WEST WINDSOR, N.J. -- Taking on a deep and talented field on Mercer Lake on Friday, the Navy heavyweight program saw two of its boats advance into the top-two Saturday semifinals due to strong outings in the afternoon's repechage racing. The first varsity and third varsity eight crews laid down the best two performances for the Mids on the 2,000-meter course.

The varsity eight's day began with a third-place finish in heat number one. Washington won the heat with a time of 5:52.520, while Boston University was second ahead of Navy for the automatic bid into Saturday's semifinals by 3.648 seconds at 5:55.246 to 5:58.894. In the afternoon, the Mids came out and laid down a scorching 5:49.940 time that was fastest in their repechage and third quickest amongst all varsity eight boats on the day, morning or afternoon. The varsity eight crew clocked in 3.278 seconds clear of Dartmouth in the repechage.

"Our varsity eight did not race its best in the morning heat, but got back on track for the afternoon racing," said head coach Rob Friedrich.

The third varsity eight nearly replicated the results of their first varsity brethren as the crew finished in third place in the morning's fourth heat at 6:13.033 before coming back in the afternoon and posting a top-two semifinal qualifying time of 6:07.199. In the afternoon repechage, Boston U. came in first at 6:03.001, 4.198 seconds ahead of the Mids.

Navy's second varsity eight and varsity four will both be working out of lower semifinals on Saturday after their results on Friday. The Mids in the second varsity boat turned in a fourth-place time of 6:15.241 in the morning and a second-place time of 6:07.533 in the repechage. Harvard's time of 5:57.655 in the repechage helped the Crimson advance into semifinal two.

In varsity four action, Navy clocked in at 6:59.076 for fifth place in the heat number four and at 6:51.820 in the afternoon repechage to finish third. Marietta College finished in the final advancement position from the repechage with at time of 6:40.405.

The Mids in the program's freshmen eight boat were on the Mercer Lake water once on Friday and laid down a time of 6:21.312 to finish in third place behind Wisconsin and California. Repechage action for Navy will take place on Saturday morning.

"The entire team is looking forward to racing some tough competition tomorrow," said Friedrich.

Results

Varsity 8

Heat 1

Washington -- 5:52.520

Boston U. -- 5:55.246

Navy -- 5:58.894

Florida Tech -- 5:59.537

Oregon State -- 6:17.491

Santa Clara -- 6:20.283

Repechage 1

Navy -- 5:49.940

Dartmouth -- 5:53.218

Oklahoma City -- 5:57.629

George Washington -- 6:00.274

Next Up ... Semifinal 2, Saturday at 10:36 a.m.

Second Varsity 8

Heat 4

Boston U. -- 5:56.966

Northeastern -- 6:01.463

Dartmouth -- 6:13.516

Navy -- 6:15.241

Florida Tech -- 6:27.301

Holy Cross -- 6:39.861

Repechage 1

Harvard -- 5:57.655

Navy -- 6:07.533

Hobart -- 6:16.712

Next Up ... Semifinal 3, Saturday at 11:36 a.m.

Third Varsity 8

Heat 4

Brown -- 6:01.830

Cornell -- 6:02.965

Navy -- 6:13.033

Syracuse -- 6:24.851

Repechage 2

Boston U. -- 6:03.001

Navy -- 6:07.199

George Washington -- 6:12.364

Penn -- 6:18.378

Drexel -- 6:35.030

Next Up ... Semifinal 2, Saturday at 9:48 a.m.

Freshmen 8

Heat 2

Wisconsin -- 5:58.533

California -- 6:01.241

Navy -- 6:21.312

Princeton -- 6:21.778

Next Up ... Repechage 1, Saturday at 10:48 a.m.

Varsity 4

Heat 4

Stanford -- 6:40.283

Yale -- 6:44.699

Boston U. -- 6:46.628

Temple -- 6:48.959

Navy -- 6:59.076

Syracuse -- 7:11.798

Repechage 1

Wisconsin -- 6:37.582

Marietta -- 6:40.405

Navy -- 6:51.820

Northeastern -- 6:53.740

Next Up ... Semifinal 3, Saturday at 12:48 p.m.