June 3, 2006

CAMDEN, N.J. -- After holding a slim lead over the first half of the course, the Navy heavyweight crew team's varsity boat placed fifth in the petite final Saturday at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship, which was held on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J. The fifth-place showing in the petite final results in the Mids placing 11th overall in the field of 24 boats.

"We had a small lead up until about the 900-meter mark," said Navy head coach Rick Clothier of today's varsity race. "Northeastern passed us close to the midpoint of the race (1000 meters), then we hung in there as long as we could against the rest of the boats."

Northeastern would win the race in a time of 5:43.61, with Navy completing the course in a time of 5:54.19.

The lone Navy entry to advance to a grand final at the regatta was the varsity four without coxswain boat, which placed sixth in its race Saturday.

In addition to the varsity boat, three additional Navy entries competed in petite finals Saturday. The varsity pair boat won its race by 1.2 seconds over Hobart, while the second varsity boat placed fourth and the freshman four boat placed fifth, respectively, in their races.

Navy's second victory of the day came in the freshman eight division as the Mids posted a time of 6:01.69 to win the third-level final by nearly four seconds over St. Joseph's.

Rounding out the Navy entries at the championship was the varsity four crew, which placed third in its third-level final.

First Varsity Eight -- 11th overall
Petite Final -- 5th of 6 -- Northeastern, 5:43.61; Syracuse, 5:45.41; Wisconsin, 5:45.91; Cornell, 5:48.91; Navy, 5:54.19; Penn, 5:55.75

Second Varsity Eight -- 10th place overall
Petite Final -- 4th of 6 -- Cornell, 5:57.37; California, 5:57.61; Syracuse, 5:59.08; Navy, 6:00.3; Boston Univ., 6:01.11; Princeton, 6:01.52

Freshman Eight -- 13th place overall
Third-Level Final -- 1st of 6 -- Navy, 6:01.69; St. Joseph's, 6:05.42; Syracuse, 6:05.51; Gonzaga, 6:08.62; Rutgers, 6:09.15; MIT, 6:13.23

Varsity Four -- 15th place overall
Consolation Semifinal -- 3rd of 5 -- St. Joseph's, 7:00.17; Delaware, 7:02.43; Navy, 7:02.78; Western Washington, 7:04.96; Cornell, 7:10.63
Third-Level Final -- 3rd of 6 -- Long Beach State, 6:54.53; RIT, 6:55.62; Navy, 6:55.76; St. Joseph's, 6:57.97; MIT, 6:59.37; Delaware, 7:02.13

Varsity Four without Coxswain -- 6th place overall
Grand Final -- 6th of 6 -- Harvard, 6:23.35; Wisconsin, 6:25.95; Georgia Tech, 6:26.94; Lehigh, 6:33; Stanford, 6:40.73; Navy, 6:44.11

Freshman Four -- 11th place overall
Petite Final -- 5th of 6 -- Rochester, 6:50.84; Wisconsin, 6:53.85; Cornell, 6:56.06; Dartmouth, 6:57.96; Navy, 6:59.02; Yale, 7:01.89

Varsity Pair -- 7th place overall
Petite Final -- 1st of 6 -- Navy, 7:06.38; Hobart, 7:07.59; Rochester, 7:12.61; Dartmouth, 7:12.9; Harvard, 7:17.69; Boston Univ., 7:25.86