April 25, 2009
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The varsity boat from the Navy lightweight rowing team posted a five-second victory over Penn Saturday morning on the Severn River to retain possession of the Callow Cup for another year.
The Callow Cup has been awarded to the winner of the annual race between the two varsity boats since 1955. Saturday's victory marked Navy's ninth consecutive win in the series and allowed the Mids to take a 28-26 advantage in the series.
The opening to Saturday's race saw the two boats even with each other until about 250 meters into the dual when the Mids were able to take a lead of as many as four seats over the Quakers. Navy maintained that advantage until the middle part of the course when the Mids slowly started to extend their cushion. Navy would go on to win the race with a time of 6:03.10, with Penn following in a clocking of 6:08.16.
"Penn has a very good crew," said Navy head coach Nick Baker. "This may have been their best race of the year as they displayed their best speed of the season. I see them being a formidable opponent at the Eastern Sprints."
The win in the Callow Cup race was the first of a five-race sweep by the Mids on the day. Navy won the second varsity race by 14 seconds, the first freshman race by five seconds and the second freshman race by 23 seconds. Additionally, Navy entries placed first and second by 25 and 15 seconds, respectively, in the third varsity race.
"Today was a great day for our program," said Baker. "In addition to a great win in the Callow Cup race, our second varsity boat posted a time that was just one second slower than our varsity boat recorded, and today marked the first time this season that our top freshman boat was able to pick up a victory.
"This was exactly the type of day we wanted to have heading into the Eastern Sprints Championship in two weeks. We now need to build upon what we were able to accomplish today in order to be at our best for the Sprints."
The Eastern Sprints Championship will be contested May 10 in Worcester, Mass.
1V (Callow Cup race): Navy, 6:03.10; Penn, 6:08.16
2V: Navy, 6:04.20; Penn, 6:18.34
3V: Navy A, 6:27.90; Navy B, 6:37.20; Penn, 6:52.46
1F: Navy, 6:16.90; Penn, 6:21.52
2F: Navy, 6:26.50; Penn, 6:49.50
