May 30, 2015 SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Navy women's rowing team had three races on Saturday at the 2015 NCAA Championships. The Midshipmen's varsity four crew highlighted the action on Lake Natoma at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center as it finished third in its respective semifinal. The first and second varsity eight Navy crews also competed on Saturday.
"We're really happy about our varsity four making the C final which was our goal," said head coach Mike Hughes. "If they have a good race tomorrow they could come in 13th in the country. We were hoping to get our two varsity eights into C finals, but we ran into some really fierce competition and unfortunately didn't make it."
The Mids' varsity four crew of coxswain Alexandria Switzer, Olivia Czerewko, Miranda Kosmides, Kaylin Deppe and Isabelle Babb earned their way into Sunday's C final with a time of 7:34.607 to finish in third place. The top three teams from the semifinal advanced to the C final. Indiana was first at 7:31.205, while Wisconsin edged Navy by 0.528 seconds with a time of 7:34.079. The C final will get underway on Sunday at 9:55 a.m. local time (12:55 p.m. ET).
Navy's two other boats will be in D final action on Sunday after coming up short in semifinal racing on Saturday. The Mids' varsity eight crew finished fifth place in its C/D semifinal with a time of 7:09.655. The second varsity eight crew posted a similar fifth-place result in its respective C/D semifinal. Navy's second crew finished the Lake Natoma course with a 7:20.607 result. The second varsity crew will be on the water at 10:05 a.m. tomorrow morning before the first crew completes Navy's racing in California at 10:25 a.m.
"Tomorrow if we get out in front of the D finals and perform well in the four event, as a program we could be in consideration for 16th or 17th place overall which would really be great when you consider these are the best teams from the whole country," remarked Hughes. "There are some really, really fast crews here and we are glad and honored to be racing at the NCAAs representing Navy and the Patriot League."
Varsity 8
C/D Semifinals 2
Gonzaga -- 6:40.532
USC -- 6:42.987
Central Florida -- 6:56.434
UMass -- 7:01.997
Navy -- 7:09.655
Next Up ... D Final, Sunday, 10:25 a.m. PT (1:25 p.m. ET)
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Second Varsity 8
C/D Semifinals 1
Princeton -- 6:51.267
USC -- 6:55.057
Northeastern -- 7:01.595
Gonzaga -- 7:05.433
Navy -- 7:20.607
Next Up ... D Final, Sunday, 10:05 a.m. PT
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Varsity 4
C/D Semifinals 2
Indiana -- 7:31.205
Wisconsin -- 7:34.079
Navy -- 7:34.607
Central Florida -- 8:06.136
Jacksonville -- 8:36.349
Next Up ... C Final, Sunday, 9:55 a.m. PT
