June 1, 2006
CAMDEN, N.J. -- A victory in its repechage race Thursday afternoon qualified the Navy heavyweight crew team's varsity boat for one of Friday's championship semifinal races at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship, being held this week on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J.
Navy's varsity entry posted a time of 5:50.21 to win its repechage, or second chance, race Thursday afternoon. The Mids outdistanced second-place Holy Cross by two seconds and third-place Boston University by three seconds to win the race.
"It was a very nice row," said Navy head coach Rick Clothier of his varsity crew. "We built an open water lead during most of the middle portion of the race, then we stayed under control and kept our pace over the remainder of the course for the victory."
In the repechage round of racing for the varsity eight boats, only the winning boats in each of the three races advanced on to the championship semifinal, with the remaining crews relegated to consolation semifinal races. Those victorious boats will join the first and second-place crews from Thursday morning's trial heats, who by virtue of their trial heat placings advanced past the repechage races and straight into the semifinal round of races.
The Mids, seeded third in its trial heat and 11th in the field, placed third during the heat with a time of 5:50.03. Harvard, seeded third overall, won the race in a time of 5:41.44, while No. 6 Wisconsin posted a time of 5:45.59 to place third, five seconds ahead of the Navy entry.
"We led the race at the 500-meter mark and at 1000 meters we were even with Harvard and had a one seat lead over Wisconsin," said Clothier of the trial heat. "We made some mistakes over the last half of the race, which young crews do, and couldn't hold our place, though."
Also advancing on to a championship semifinal race for Navy on the day was the freshman four boat. After beginning the regatta by placing second in their trial heat, the Mids placed second during their repechage race to move into the Friday's championship round of racing. The first and second-place crews in each freshman four repechage race advanced to a championship semifinal contest.
Navy's freshman eight and varsity four boats will compete Friday in consolation semifinals, while the second varsity eight, the varsity four without coxswain and the varsity pair boats will compete Friday in their respective repechage round of racing.
The championship concludes Saturday.
First Varsity Eight
Trial Heat -- 3rd of 7 -- Harvard, 5:41.44; Wisconsin, 5:45,59; Navy, 5:50.03; George Washington, 5:57.26; Penn, 5:53.86; Columbia, 5:57.76
Repechage Heat -- 1st of 3 -- Navy, 5:50.21; Holy Cross, 5:52.17; Boston Univ., 5:53.27
Friday's Race -- Championship Semifinal
Second Varsity Eight
Trial Heat -- 5th of 6 -- Yale, 5:45.28; Princeton, 5:48.73; Washington, 5:49.2; Michigan, 5:53.76; Navy, 5:56.79; Holy Cross, 6:07.8
Friday's Race -- Repechage Heat
Freshman Eight
Trial Heat -- 4th of 6 -- Penn, 5:54.7; Wisconsin, 5:56.89; Boston Univ., 6:00.45; Navy, 6:05.16; Syracuse, 6:08.6; Dartmouth, 6:11.7
Repechage Heat -- 2nd of 4 -- Georgetown, 5:57.33; Navy, 6:01.66; Michigan, 6:05.55; George Washington, 6:12.17
Friday's Race -- Consolation Semifinal
Varsity Four
Trial Heat -- 6th of 6 -- Wisconsin, 6:29.29; Harvard, 6:34.22; Rutgers 6:42.94; Western Washington, 6:46.6; Delaware, 6:50.62; Navy, 6:54.72
Repechage Heat -- 3rd of 5 -- Harvard, 6:49.09; Washington State, 6:31.33; Navy, 6:46.09; Minnesota, 6:47.86; MIT, 6:55.61
Friday's Race -- Consolation Semifinal
Varsity Four w/o Coxswain
Trial Heat -- 4th of 5 -- Georgia Tech, 6:22.01; Yale, 6:28.48; Cincinnati, 6:32.44; Navy, 6:38.56; Stanford, 6:41.02
Friday's Race -- Repechage Heat
Freshman Four
Trial Heat -- 2nd of 5 -- Princeton, 6:49.72; Navy, 6:55.61; Yale, 6:57.81; Minnesota, 7:11.36; George Washington, 7:35.85
Repechage Heat -- 2nd of 4 -- Rochester, 6:39.58; Navy, 6:43.35; Temple, 6:46.82; MIT, 7:04.06
Friday's Race -- Championship Semifinal
Varsity Pair
Trial Heat -- n/a
Friday's race -- Repechage Heat
