INDIANAPOLIS – The Navy women's rowing team turned in a trio of quality performances on Saturday in day two of competition at the 2019 NCAA Championship. Looking to advance into the C-Finals of the national regatta, the Mids raced their way into the third-level finals of each of the first varsity eight, second varsity eight and first varsity four classifications. With that success on Saturday, all three of Navy's boats will race for positions 13 through 18 on Sunday morning.
The Mids' first varsity eight crew was first on the water at the Indianapolis Rowing Center on Saturday in the second heat of the C/D Semifinals. One of five boats in the field for that race, Navy knew that it had to finish within the top three to advance to Sunday's C-Final. The Mids checked that box on Saturday as they placed second overall behind Harvard (6:45.012) with a respective time of 6:49.450. Sitting in fifth place after the opening 500 meters, Navy got it in gear over the next quarter of the race with the fastest 500 split between the 500 and 1,000-meter marks. The Mids' 1:45.640 quarter mark was followed up by a 1:36.253 over the 1,000 to 1,500-meter quarter stretch to move into second place. Down the final quarter of the course, Navy continued to pull away from the Indiana University crew (6:51.421), that finished third overall to grab the final advancement position.
The second varsity eight followed up that initial C-Final qualifying effort with one of its own as the Mids crossed the finish line in third place in a spaced out C/D Semifinal. Coming off the line in fourth place and sitting in that same spot at the halfway mark with a time of 3:46.260, Navy turned in a scorching 500-meter blitz between the 1,000 and 1,500-meter marks to overtake Gonzaga for the final advancement position. During that stretch, the Mids clocked in with a 1:39.828 split, fastest in the field and 14.911 seconds better than the Bulldogs. That put Navy over six seconds ahead of Gonzaga down the stretch. At the line, the Mids finished with a time of 7:11.956, while the Bulldogs were fourth at 7:16.927. Rutgers and Duke placed ahead of Navy with respective times of 6:59.669 and 7:05.205.
Navy's first varsity four made it a three-for-three day for the Mids as they cruised to a second place result in their respective C/D Semifinal. Iowa led wire-to-wire in the semifinal and finished with a time of 8:00.345, while Navy settled into second place by the midway mark, over nine seconds ahead of Northeastern and 13 ahead of Marist College. Those standings held throughout as the Mids clocked in at 8:07.649. Northeastern and Marist finished at 8:14.214 and 8:23.332, respectively.
"Coming off of yesterday, all three boats did a fantastic job of getting themselves into the C-Finals," remarked head coach Joe Schlosberg. "It was some good, hard work put in by the team today. This is the first time that the program has advanced all three boats into the C-Finals, we are tremendously happy for this team!
"Tomorrow is going to be a real fight to see how high we can place. It's going to be some great, competitive racing."
With Saturday's results, Navy is set to compete in the C-Finals beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday. The entire schedule will see the V4's race at 11:30 a.m., the 2V8's at 11:10 a.m. and the V8's at 10:50 a.m.
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
C/D Semifinal #2
Harvard – 6:45.012
Navy – 6:49.450
Indiana – 6:51.421
Gonzaga – 6:54.132
Marist – 7:12.351
Advances to C-Final (Sunday, 10:50 AM)
Second Varsity Eight
C/D Semifinal #2
Rutgers – 6:59.669
Duke – 7:05.205
Navy – 7:11.956
Gonzaga – 7:16.927
Marist – 7:34.286
Advances to C-Final (Sunday, 11:10 AM)
First Varsity Four
C/D Semifinal #1
Iowa – 8:00.345
Navy – 8:07.649
Northeastern – 8:14.214
Marist – 8:23.232
Advances to C-Final (Sunday, 11:30 AM)
