WORCESTER, Mass. - The Navy heavyweight crew program got a chance on Sunday to have 54 of its best athletes in action and demonstrate its depth at the 2016 Eastern Sprints. Racing on a 2,000-meter course on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., the Mids competed in one grand final, three petite finals and one third final versus a large and talented regional field. A victory by its fifth varsity eight highlighted the program's day.

"It was a day of hits and near misses," remarked head coach Rob Friedrich. "The prize of the day was our fifth varsity bringing home the gold medal. They lead from start to finish and held off a very strong Wisconsin crew in the process. Our sixth varsity boat had a strong first 500 meters in the same event, hanging with the leaders. I was proud of their effort. Those boats are young and mostly walk-ons. They will make a significant contribution to Navy Crew in the years to come."

In Navy's gold medal winning performance in the fifth varsity race, the Mids went head-to-head with a game Wisconsin crew in what became a two-team race. At the end, Navy secured first place with a time of 6:00.479 to defeat Wisconsin by 0.763 seconds. In the same race, the Mids' sixth varsity crew competed and posted a time of 6:19.959 to finish seventh.

At the front end of its varsity racing program, Navy's first crew was faced with having to race out of an extremely fast heat number one. The Mids posted a time of 5:53.454 that ranked fifth, a little over two seconds out of the last petite final transfer spot in heat one. Overall, their time was ninth-best in the morning. In the third final, Navy cruised with a time of 5:44.845 to finish the Eastern Sprints with an overall rank of 13th.

"Our first varsity was up against some tight competition in their heat and narrowly missed beating Columbia for the second time in three weeks," said Friedrich. "Columbia proved to have a lot of speed, placing eighth overall in the finals, so we know our varsity is close to breaking into the next group of contenders."

After qualifying fourth in is morning heat at 6:03.060, Navy's second varsity eight crew earned its way into the petite final where it passed Penn and finished fifth overall with a time of 6:08.460. The fifth place result ranked the Mids 11th overall.

Navy's third and fourth varsity eights also competed in petite finals to rank 11th and eighth overall, respectively. A fifth place effort by Navy's third varsity crew saw the Mids barely edged out by Syracuse by a narrow 0.645 margin at 6:05.277 to 6:05.922. The fourth varsity boat had similar tight competition with Wisconsin in a battle for first place in the petite final. The Badgers held off the Mids by 0.319 seconds with a time of 6:03.711 versus 6:04.030 for Navy.

"I was really proud of our second varsity's performance," said Friedrich. "They placed higher than their seed and were right in the mix in the petite final against some strong competition. Our third and fourth varsity boats also has solids races. We have a lot of young guys in those crews and I thought they stepped up to raced hard under the pressure."

Princeton was the overall team champion in the Rowe Cup competition as the Tigers compiled 37 points. Navy was tied for 13th with George Washington.

"Overall this is not where we want to be, but we are progressing and moving in the right direction," remarked Friedrich.

Navy will close out its 2016 season at the IRA National Championship on the weekend of June 3-5 in West Windsor, N.J.

Results

First Varsity Eight
Third Final

Navy - 5:44.845
George Washington - 5:48.957
Holy Cross - 5:53.922
Georgetown - 5:55.516
MIT - 5:57.337
Rutgers - 6:12.219

Second Varsity Eight
Petite Final

Northeastern - 6:02.647
Cornell - 6:05.333
Dartmouth - 6:06.171
Syracuse - 6:06.309
Navy - 6:08.460
Penn - 6:11.374

Third Varsity Eight
Petite Final

Yale - 5:58.363
Dartmouth - 6:01.922
George Washington - 6:02.184
Syracuse - 6:05.277
Navy - 6:05.922
Penn - 6:08.404

Fourth Varsity Eight
Petite Final

Wisconsin - 6:03.711
Navy - 6:04.030
Dartmouth - 6:11.086
Yale - 6:16.134

Fifth & Sixth Varsity Eight
Grand Final

Navy - 6:00.479
Wisconsin - 6:01.242
Boston U. - 6:06.292
Cornell - 6:07.491
Harvard - 6:12.306
Princeton - 6:16.983
Navy 6V - 6:19.959

First Varsity 8
Cox: Nick Street, Stroke: Michael Hamp, 7: Chris Lent 6: Tim Tracey, 5: Klaus Payne, 4: Julian Hagberg, 3: Alejandro Fernandez, 2: Tony Galli, Bow: Sawyer Rogers

Second Varsity 8
Cox: Eli Wood, Stroke: Scott Gibson, 7: Stryker Smith, 6: Christian Mellos, 5: David Sands, II 4: Ben Dunphy, 3: Brandon Sagawinia, 2: David Russell, Bow: Parker Novakovic

Third Varsity 8
Cox: Julia Foust, Stroke: Jack Gainer, 7: Jonathan Wabeke, 6: Charlie Linder, 5: Noah Stewart, 4: Evan Camp, 3: Stefano Korkotas, 2: Jack Ogden, Bow: Caleb Robertson

Fourth Varsity 8
Cox: Nate Fields, Stroke: Owen Shenk, 7: Deke Murphy, 6: Alec Gould, 5: Zach Scholz, 4: Owen Firebaugh, 3: Matthew Bute, 2: Ethan Dalton, Bow: Max Kirchofer

Fifth Varsity 8
Cox: Elise Odom, Stroke: Gage Butler, 7: Aaron Hanko, 6: Terry Renfro-Pihut, 5: Ryan Adair, 4: Steve Huber, 3: Zerek Olson, 2: Michael Palaski, Bow: Daniel Weathers

Sixth Varsity 8
Cox: Katie Kirkwood, Stroke: Cedric Bevis, 7: Matt Vohr, 6: Harrison Samario, 5: Jesus Escudero, 4: Channing Martin, 3: Matt Bute, 2: Luka Bakic, Bow: Luke Sullivan