April 6, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Navy women's crew team saw its varsity boat overcome a deficit of three seats midway through the race to record a two-second victory over Iowa, Friday on the opening day of the George Washington Invite on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.

"Iowa went out fast on us and took a lead of several seats by the 1,000-meter mark," said Navy head coach Mike Hughes. "We responded immediately and took a lead of about the same margin with 300 meters left, then extended the lead at the end."

Navy posted a winning time of 6:13.9, while Iowa finished the course with a time of 6:15.7.

"It was a great race by our crew," said Hughes. "They didn't panic and stayed within themselves the entire race."

The varsity eight victory was one of four on the day for the Mids. Also posting wins Friday were Navy's second varsity eight (two seconds), varsity four (two seconds) and novice eight boats (four seconds). Navy's lone setback came when Navy's second varsity four boat lost by 16 seconds to Clemson's first varsity four boat.

The entire Navy program will continue competition at the invite Saturday.

Varsity Eight
Navy, 6:13.9; Iowa, 6:15.7
Second Varsity Eight
Navy, 6:27.0, Iowa, 6:29.8; St. Joseph's, 6:55.2
Varsity Four `A'
Navy, 7:10.8; George Washington, 7:12.5; Georgetown, 7:29.4
Varsity Four `B'
Clemson, 7:14.9; Navy, 7:30.4; St. Joseph's, 7:37.4
Novice Eight
Navy `A', 6:39.4; Iowa, 6:43.1; Navy `B', 7:03.1