NORFOLK, Va. -- Cornell sophomore Gilda Dondona made program history on Sunday, winning the Janet Lutz Trophy as the ICSA Women's Singlehanded National Champion. Dondona dominated the seven-race series hosted by Old Dominion on the Elizabeth River, finishing with 25 points to outpace Brown's Katharine Doble (35) and Harvard's Sophia Montgomery (37) in a national field stacked with past champions and All-Americans.

Dondona opened the regatta with a pair of podium finishes and never looked back, winning four of the seven contested races — including three of the final four — to secure the first-ever singlehanded national title in Cornell sailing history. The two-time MAISA Faye Bennett Champion and 2024 national runner-up now adds a national championship to her growing resume, further cementing her status among the nation's elite collegiate sailors.

In a light and shifty breeze on Saturday, Dondona ended day one atop the leaderboard. Only two races were completed Saturday, with the Big Red sophomore opening with a runner-up finish in race one before winning race two to end the day with three points, one point ahead of defending champion and 2024 Olympian Montgomery of Harvard.

She fell out of first place after a 13th-place effort in the second race on Sunder - her only finish above sixth - but responded with wins the final two times on the water before the event was called in the early afternoon to create distance with the field

The event closed out Cornell's competition in the fall season.