June 5, 2010

CAMDEN, N.J. - The Navy men's heavyweight varsity eight crew took first in the third level final to finish 13th overall at the IRA National Championship Saturday on the Cooper River.

"It was an exciting day for the Naval Academy, particularly for our first varsity heavyweights," said Navy head coach Rick Clothier. "On actual speed, we were the 10th fastest boat on the day. I was excited to see our guys finish up strong. We beat two crews in Stanford, which took third a year ago, and Wisconsin, which won the regatta two years ago, that we haven't topped in a long while."

The Midshipmen improved upon last year's 14th-place showing by crossing the finish with a time of 5:39.5 - the 10th-fastest showing overall on the afternoon.

Navy posted a clocking that was 2.6 seconds ahead of runner-up Stanford, who came into the week ranked one spot ahead of the Mids at No. 12.

Navy would also finish in front of third-place Wisconsin (5:43.7), who entered the week as the field's No. 6 seed, Penn (5:45.4), Oregon State (5:47.7) and Jacksonville (6:02.5).

Navy's second varsity eight boat placed second among the three squads in the third level final with a time of 5:54.01. The effort meant that the Mids would finish the competition exactly where they came in seeded - 14th of the 15 boats vying for the Kennedy Challenge cup

In the petite finals of the heavyweight freshman eight, Navy placed fourth in 5:49.23 in a race won by Boston University (5:44.50). The Mids finished just 0.85 seconds behind third-place Wisconsin and 1.78 seconds off the pace set by second-place Brown. The finish capped a strong showing for the first-year Navy rowers, who came into the regatta seeded No. 13, but earned a 10th- place finish.

In their first race of the day, the Midshipmen placed fifth in the third level final of the varsity four event with a time of 6:51.22.

Navy would also place fourth in the petite final of the open four event and 10th overall with a time of 6:39.38. Navy trimmed 10.49 seconds off its time from Friday to edge fifth-place Yale and finish nearly five full seconds ahead of sixth-place Penn. Harvard won the race with a time of 6:33.03.

"We have a nice foundation to build from as we head into next year," added Clothier. "We bring back five sophomores and one junior, and we have a group of plebes which really put together a strong weekend of racing in taking 10th. We are headed in the right direction and certainly excited about our team moving forward."

First Varsity Eight - Third Final (Finished 13th overall)Pl. Entry       Lane    Time1   Navy        4   5:39.52   Stanford    3   5:42.13   Wisconsin   5   5:43.74   Penn        1   5:45.45   Oregon St   2   5:47.76   Jacksonville    6   6:02.5
Second Varsity Eight - Third Final  (Finished 14th overall)Pl. Entry       Lane    Time1   Dartmouth   3   05:53.7192   Navy        4   05:54.0193   Penn        2   06:03.743
Freshman Eight - Petite Final (Finished 10th overall)Pl. Entry       Lane    Time1   BU      3   05:44.5092   Brown           2   05:47.4543   Wisconsin   1   05:48.3834   Navy        5   05:49.2375   Columbia    4   05:54.1636   Oregon St.  6   05:59.372
Varsity Four - Third FinalPl. Entry       Lane    Time1   Harvard     4   06:30.0332   Holy Cross  3   06:41.9333   Loyola          2   06:44.2924   St Joseph's     5   06:49.0315   Navy        1   06:51.2226   Drexel          6   06:53.192
Open Four - Petite FinalPl. Entry       Lane    Time1   Harvard     4   06:33.0312   Princeton   6   06:35.6233   BU      3   06:37.0274   Navy        1   06:39.3845   Yale        5   06:40.8346   Penn        2   06:44.376

## Go Navy ##