ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy lightweight crew team gave its home fans a taste of ultra-competitive rowing with a three-event slate of racing on the Severn River on Saturday morning. By the time the last stroke was taken, No. 3 Columbia came away with a pair of hard-fought wins, while the host No. 5 Midshipmen were victorious once. All three races were decided by 4.1 seconds or less, including the second varsity contest going the way of the Lions by 0.3 seconds.

"We continue to see our athletes step-up to the challenge of improving week-to-week during a highly competitive schedule to kick-off the year," remarked head coach Shawn Bagnall. "This morning was some fantastic racing, and while we weren't on the right side of the finish margin in every race, there was no doubt that we addressed some of our deficiencies this past week. The entire team is motivated to get back to work and excited to pick up boat speed in the coming weeks."
 
Racing in reverse order, Navy's third varsity eight crew got the day going off well for the hosts as they defeated Columbia, 6:00.1 to 6:04.2. The Mids' depth was on display in this same contest as their fourth and fifth varsity lineups got a chance to perform alongside the 3V's. Navy's 4V8 finished second overall with a time of 6:01.5, while its 5V8 was right there with a 6:06.1 effort.
 
Next on the docket for Severn River racing was the second varsity eight competition. Tight throughout the 2,000-meter event, the Lions held on for miniscule 0.3-second margin of victory by a final result of 5:54.3 to 5:54.6.
 
With each program earning a victory over the first two races, Saturday's meet culminated with the first varsity crews battling for the WIT Cup. For the third time in three races, the Mids and Lions went stroke-for-stroke down the Severn. At the finish, Columbia clocked in 2.4 seconds ahead of Navy at 5:49.5 to 5:51.9.

"Many thanks to our awesome volunteers that spent their morning running a really fun set of races on the Severn," said Bagnall. "Go Goats!"
 
Navy will be back in action next Saturday down the road in Washington, D.C. for a dual meet versus Georgetown
 
Race Results
First Varsity 8
Columbia – 5:49.5
Navy – 5:51.9
 
Second Varsity 8
Columbia – 5:54.3
Navy – 5:54.6
 
Third Varsity 8
Navy 3V – 6:00.1
Navy 4V – 6:01.5
Columbia – 6:04.2
Navy 5V – 6:06.1
 
Exhibition
Navy HWT 6V – 6:18.7
Navy LWT 6V – 6:22.6

Boat Lineups

	First Varsity Eight	Second Varsity Eight	Third Varsity Eight	Fourth Varsity Eight
1	Drew Bennett	Andy Laberee	Chris Greubel	Charlie Goodrich
2	Ben Capannari	Myles Knight	Asher Elkins	George Heinen
3	Theo Freidenrich	Tyler Schatz	Karl Schwarzkopf	Joshua Freitas
4	John Schoenewolf	Creig Tarrant	Morgan Whetstone	John Feng
5	Riki Gagnon	Kaden Dohm	Brendan Finn	Ben Blakeslee
6	Chandler Washburn	Noah Chaskin	Brendan Philbin	Jerra Ewing
7	Ben Skinner	Clay Jackson	Leor Golan	Patrick Watler
8	Duke Brady	Max Gelbach	Jesse Hall	Brycen Groess
Cox.	Pat Urrutia	Jack Ransick	Cullen Harper	Christophe Theodore

 

	Fifth Varsity Eight	Sixth Varsity Eight
1	Seamus Tomb	Austin Bowman
2	Will Jarrett	Andrew Reinhart
3	Howard Francis	Ethan Valk
4	Matthew Fox	Christian Meza
5	Harrison Boldt	Taylor Porges
6	Jack Spector	Gracen Glaubitz
7	Matthew Pentaleri	Daniel McNeill
8	Luke Waldo	David Jackson
Cox.	Maggie Scholl	Kyle Jung