GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The Navy heavyweight rowing team began the first of three days of action at the 2019 IRA National Championships on Friday with a solid performance as three of its four boats advanced from repechage action into Saturday's A/B Semifinals. The Mids' second and third varsity eight crews led the way on Friday afternoon with outright wins in their individual repechage races at Lake Natoma.
 
Entering three varsity eight crews into the national regatta, Navy's first varsity eight was first on the water on Friday in Northern California. Seeded 12^th overall, the Mids were part of a highly competitive heat number four in the morning. With the top-two teams automatically advancing to Saturday's A/B Semifinals, Navy was within 2.325 seconds of claiming that second position. Unfortunately for the Mids, the Brown University Bears garnered that spot with a time of 5:43.363, while Navy clocked in at 5:45.688. The V8 crew had another chance to grab a qualifying spot in the A/B Semis in the afternoon repechage. An equipment malfunction almost immediately put the Mids' top boat behind the eight ball as a broken cox box caused the crew to struggle getting up to speed at the start. Facing a fast Stanford boat, Navy continuing fighting down the 2,000-meter course to make up ground, but came up short as the Cardinal won the race and the final qualifying spot, 5:47.881 to 5:49.424 over the Mids.
 
"It was a very disappointing rep for our varsity," remarked head coach Rob Friedrich. "Our cox box stopped working for the first 1,500 meters of the race and we struggled to get off the line like we normally do. All the credit goes to Stanford, though, they posted the fastest time of all the reps and we almost reeled them in over the last 500 meters. We knew the boat had gained speed since the Sprints, so it was hard to get knocked out in the reps."
 
Navy's next two varsity eight crews changed the dynamic of the Mids' day as both the second varsity and third varsity boats won their respective repechage contests. After clocking in with a time of 6:00.769 in their morning heat, that was good for third place, the Mids came back in the afternoon repechage with a race-winning effort at 5:55.027. Clearly the class of the third repechage, Navy defeated runner-up Columbia (5:58.765) by 3.738 seconds.
 
Navy's 3V8 also improved its time over the course of the day as it started Friday with a third-place result at 5:57.994. Later on in the competition, the Mids shaved 0.86 seconds off their time as they crossed the line first in repechage number two with a time of 5:57.134. Wisconsin was runner-up at 6:00.737.
 
The final boat in action on Friday was Navy's first varsity four crew. After coming in third with a 6:36.334 time in the morning, the team responded with an A/B Semifinal qualifying runner-up result at 6:43.325. The Mids' V4+ finished 1.798 seconds shy of Holy Cross' winning time of 6:41.527.
 
"I thought our 2V, 3V and 4+ had great rows in the reps and we are excited to see what they can do in the A/B Semifinals tomorrow," said Friedrich. "Those boats have a great opportunity to help us to a much better team ranking than the previous two years."
 
At the conclusion of day one of competition in Gold River, Navy's 2V8, 3V8 and V4 had all advanced to their respective A/B Semifinals on Saturday and are now guaranteed a top-12 placement in the final standings. The Mids' V8 crew will look to gather itself with a strong response in the C/D Semifinals.
 
"I'm really proud of the entire team," remarked Friedrich. "We came ready to race and our seniors have shown great leadership this whole season. Our 1V will rally and they will have something to prove over their last two races this weekend."
 
Race Results
 
First Varsity Eight
Heat #4
Harvard – 5:40.407
Brown – 5:43.363
Navy – 5:45.688
George Washington – 5:45.742
Colgate – 5:54.607
Drexel – 6:08.250
 
Repechage #4
Stanford – 5:47.881
Navy – 5:49.424
Oregon State – 5:59.951
Santa Clara – 6:01.864
   Next Up: C/D Semifinals (Saturday, 12:50/1:00 PM-ET)
 
Second Varsity Eight
Heat #3
California – 5:41.064
Yale – 5:52.104
Navy – 6:00.769
Hobart – 6:08.335
Penn – 6:13.062
Florida Tech – 6:17.310
 
Repechage #3
Navy – 5:55.027
Columbia – 5:58.765
UC San Diego – 6:05.719
Drexel – 6:13.032
   Next Up: A/B Semifinals (Saturday, 12:00/12:12 PM-ET)
 
Third Varsity Eight
Heat #2
Yale – 5:50.108
Boston Univ. – 5:51.819
Navy – 5:57.994
Drexel – 6:06.108
Oregon State – 6:06.683
 
Repechage #2
Navy – 5:57.134
Wisconsin – 6:00.737
Oregon State – 6:12.649
Hobart – 6:15.252
George Washington – 6:15.439
   Next Up: A/B Semifinals (Saturday, 12:24/12:36 PM-ET)
 
Varsity Four
Heat #2
California – 6:29.791
MIT – 6:33.091
Navy – 6:36.334
Dartmouth – 6:39.564
Brown – 6:49.854
 
Repechage #1
Holy Cross – 6:41.527
Navy – 6:43.325
Jacksonville – 6:45.183
    Next Up: A/B Semifinals (1:30/1:40 PM-ET)

Boat Lineups

	First Varsity Eight	Second Varsity Eight	Third Varsity Eight
1	M.J. Duffy	Peter Faber	Aaron Hanko
2	Jacob Klosowski	Stephen Huber	David Russell
3	Brandon Sagawinia	Harrison Bleckley	Jared Cox
4	Alec Gould	Owen Firebaugh	William Geib
5	Andrew Knoll	Griffin Dunne	Matt Bute
6	John Lamb	Michael Palaski	Evan Camp
7	Dwayne Williams	Jared Taintor	Josey Troyer
8	James Pushner	Joey Merkel	Franklin Shew
Cox.	Matthew Catanoso	Tiffany Johnstone	Francesca Browne

 

	First Varsity Four
1	Luke Sullivan
2	Griffin Hamilton
3	George Williams
4	Matt Gregory
Cox.	Elise Odom