ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy lightweight rowing team opened its season on Saturday against Princeton in a five-race matchup on the Severn River in Annapolis. The visiting Tigers program took four of the five races on Saturday and repeated as Murtaugh Cup champions.

"It's always good to get a shot to start off the season against arguably one of the top three teams in the league. Our hats go off to a deep Princeton team," remarked head coach Shawn Bagnall. "The team raced tough as a whole, and we certainly identified some deficiencies in our racing that we can address this week. Both the athletes and coaches look forward to getting back to work on Monday."

In the first varsity eight race, Princeton was able to grab the Murtaugh Cup with a 6.1 second victory over the Mids at 5:48.5 to 5:54.6.

Princeton took the second through fourth varsity eight races by margins between five and eight seconds. The second varsity eight race was won by the Tigers, 5:54.1 to 5:59.4, while the third varsity eight team held off the Mids, 5:56.6 to 6:04.0. The fourth varsity eight result was 5:57.4 to 6:03.3 in favor of Princeton.

Navy closed out its day with a victory in the fifth varsity race as the Mids won by 0.8 seconds at 6:11.5 to 6:12.3.

The Mids will continue their early season action next Saturday versus Yale. The Eads Johnson Cup will be on the line for the two schools as they will race at Lake Carnegie in Princeton, N.J.

Results

1st Varsity 8
Princeton - 5:48.5
Navy - 5:54.6

2nd Varsity 8
Princeton - 5:54.1
Navy - 5:59.4

3rd Varsity 8
Princeton - 5:56.6
Navy - 6:04.0

4th Varsity 8
Princeton - 5:57.4
Navy - 6:03.3

5th Varsity 8
Navy - 6:11.5
Princeton - 6:12.3