April 8, 2017 The No. 5 Navy Lightweight Rowing team knocked off No. 7 and defending national champion Columbia on Saturday morning at the Lower Course on the Severn River. The boats fought through choppy waters through the first 1,000 meters before hitting improved conditions for the second 1,000 meters. The two teams dealt with wind gusts of 15-20 miles per hour.
"From the coaches perspective, this was an all-around solid day for our Midshipmen," said head coach Shawn Bagnall. "Columbia was aggressive right off the bat in all their racing today and did a great job of handling the conditions in the first 1000m. We felt our athletes were able to battle over the entire race course, regardless of where they were relative to Columbia, and put forward some awesome effort to secure these hard-fought victories. Kudos to Coach Sands and his work with our coxswains to weather the rough conditions at the start and get off the line well this morning."
The First Varsity 8 took home the WIT (Whatever It Takes) Cup with a 5:54.6-5:56.0 win over Columbia. The Second Varsity 8 defeated Columbia, 6:02.3-6:03.7, while the Navy Fourth Varsity 8 upset the Navy Third Varsity 8 to win the third race, 6:07.6-6:13.2. Navy's Fifth Varsity Eight finished third (6:17.0) and Columbia finished fourth (6:37.4).
The Lightweights will have little time to celebrate the Columbia win, as they travel to Georgetown next Saturday to take on the Hoyas.
"The season is continuing to move forward and we have another tremendous challenge this coming weekend," said Bagnall. "Our best strokes are still yet to come and I know the team is already anxious to get back to work on Monday."
Final Results
First Varsity 8 for WIT Cup
Navy - 5:54.6
Columbia - 5:56.0
Second Varsity 8
Navy - 6:02.3
Columbia - 6:03.7
Third Varsity 8
Navy 4V - 6:07.6
Navy 3V - 6:13.2
Navy 5V - 6:17.0
Columbia - 6:37.4
Boat Lineups
First Varsity 8
Cox: Grace Albertson, Stroke: Kaden Dohm, 7: Noah Chaskin, 6: Andrew Schutta, 5: Austin Treubert, 4: Sam Haber, 3: Hank Forsythe, 2: Matthew Shirey, Bow: Anlon McGuigan
Second Varsity 8
Cox: Cullen Harper, Stroke: Clay Jackson, 7: Patrick Watler, 6: Ben Skinner, 5: Will Herbert, 4: Brant McGuigan, 3: Morgan Whetstone, 2: Matthew Walsh, Bow: Drew Bennett
Third Varsity 8
Cox: Christophe Theodore, Stroke: Ian Best, 7: Patrick Leech, 6: Bryan Colasacco, 5: Gracen Glaubitz, 4: Dechlan Mercer, 3: Creighton Tarrant, 2: Mitchell Bond, Bow: Theo Freidenrich
Fourth Varsity 8
Cox: Tera Geoffroy, Stroke: Brendan Philbin, 7: Ben Capannari, 6: Joseph Yates, 5: Ben Blakeslee, 4: Dan Johnston, 3: Max Gelbach, 2: Robert Woods, Bow: Sean Williamson
Fifth Varsity 8
Cox: Brianna Kaufmann, Stroke: Collin Snyder, 7: Brendan Finn, 6: Luke Robertson, 5: Leor Golan, 4: Tyler Schatz, 3: Karl Schwarzkopf, 2: Brent Niewoehner, Bow: Alexander Wieman
