June 7, 2008

CHERRY HILL, N.J. - The Navy heavyweight rowing team closed its 2008 season with its varsity eight crew placing sixth in the petite final of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship, Saturday on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.

"We were second after about 500 meters, but as the other boats made their pushes we slowly started to fall back behind them," said Navy head coach Rick Clothier. "We rowed a very spirited race and the guys worked hard throughout it, but we just didn't have enough left in our tanks to respond to the moves of our competitors."

Cornell would win the petite final in a time of 5:38.888, with Navy placing sixth in the race (and 12th overall in the field of 24) with a time of 5:53.597.

Navy placed 14th in the varsity division at the 2007 regatta.

Making the most improvement from last year's event was Navy's freshman eight boat. The Navy entry placed fifth in the petite final Saturday for an 11th place showing this year, which is an improvement of four spots from its 15th-place finish at the 2007 championship.

Additionally, Navy boats also placed 12th in the varsity pairs division, 14th in the second varsity flight, 15th among varsity four with coxswain entries and 17th in the freshman four with coxswain division.

Varsity Eight (12th out of 24)
Petite Final - 6th of 6 - Cornell, 5:38.888; Brown, 5:41.764; Yale, 5:42.848; Princeton, 5:44.423; Harvard, 5:45.851; Navy, 5:53.597

Second Varsity Eight (14th out of 22)
Third-Level Final - Yale, 5:53.182; Navy, 5:53.606; Georgetown, 5:58.112; Michigan, 6:00.542; Syracuse, 6:02.046; Holy Cross, 6:10.242

Freshman Eight (11th out of 24)
Petite Final - Stanford, 5:46.967; Wisconsin, 5:49.564; Northeastern, 5:53.644; Syracuse, 5:53.915; Navy, 5:54.897; Yale, 5:59.596

Varsity Four with Coxswain (15th out of 24)
Third-Level Final - Rochester, 6:37.126; Minnesota, 6:39.410; Navy, 6:41.949; Delaware, 6:42.337; Loyola, 6:45.511; St. Thomas, 6:48.043

Freshman Four with Coxswain (17th out of 21)
Third-Level Final - Delaware, 6:48.658; Syracuse, 6:52.424; Brown, 6:52.455; Marietta, 6:56.395; Navy, 6:59.391; Minnesota, 7:09.089

Varsity Pair (12th out of 14)
Petite Final - Loyola Marymount, 7:09.643; Georgetown, 7:14.241; George Washington, 7:17.239; Loyola, 7:19.707; Brown, 7:23.320; Navy, 7:26.034