it will appear.
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Compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 2:16 PM.
