PRINCETON, N.J. - The Navy lightweight rowing program started its spring 2017 season with an emphatic Saturday morning of racing at Lake Carnegie versus Princeton. Going up against a perennial leader in the EARC conference, the Mids captured a pair of victories, including the varsity eight competition for the Murtaugh Cup.

"Today was a good early-season test of where our team is at, against arguably one of the deepest programs in the league," exclaimed head coach Shawn Bagnall. "Our hats go off to Princeton for the aggressive racing today, and thanks to that, we have a much better idea of where we need to apply attention in our racing. That said, it was an outstanding effort across all five Navy line-ups, and we look forward to seeing where our entire team can go from here."

After winning the inaugural Murtaugh Cup race in 2008, Navy has been looking for eight years to bring that trophy back to Hubbard Hall. On Saturday morning, the Mids' varsity eight crew did just that with a 3.6-second victory over the Tigers, 5:57.5 to 6:01.1.

Princeton won a trio of competitive races over the second, third and fourth varsity ranks. The Tigers' second crew won by 3.7 seconds at 5:57.5 to 6:01.2, while the margin was slightly smaller in the third race as Princeton posted a 6:10.0 time versus a 6:13.3 for Navy. In the fourth varsity race, the host Tigers took a 4.6-second victory over the Mids, 6:09.5 to 6:14.1.

Navy bookended its first varsity win with a victory in the fifth varsity race with a dominant, 19.1-second margin of victory with a result of 6:16.8 to 6:35.9.

The Mids will look to build on their momentum next Saturday, April 1 as they will take to the Carnegie Lake waters once again for a neutral-site matchup with the Yale Bulldogs. The Eads Johnson Cup will be on the line for the Mids and Bulldogs in the varsity eight race next Saturday.

Results

Varsity 8
Navy - 5:57.5
Princeton - 6:01.1

2nd Varsity 8
Princeton - 5:57.5
Navy - 6:01.2

3rd Varsity 8
Princeton - 6:10.0
Navy - 6:13.3

4th Varsity 8
Princeton - 6:09.5
Navy - 6:14.1

5th Varsity 8
Navy - 6:16.8
Princeton - 6:35.9