Nov. 4, 2011

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's rowing team, along with the men's heavyweight and lightweight freshman crews, will compete in their final races of the fall season this Saturday. The women's team will row at the Head of the Occoquan in Woodbridge, Va., while the men's heavyweight and lightweight freshman crews will head to New Brunswick, N.J., for the Rutgers Fall Classic.

With the cancellation of last weekend's Head of the Schuylkill, Saturday's competition will be the first for the women's team since Oct. 23.

"It's our third and final race of the fall and it will be good to compete again as we haven't raced since the Head of the Charles," said Navy women's coach Mike Hughes. "Our biggest competition should come from Georgetown, George Mason and Delaware - all very good crews. I feel that if we have a good row, we'll be pleased at the end of the day.

"Our training has been going well and this will serve as a good benchmark to see where are with the fall season coming to an end."

Last year at the Head of the Occoquan, the Mids' varsity boat placed third - behind Georgetown and Delaware, respectively. Navy's novice eight also placed third.

So far this fall, the women's best outing came at the Navy Day Regatta where the varsity eight boat placed first among 20 boats in the finals.

With both the men's heavyweight and lightweight varsity boats having completed their fall racing last weekend, each team's freshman crews will get to race one more time on Saturday at the Rutgers Fall Classic.

Last weekend in the combined heavyweight and lightweight race at the Princeton Chase, Navy's top heavyweight boat placed third, while the top lightweight crew took fifth.

Head of the Occoquan Schedule
Collegiate eights - 11:30 a.m.
Collegiate novice eights - 2:15 p.m.

Rutgers Fall Classic Schedule
Third and fourth freshmen - 12:15 p.m.
Lightweight freshmen - 12:20 p.m.
Heavyweight freshmen - 12:25 p.m.