April 11, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The opening day of the George Washington Invitational saw the varsity boats from Navy's heavyweight and women's rowing teams post narrow victories over their respective opponents Friday on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.

Navy's heavyweight boat completed the 2,000-meter course in a time of 5:55.0 to defeat Gonzaga by exactly five seconds, while the varsity crew from Navy's women's team recorded a 12-second victory over MIT (6:55.9-7:07.6).

"It was our first race of the year, and that showed a little bit," said Navy heavyweight head coach Rick Clothier. "We are glad to have the first one out of the way. We have a veteran crew in the varsity boat and we are looking for their experience to come through for us Saturday."

"Today, we had our best start to a race this spring," said Navy women's head coach Mike Hughes. "We have really been working on that over the last week. The start then led us into having a great race."

The George Washington Invitational will continue all day Saturday with multiple boats from both of Navy's team having the chance to row in a pair of races.

Women's Results
Varsity
Navy, 6:55.9; MIT, 7:07.6
Second Varsity
Navy, 6:57.1; Iowa, 7:02.6
Novice
Iowa, 6:58.8; Navy, 7:06.4

Men's Heavyweight Results
Varsity
Navy, 5:55.0; Gonzaga, 6:00.0
Freshman
Gonzaga, 6:02.6; Navy, 6:04.2