Palmer Trinity seventh grader Audrey Roachell beat 227 sailors to win a United States Optimist Dinghy Association event near Fairhope Yacht Club in Alabama, earning a spot on the U.S. team for the 2026 Optimist World Championship. She competed at the event, held June 18–28 in Tangier, Morocco, and hosted by the Royal Yacht Club de Tanger. Individual results have not been published.

Roachell's win put a spotlight on the growing youth sailing scene on Biscayne Bay. Palmer Trinity, located in Palmetto Bay, added its sailing program in 2021 and competes alongside Ransom Everglades, Gulliver Prep and Westminster Christian in weekly Thursday races on the bay.

Originally from Texas, Roachell joined Palmer Trinity in sixth grade. She aspires to 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," Palmer Trinity Head of School Patrick Roberts said in a school statement. "We will be watching with keen interest as she competes internationally."

Durham honored for leadership

Ransom Everglades rising sophomore Cole Durham received an honorable mention for the 2026 USGA-AJGA Presidents' Leadership Award, which recognizes junior golfers who demonstrate leadership, character and community service. Durham is a former Miami Herald All-Dade Boys' Golfer of the Year. Fifteen boys and three girls earned honorable mentions nationally.

St. Thomas Aquinas wins first rowing national title

The St. Thomas Aquinas girls rowing team captured the school's first national championship, winning the Girls Junior 4+ at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Championships at Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with a time of 5:57.41.

The crew: coxswain Hailey Chaiken, Rylan Dudley at bow, Maite Thorndike at 2 seat, Alana Fernandes at 3 seat and Gianna Attento at stroke, coached by Megan McDevitt and Kathlyn Wojtas. According to the team, no Broward County high school had won a gold medal at the SRAA nationals in the past decade.

The Raiders don't train on campus. They row through the Hollywood Rowing Club and do land workouts once a week in the backyard of a Fort Lauderdale Presbyterian church, hauling rowing machines out of a trailer, training for nearly two hours, then packing everything back up. Six days a week, year-round.