March 28, 2009
PHILADELPHIA - The Navy women's crew team recorded several solid performances and narrow finishes in opening its spring season at the Murphy Cup on the Schuylkill River on Saturday in Philadelphia.
"Today was a day of close finishes," stated Navy head coach Mike Hughes. "We've had better starts in the past, but we have a good idea of where we stand and what we need to do in order to get faster."
Navy's first varsity eight boat finished second in its heat with a time of 6:50.52, narrowly edged by Fordham's 6:49.71 clocking. The Midshipmen advanced onto the petite finals, where they placed second with a 6:58.78 showing. The host Temple Owls won that race by less than two seconds with a time of 6:56.81.
The Midshipmen had solid performances out of both of their boats in the varsity four races on Saturday. Navy's `A' boat won its heat with a 7:48.94 clocking to top Lafayette by more than 15 seconds and Navy's `B' crew topped its heat with a faster time of 7:42.18. Both boats advanced to the finals, where the `B' squad landed second behind only Bucknell, 7:34.55-7:40.38. Navy's `A' crew soon followed its teammates across the finish line for third place, recording a time of 7:43.81.
In the junior varsity eight competition, Navy earned a spot in the finals by virtue of its second-place time of 7:03.36 in its heat, finishing behind only Trinity's 6:58.21 performance. The Midshipmen came back in the afternoon and claimed third place in the finals with a faster 7:02.05 clocking, trailing only Bucknell (6:53.40) and Trinity (7:01.57).
Navy's novice team had two boats take to the water on Saturday morning. The `A' crew was just edged by Rutgers in its heat by 0.55-second, 7:13.25-7:13.80, and the `B' boat also finished second in its heat with a time of 7:21.99, completing the race only behind Bucknell's 7:02.39 showing.
The Midshipmen (8-2) will return to action next Saturday when they head to Cherry Hill, N.J., to take on George Washington for the Playfair Cup, in addition to Boston University.
Navy at the Murphy Cup - March 28, 2009
First Varsity Eight - Heats: 2nd (6:50.52); Petite Finals: 2nd of 6 boats (6:58.78)
Second Varsity Eight - Heats: 2nd (7:03.36); Finals: 3rd of 6 boats (7:02.05)
Varsity Four - Heats: A - 1st (7:48.94), B - 1st (7:42.18); Finals: B - 2nd (7:40.38), A - 3rd of 6 boats (7:43.81)
Novice Eight - Heats: A - 2nd (7:13.80), B - 2nd (7:21.99)
