May 27, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A late Navy rally was not enough for the Mids to overcome a one-half of a boat length deficit to Wisconsin in the varsity race between the two heavyweight crew programs Sunday morning on the Severn River in Annapolis. The Badgers posted a nine-tenths of a second victory over the Mids in the annual race for the Buck Walsh Trophy.

After an even start to the race by the two boats, the Badgers held a slim one-seat advantage by the 500-meter mark of the course before extending the margin to one-half of a boat length by 1000 meters. The Mids slowly closed on the Wisconsin crew and narrowed the gap down to a little more than one seat with 300 meters remaining until the finish line. The Badgers proceeded to put together a strong final 10 strokes to the race to hold off the Mids and emerge with the narrow victory.

Wisconsin recorded a winning time of 5:40.52 to edge Navy's clocking of 5:41.40 and claim the Buck Walsh Trophy for the second-straight year.

In their most recent contests prior to Sunday, Wisconsin placed third in the grand final of the Eastern Sprints two weeks ago, while Navy placed fifth in the petite final of the championship.

"We feel very good about the improvement in our crew from the Eastern Sprints," said Navy head coach Rick Clothier. "It has been exciting to work with these guys over the last few weeks as they have worked hard to make themselves better. Today showed the progress we have made and we are looking ride the enthusiasm from this result into next week's Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship."

In other races between the two programs Sunday, the Badgers recorded victories in the second varsity (eight seconds) and freshman eight contests (nine seconds), as well as in three of the five smaller boat races.

Both squads will close their respective seasons this coming week at the IRA National Championship, which runs Thursday through Saturday in Camden, N.J.

First Varsity Eight (Buck Walsh Race)
Wisconsin, 5:40.52; Navy, 5:41.40

Second Varsity Eight
Wisconsin, 5:48.93; Navy, 5:56.90

Freshman Eight
Wisconsin, 5:54.67; Navy, 6:03.45

Varsity Four/wo
Navy (lightweights), 6:20.59; Wisconsin, 6:29.55

Varsity Four/with
Wisconsin, 6:32.09; Navy, 6:44.30

Freshman Four/with
Navy, 6:36.63; Wisconsin, 6:42.71

Open Four/with
Wisconsin A, 6:37.84; Wisconsin B; 6:40.75, Navy, 6:48.60

Varsity 2/wo
Wisconsin, 6:51.56; Navy (lightweights), 7:13.07