April 26, 2009

CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Navy boats placed second in each of the three races and in the final team standings at the Patriot League Women's Rowing Championship held Sunday on the Cooper River in Cherry Hills, N.J. Bucknell swept each of the races to win the program's fourth consecutive team points title.

The day began with Bucknell winning the varsity four race by a little less than three seconds and the second varsity race by nearly five seconds. Despite having placed second in both races, however, the Mids could still claim the overall team points title with a victory in the first varsity race.

In that decisive varsity race, the Mids took an early lead over the Bison right at the start before the two entries were back to being even with one another by the 500-meter mark of the course. Both crews took turns attacking one another over the next 500 meters and when the boats reached the midpoint of the race Bucknell held a one-half of a boat length advantage over Navy.

The Bison were able to stretch their margin out to as much as three quarters of a boat length before the Mids started their sprint early due to their deficit. That allowed Navy to winnow the deficit down to one-third of a boat length before Bucknell's closing sprint made the final difference between the boats nearly one full boat length.

Bucknell posted a winning time of 6:46.06 in the race, with Navy following in second place with a clocking of 6:50.21.

"This was a disappointing day," said Navy head coach Mike Hughes. "As it always does, it came down to the varsity race and we had felt pretty good about our chances in it prior to the race."

Though the Mids placed second in each of the three races, Navy boats finished well in front of the remaining entries in each contest. There was a 17-second gap between the second-place Mids and the third-place crew in both the varsity four and second varsity races, as well as a 14-second margin between Navy and the third-place finishing Holy Cross boat in the first varsity race.

Navy will close its season May 17 when the Mids take part in the annual Eastern Sprints Championship.

Patriot League Championship Results
Team Points
Bucknell, 30; Navy, 24; Holy Cross, 16; Colgate, 9; Lehigh, 9

First Varsity
Bucknell, 6:46.06; Navy, 6:50.21; Holy Cross, 7:04.55; Colgate, 7:10.04; Lehigh, 7:24.39

Second Varsity
Bucknell, 6:57.07; Navy, 7:01.95; Holy Cross, 7:18.89; Lehigh, 7:29.35

Varsity Four
Bucknell, 7:45.40; Navy, 7:48.18; Colgate, 8:05.86; Lehigh, 8:21.68; Holy Cross, 8:37.59

Non-Championship Race Results
First Freshman
Bucknell, 7:04.00; Navy, 7:14.23; Holy Cross, 7:57.13

Second Freshman
Bucknell, 7:26.02; Navy, 7:42.69