Oct. 2, 2005

Oklahoma, City, Okla. - Navy's heavyweight crew team opened its 2005 fall season by winning the Head of the Oklahoma Regatta by over two seconds, Sunday afternoon in Oklahoma City.

The Mids recorded a time of 12:12.03 over the 4,000-meter course to top second-place Harvard by 2.5 seconds (12:12.58) and third-place Texas by 37 seconds (12:47.18).

The top-six finishers in the main race then advanced to a special 500-meter sprint, with the Mids also edging Harvard for the victory. Navy won the race in a time of 1:23.40, with Harvard finishing eight-tenths of a second behind the Midshipmen (1:24.21).

"It was a great trip," said Navy head coach Rick Clothier. "We raced hard and we raced well, but we know there is a lot of speed left in our boat and we are going to work on finding it was we prepare for the remainder of our fall meets.

"In addition, we were treated so well by everyone associated with the regatta and Oklahoma City University."

Navy will continue its fall season October 15 when the Mids take part in the annual Navy Day Regatta in Philadelphia.

4,000-Meter Main Race (14 entries, single-file racing) 1. Navy, 12:10.03; 2. Harvard, 12:12.58; 3. Texas-A, 12:47.18, 4. Colorado, 12:52.21; 5. Oklahoma City Univ., 13:19.96; 6. Texas-B, 13:35.27

500-Meter Sprint (6 entries, all racing together) 1. Navy, 1:23.40; 2. Harvard, 1:24.21; 3. Colorado, 1:27.90; 4. Oklahoma City Univ., 1:31.71; 5. Texas-A, 1:33.27; 6. Texas-B, 1:36.40