May 30, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A strong start to the race allowed the second-ranked varsity boat from the Wisconsin heavyweight rowing team to defeat 10th-ranked Navy by a little more than two seconds, Friday morning on the Severn River in Annapolis. With the win in the race, the Badgers maintain possession of the Buck Walsh Cup for the third consecutive season and take a 17-14 advantage in the cup series.

Wisconsin, winners of the recent Eastern Sprints Championship, quickly pulled out to a one-half of a boat length advantage by the 500-meter mark of the course.

"Wisconsin had a spectacular start to the race," said Navy head coach Rick Clothier.

From there, the Wisconsin lead bounced back-and-forth between one-half and three-quarters of a boat length over the next 1,000 meters.

"It was a strong effort by our guys through the middle part of the course," said Clothier. "We couldn't cut into the deficit, but we never lost any ground, either, even though Wisconsin was rowing at a slightly higher rate than we were."

The Badgers would eventually cross the finish line in a winning time of 5:45.56, with the Mids completing the 2,000-meter course with a clocking of 5:47.96.

"We're not happy about losing, but we feel good about our result," said Clothier. "Wisconsin has been beating boats by six seconds or more in most of their regular season races, so to be as close as we were to them today bodes well for our chances next week at the IRA National Championship."

The Badgers would win all but one of the remaining six races contested on the day between the two programs. Navy's lone win was a five-second victory in the varsity four without coxswain contest, with the winning boat comprised of members of the lightweight program.

Navy and Wisconsin will conclude their respective seasons next week when the programs take part in the IRA National Championship, which begins June 5 and runs for three days on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.

First Varsity 8 (Buck Walsh Cup race) -- Wisconsin, 5:45.56; Navy, 5:47.96
Second Varsity 8 -- Wisconsin, 5:56.45; Navy, 6:08.0
Freshman 8 -- Wisconsin, 6:04.41; Navy, 6:10.66
Varsity 4/with coxswain -- Wisconsin, 6:44.0; Navy (lightweights), 6:54.8
Open 4/with coxswain -- Wisconsin, 6:56.9; Navy, 7:20.0
Freshman 4/with coxswain -- Wisconsin, 6:53.65; Navy, 7:08.12
Varsity 4/without coxswain -- Navy (lightweights), 6:31.96; Wisconsin, 6:36.96