May 10, 2009
WORCESTER, Mass. - Four Navy men's lightweight crew boats finished among the top four in the grand final - including a pair of second-place times - on Sunday to highlight its performance at the Eastern Sprints Championship at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.
As a team, the Midshipmen racked up 25 points in the Jope Cup standings to tie for fifth with Georgetown. Harvard narrowly claimed the hardware with 33 points, followed by Yale and Princeton's 31 points and Cornell's 28 points.
The third-seeded Navy first varsity crew earned a spot in the grand final courtesy of its second-place time of 5:52.190 in its morning heat, only 1.159 seconds behind second-seeded Harvard. In the final event of the afternoon, the Midshipmen finished fourth with a 5:48.538 clocking, which was 1.462 seconds ahead of Yale, who defeated the Mids back in the spring season opener on March 28.
"We had the goal coming into the first varsity race of winning and we were second most of the way in the final," stated Navy head coach Nick Baker. "We went out and gave ourselves everything we had, but that unfortunately allowed Georgetown come in at the every end and nip us for third place. It was good to beat Yale across the finish line and it shows how tightly packed the boats are."
The second varsity boat for the Midshipmen came just shy of winning the grand final race for the third-consecutive year. Top-seeded Yale won the event with a time of 5:54.917, followed by Navy's second-place time of 5:58.580. The Mids earned a spot in the grand final by virtue of their first-place clocking of 6:01.418 during their morning heat.
"The second varsity crew was the highlight of the day, as they came from behind twice today," said Baker. "The boat showed a lot of determination. We were last off the line in the morning heat, but got back to second and passed Cornell at the very end. We were trailing in the grand final, but came from behind to pass Harvard right before the finish line."
Navy's second freshmen crew, just like its second varsity boat, nearly produced a first-place finish in the grand final. After winning their morning heat by more than nine seconds, the Midshipmen were edged by top-seeded Cornell by 2.138 seconds, 6:18.602-6:20.740.
The Mids also came in fourth place during the grand final of the third varsity race, followed by a second-place time in the third varsity petite final to land eighth overall.
The Midshipmen will conclude their season when they head to the IRA National Championship on June 6 in Sacramento, Calif.
Navy at the Eastern Sprints Championship
• Heats •
First Varsity - Harvard 5:51.031, Navy 5:52.190, Cornell 5:52.512, Penn 5:58.333, MIT 6:06.339
Second Varsity - Navy 6:01.418, Cornell 6:02.059, Georgetown 6:10.014, Columbia 6:12.575
Third Varsity - Cornell 6:08.433, Navy 6:12.141, Penn 6:32.126, Georgetown 6:55.515
First Freshmen - Cornell 6:04.458, Princeton 6:06.696, Georgetown 6:09.831, Navy 6:12.158, Penn 6:16.322
Second Freshmen - Navy 6:19.374, Harvard 6:28.468, Penn 6:49.367, Dartmouth 6:57.461
• Finals •
First Varsity (Grand) - Princeton 5:41.433, Harvard 5:43.990, Georgetown 5:48.394, Navy 5:48.538, Yale 5:50.000, Cornell 5:50.117
Second Varsity (Grand) - Yale 5:54.917, Navy 5:58.580, Harvard 5:59.002, Cornell 6:01.288, Princeton 6:02.344, Georgetown 6:03.905
Third Varsity (Grand) - Harvard 6:07.190, Cornell 6:10.712, Yale 6:10.758, Navy 6:13.430, Princeton 6:24.694, Penn 6:33.846
First Freshmen (Petite) - Columbia 6:25.148, Navy 6:31.914, Penn 6:32.164, MIT 6:32.861
Second Freshmen (Grand) - Cornell 6:18.602, Navy 6:20.740, Harvard 6:31.275, Georgetown 6:37.307, Yale 6:51.079, Penn 6:53.154
• Jope Cup Standings •
1. Harvard - 33
2. Yale - 31
2. Princeton - 31
4. Cornell - 28
5. Navy - 25
5. Georgetown - 25
7. Dartmouth - 15
7. Columbia - 15
9. Penn - 11
10. MIT - 5
