WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Navy heavyweight rowing program wrapped up a perfect weekend of action at the George Washington Invitational with a clean sweep of five varsity races on Saturday. The Mids dominated their competition on the 2,000-meter course on the Potomac River as four of the team's boats earned victories of five or more seconds.

Racing in reverse order, Navy's fifth varsity crew kicked off the action on Saturday as the Mids cruised to a victory of nearly 25 seconds at 5:49.80 to 6:14.60 over Michigan.

The Mids and Wolverines faced off again in a fourth varsity event and Navy made it two-for-two with an eight-second margin of victory, 5:40.90 - 5:48.90.

The race matchups started changing up beginning with the third varsity as Navy, Florida Tech and Drexel took to the Potomac. Navy's 3V8 clocked in with a time of 5:48.60 to defeat Florida Tech (5:57.50) and Drexel (5:58.80).

The closest race of the day came from the second varsity ranks as Navy and Drexel went down to the wire with the Mids edging the Dragons, 5:42.10 to 5:43.60. Holy Cross finished off the pace at 5:55.50.

In the final event, the Mids' first varsity cleared the field by 5.5 seconds with a 5:34.30 result. In a fairly spaced out race, Drexel finished at 5:39.80 and Holy Cross at 5:53.10.

Navy scored 78 of 78 possible team points at the two-day event to tie with George Washington atop the team standings. The tie was broken on the basis of the faster first varsity eight time and Navy was awarded the Oliver T. Carr Bowl. Drexel (51), Florida Tech (45) and Georgetown (36) rounded out the top-five.

"I thought our guys raced well all weekend," remarked head coach Rob Friedrich. "It was a great team effort for all the boats to win every race and bring home the team trophy.

"Our team is on the right trajectory and we are focused on getting faster each week. A special thanks goes out to the G.W. coaches for hosting a great regatta."

Navy will head back out on the road next Saturday April 14 for the three-team Goes Trophy competition between Cornell, Navy and Syracuse. The event will be hosted in Syracuse, N.Y.

Results

First Varsity 8
Navy - 5:34.30
Drexel - 5:39.80
Holy Cross - 5:53.10

Second Varsity 8
Navy - 5:42.10
Drexel - 5:43.60
Holy Cross - 5:55.50

Third Varsity 8
Navy - 5:48.60
Florida Tech - 5:57.50
Drexel - 5:58.80

Fourth Varsity 8
Navy - 5:40.90
Michigan - 5:48.90

Fifth Varsity 8
Navy - 5:49.80
Michigan - 6:14.60

Boat Lineups

First Varsity 8
Coxswain: Nick Street, Stroke: Joseph Merkel, Jared Taintor, Owen Firebaugh, Andrew Knoll, John Lamb, Brandon Sagawinia, Harrison Bleckley, Nathaniel Auzenbergs

Second Varsity 8
Coxswain: Kathryn Fung, Stroke: Gage Butler, Zach Scholz, Michael Palaski, Caleb Robertson, Jacob Klosowski, Martin Duffy, David Russell, Dwayne Williams

Third Varsity 8
Coxswain: Eli Wood, Stroke: Luka Bakic, George Gilliam, Charlie Linder, Aaron Hanko, Matthew Gregory, Justin Desautels, Jack Gainer, Parker Novakovic

Fourth Varsity 8
Coxswain: Elise Odom, Stroke: Cedric Bevis, Noah Stewart, Ben Dunphy, Matthew Bute, Griffin Hamilton, George Williams, Jack Eichen, Luke Sullivan

Fifth Varsity 8
Coxswain: Cheyenne Coughlin, Stroke: Franklin Shew, Zerek Olson, Victor Sands, Benjamin Nolt, Joshua Lee, Michael Murphy, Zane Wilson, Jacob Babe