CLEMSON, S.C. - This weekend the Navy women's rowing program went up against a field of national powers at the 2018 Clemson Invitational in a taste of what the team hopes will be another appearance in the NCAA Championship later this season. Racing in preliminary heats on Friday night and Saturday morning, the competition wrapped up on Saturday night with five sets of finals. The Mids' first varsity eight crew led the way over the two-day event on Lake Hartwell with a 14th place finish. As a program, Navy tied for 18th place in the 21-team field.

Each team got to race three times on the 2,000-meter stretch of water on Lake Hartwell over Friday and Saturday. In heat action, the Mids' first varsity eight crew turned in times of 6:30.88 and 6:44.00, respectively. On the strength of their third place finish in session one and fourth place result in session two, the Mids qualified to compete in the B Final on Saturday night. Racing for overall positions eight through 14 at the invitational, Navy gave a game effort and went down the stretch with R/V Louisville, R/V UCLA and R/V Minnesota for positions 4-7 in the B Final. At the conclusion of the contest, Navy placed seventh in the final and 14th overall, with a time of 6:26.67. UCLA placed fifth at 6:25.56, while Minnesota was sixth at 6:26.16.

The Mids' second varsity eight squad placed sixth in both of its heat races with times of 6:43.50 and 7:00.26, respectively. Moving onto the C Final, Navy's 2V8 boat raced to the finish line within 0.7 seconds of third-place Tulsa (6:36.76) and fourth-place UCF (6:36.94) with a time of 6:37.44 to place fifth in the race and 19th overall at the invitational.

Navy's first varsity four crew continued the arc of improvement that the program's top-two boats showed as the Mids went from prelim times of 7:32.55 and 7:34.79 to 7:25.02 in the C Final. While Clemson won the event final at 7:17.64. Navy was just 2.16 seconds behind USC (7:22.86) and 0.32 seconds shy of UCF (7:24.70). The Mids placed fourth in the C Final and 18th overall.

Navy's lower boats got a chance to test themselves in second varsity four and third varsity eight competition, as well. The Mids' 2V4 turned in times of 7:52.23 and 7:42.65 in the heats before finishing sixth in the B Final to place 13th of 14 teams in the respective classification.

Navy's third varsity eight placed fifth in its first race (no time +20.81) before coming in sixth at 6:58.04 in its second heat event. In the B Final, Navy came in second place with a posted time of 6:52.51. The Mids ranked ninth overall amongst 14 teams.

In the team standings that awarded points for a program's effort in NCAA Championship races, the 1V8, 2V8 and 1V4, Ohio State won the Clemson Invitational with 130 points as the Buckeyes edged out the Virginia Cavaliers, who placed second at 124. On the strength of its 27 points from the first varsity competition, Navy finished with 40 points to tie with Tennessee in 18th place. Cornell (45) and Clemson (43) placed in 16th and 17th overall to hold off Navy.

"We knew going into this weekend that we were in for some really tight racing, but that's why we came here and that's what we got." remarked head coach Joe Schlosberg. "Each boat had great moments during the weekend, as well as some moments that we need to learn from. And we will learn from them.

"We took our lumps this weekend, but I'm proud of this team because they started to see what they are really capable of. We will move forward and become better racers from this weekend."

After starting its 2018 spring season with three invitational competitions, Navy will move onto a three-team event next Saturday, April 21 with racing versus Cornell and Brown in Ithaca, N.Y.

Results

First Varsity 8
Session 1 - Heat 2 (3^rd of 7)
6:30.88

Session 2 - Heat 1 (4^th of 7)
6:44.00

Session 3 - B Final (14^th Overall)
Oregon State - 6:19.40
Syracuse - 6:21.65
Tulsa - 6:21.85
Louisville - 6:23.61
UCLA - 6:25.56
Minnesota - 6:26.16
Navy - 6:26.67

Second Varsity 8
Session 1 - Heat 2 (6^th of 7)
6:43.50

Session 2 - Heat 1 (6^th of 7)
7:00.26

Session 3 - C Final (19^th Overall)
Cornell - 6:32.09
Louisville - 6:32.30
Tulsa - 6:36.76
UCF - 6:36.94
Navy - 6:37.44
Tennessee - 6:43.11
Boston U. - 7:13.95

First Varsity 4
Session 1 - Heat 2 (7^th of 7)
7:32.55

Session 2 - Heat 1 (5^th of 7)
7:34.79

Session 3 - C Final (18^th Overall)
Clemson - 7:17.64
USC - 7:22.86
UCF - 7:24.70
Navy - 7:25.02
Northeastern - 7:31.07
Tulsa - 7:39.60
Boston U. 8:19.91

Second Varsity 4
Session 1 - Heat 2 (6^th of 7)
7:52.23

Session 2 - Heat 1 (7^th of 7)
7:42.65

Session 3 - B Final (13^th Overall)
Oklahoma - 7:20.42
Tennessee - 7:28.92
UCF - 7:32.58
Northeastern - 7:42.76
Tulsa - 7:50.28
Navy - 7:57.22
Clemson 'B' - 8:10.30

Third Varsity 8
Session 1 - Heat 1 (5^th of 7)
No Time +20.81

Session 2 - Heat 1 (6^th of 7)
6:58.04

Session 3 - B Final (9^th Overall)
Wisconsin - 6:49.31
Navy - 6:52.51
Oklahoma - 6:52.67
Tennessee - 7:01.54
UCF - 7:02.59
Clemson - 7:03.66
Indiana - 7:08.08

Team Point Standings (V8, 2V8 & 1V4 Results)
1) Ohio State - 130
2) Virginia - 124
3) Wisconsin - 113
…
17) Clemson - 43
18) Navy - 40
18) Tennessee - 40
20) UCF - 28
21) Boston U. - 12

Boat Lineups

First Varsity 8
Coxswain: Bethany Spangler, Caroline Kelly, Mady Malczynski, Megan Hanson, Alexandria Vallancey-Martinson, Grace Lawrence, Maeve Broeg, Raye Brackett, Emily Krulik,

Second Varsity 8
Coxswain: Krysta Przestrzelski, Julia Bailey, Victoria Meyer, Clare McCarthy, Jessica Martin, Emily Cecchini, Samantha Fox, Giovanna DeVito, Julianna Pereira

First Varsity 4
Coxswain: Elizabeth Drake, Brianna Warren, Annie Pentaleri, Riley Schliem, Kanoe Nakoa

Second Varsity 4
Coxswain: Allie Batten, Bray Zimmerman, Katherine Long, Cara Bradley, Elizabeth Downing

Third Varsity 8
Coxswain: Miranda Donato, Caroline Dooley, Eleonore Porter, Brooke Fraasch, Maya McPartlin, Kendall Bowen, Sabrina Spracklen, Carolyn Riggs, Isabel Billinge