March 28, 2009

PRINCETON, N.J. - The Navy men's lightweight crew team defeated Yale in the second freshmen event, but the Bulldogs edged the Midshipmen in the four other races - including the Eads Johnson Trophy - on Saturday afternoon at Lake Carnegie.

Among the four races in which Yale came away victorious, Navy was behind by less than four seconds in three of them.

"What we are going to take away from this is that we know that our three primary boats - first varsity, second varsity and first freshmen - are all within striking distance of the top programs in the league," stated Navy head coach Nick Baker. "While it was disappointing that we were not a little bit faster, our three-to-four-second splits shows that we are within reach."

Navy's win in the second freshmen race was the largest margin of victory for any event on Saturday afternoon. The Midshipmen finished with a time of 6:38.2, a full 23.0 seconds faster than Yale's 7:01.2 showing.

The Bulldogs were able to claim the Eads Johnson Trophy for the second-straight year by narrowly winning the first varsity race, 6:08.1-6:10.3. Yale edged Navy in the second varsity (6:16.5-6:19.2) and first freshmen (6:27.1-6:30.9) competitions, in addition to an 8.5-second triumph in the third varsity event (6:28.0-6:36.5)

The Midshipmen (0-1) will return to action next Saturday when they back to Lake Carnegie to take on Princeton for the Joseph Murtaugh Cup, in addition to Columbia.

NAVY vs. YALE - March 28, 2009
First Varsity (Eads Johnson Trophy) - Yale 6:08.1, Navy 6:10.3
Second Varsity - Yale 6:16.5, Navy 6:19.2
Third Varsity - Yale 6:28.0, Navy 6:36.5
First Freshmen - Yale 6:27.1, Navy 6:30.9
Second Freshmen - Navy 6:38.2, Yale 7:01.2