March 27, 2010

PRINCETON, N.J. - The Navy women's crew team dropped a hard-fought race against Rutgers to open the spring season on Saturday afternoon at Lake Carnegie in Princeton, N.J. However, the Midshipmen did finish the day with victories in two of the four races.

In the first varsity competition, both teams went back and forth throughout the race before Rutgers made a final push to cross the finish line in 7:04.0, 2.8 seconds ahead of Navy's 7:06.8 clocking.

"It was a great race, one that you really want to come away with the win," stated Navy head coach Mike Hughes. "We were able to take the lead at the start, they came back on us and we came back on them. With 500 meters left in the race, it was even. We made a run and grabbed a little bit of a lead, but they came into us at the end and we couldn't respond."

Navy's second varsity boat produced a stellar 16.2 second victory over Rutgers, 7:13.1-7:29.3. Both of Navy's boat in the varsity four race finished ahead of the Scarlet Knights. Navy's `A' boat completed with a time of 8:01.7, soon followed by the `B' boat's 8:07.8 showing and Rutgers's 8:10.4 performance.

The Midshipmen will return to action next Saturday, April 3, when they head up to Philadelphia to compete in the Murphy Cup Regatta.

NAVY vs. RUTGERS
March 27, 2010 - Princeton, N.J.
1st Varsity Eight - Rutgers 7:04.0, Navy 7:06.8
2nd Varsity Eight - Navy 7:13.1, Rutgers 7:29.3
Varsity Four - Navy `A' 8:01.7, Navy `B' 8:07.8, Rutgers 8:10.4
Novice Eight - Rutgers 7:42.1, Navy `A' 7:48.9, Navy `B' 8:18.2