May 3, 2015 CAMDEN, N.J. -- The Navy women's rowing team had a solid day of racing on Sunday at the 2015 EAWRC Sprints. Taking on a strong and deep field on the Cooper River, the Mids saw all five of their boats qualify and race in the grand finals of their respective events. As a team, Navy finished in fifth place in the Willing Point Trophy standings with 94 points. Harvard was the overall winner with five event victories and 136 team points.
"We had a lot more success last year, but today was not a bad day for us," said head coach Mike Hughes. "We made the final in every event and were the highest finishing Patriot League team at the meet. It was a good day in that respect. The fours had some really good performances and both our `A' and `B' boats got bronze medals."
After finishing in the top-three in all five of their heat races in the morning, Navy earned its way into the grand finals of the first, second and third varsity eight competitions, as well as the varsity four `A' and `B' events.
The varsity eight crew followed up their morning heat time of 6:46.247 with 6:45.657 result in the afternoon to finish sixth overall. The Mids were 5.22 seconds off of Boston College's fifth place time. Harvard won the race with a time of 6:20.75.
Navy's second varsity eight boat placed fifth in the afternoon grand final with a time of 6:54.716. The Mids finished nearly four seconds ahead of Boston College's sixth place time of 6:58.579. In the morning, Navy finished the course in 6:57.442.
The only novice eight boat in the entire competition was the Mids' entry in the third varsity eight event. The youthful squad finished in sixth place in the grand final with a time of 7:45.310, a similar number to the team's morning result of 7:45.10.
Navy's two medalist crews came from the varsity four ranks. The Mids of the varsity four `A' boat won their morning heat at 7:43.52 before coming back in the afternoon and finishing third overall at 7:31.481 behind Harvard (7:21.198) and Columbia (7:22.781).
The varsity four `B' crew finished second in its morning heat with a time of 8:01.319 and cut nearly 20 seconds off its time in the grand final to complete the race at 7:42.340. Once again two Ivy League squads finished one, two as Harvard (7:33.305) and Dartmouth (7:41.465) topped Navy.
On the strength of victories in all five grand finals Harvard finished in first place in the Willing Point Trophy standings with 136 team points. Dartmouth (108 points), Columbia (107) and Northeastern (104) were tightly packed in positions two through four. Navy's 94 points were 27 more than Boston U., the second-highest placing Patriot League team. Georgetown (47), Holy Cross (47) and MIT (33) rounded out the teams that the Mids will face again in two weeks at the league championships.
"At the end of the day, there were a lot of positives today," said Hughes. "We have a lot of good things to build upon. We made all five grand finals and were the fastest Patriot League team there. We are definitely looking forward to the Patriot League Championships in a little under two weeks."
Navy will be back on the Cooper River in 12 days on Friday, May 15 as the Mids will look to win the 2015 Patriot League Championship and the automatic NCAA Championship bid that is associated with the title.
Boatings
1st Varsity 4+
2nd Varsity 8+
Cox: Tiffany Samia, Rebecca Greenberg, Molly Hanna, McKenna Niemer, Adrienne Vallancey-Martinson, Kathleen Heinbach, Maeve Broeg, Madison Vachris, Heidi Zisselman
3rd Varsity 8+ (Novice 8+)
Cox: Molly McAleer, Anna Paz, Suzanne Toms, Emily Cecchini, Catherine McCarthy, Abby Mesaros, Maggie Pana, Brianna Kaufmann, Desiree Dantes-Tayco
Results
Varsity 8
Heat 2
Northeastern -- 6:42.387
Navy -- 6:46.247
Georgetown -- 6:47.076
Rutgers -- 6:58.579
Grand Final
Harvard -- 6:20.750
Columbia -- 6:31.514
Dartmouth -- 6:31.988
Northeastern -- 6:39.600
Boston College -- 6:40.437
Navy -- 6:45.657
2nd Varsity 8
Heat 2
Northeastern -- 6:52.568
Navy -- 6:57.442
Georgetown -- 7:05.250
Holy Cross -- 7:13.741
Grand Final
Harvard -- 6:32.416
Northeastern -- 6:43.896
Dartmouth -- 6:45.839
Columbia -- 6:49.490
Navy -- 6:54.716
Boston College -- 6:58.579
3rd Varsity 8
Heat 1
Harvard -- 7:11.00
Northeastern -- 7:29.70
Navy -- 7:45.10
Rutgers -- 7:55.90
Buffalo -- 8:00.20
Grand Final
Harvard -- 6:50.862
Dartmouth -- 7:01.482
Boston College -- 7:04.122
Northeastern -- 7:05.779
Boston College B -- 7:13.405
Navy -- 7:45.310
Varsity 4 `A'
Heat 2
Navy -- 7:43.520
Northeastern -- 7:53.508
West Virginia -- 8:01.334
Holy Cross -- 8:06.788
Grand Final
Harvard -- 7:21.198
Columbia -- 7:22.781
Navy -- 7:31.481
Northeastern -- 7:40.648
Boston College -- 7:44.186
Boston U. -- 7:50.006
Varsity 4 `B'
Heat 1
Harvard -- 7:44.914
Navy -- 8:01.319
Boston U. -- 8:07.113
Rutgers -- 8:56.423
Grand Final
Harvard -- 7:33.305
Dartmouth -- 7:41.465
Navy -- 7:42.340
Columbia -- 7:49.063
Boston U. -- 7:51.940
Boston College -- 8:01.468
