INDIANAPOLIS – The Navy women's rowing team matched its program record with a 17th overall finish at the 2019 NCAA Championship on Sunday. With three boats in C-Final action at the Indianapolis Rowing Center, the Mids' first varsity eight crew led a strong day of competition with a 15th place result. Navy's second varsity eight and first varsity four also earned top-18 standings in the season-ending national regatta.
That first varsity eight boat was the first Midshipmen crew to hit the water on Sunday. Racing for overall national positions 13 through 18, Navy was part of a fast pack of competitors as just 7.27 seconds separated the top-five crews. At the midway mark, the top-five boats all clocked in between 3:05.750 and 3:08.930. The Mids were in the heart of that pack with a 1,000-meter time of 3:08.000. The jockeying continued over the next 500 meters with Harvard jumping into the lead as the Crimson were timed at 4:41.401. The Mids were 3.089 seconds back in third place at 4:44.490, barely holding off the Duke Blue Devils (4:44.579) and Wisconsin Badgers (4:44.667). Down the stretch, Navy's crew of
Brooke Campbell,
Raye Brackett,
Emily Krulik,
Grace Lawrence,
Alexandria Vallancey-Martinson,
Ashlyn Dawson,
Caroline Kelly,
Megan Hanson and coxswain
Polly Finch fought every stroke to cross the finish line with a time of 6:20.048. Wisconsin was less than a half-second back at 6:20.483, while Duke registered a time of 6:22.440. With that third-place result in the C-Final, Navy finished the championship regatta 15th overall in the nation, the highest finish by a Navy V8 crew at the NCAA Championship in program history.
"Heading into the final day of competition at the NCAA Championships, we knew that there would be some fierce racing," remarked head coach
Joe Schlosberg. "In the first varsity eight race, all of the teams exploded off the line. Harvard and Indiana took the lead about 500 meters into the race, while Central Florida fell back from the pack. That left us in a dog fight with Wisconsin and Duke as they tried to work back towards Indiana. For 2,000 meters those three crews traded positions. With things incredibly close heading into the final 500, we were able to put together a great sprint finish ahead of Wisconsin and Duke. This boat really made some big strides this year and made a huge jump in their NCAA finish position, going from 19th last year to 15th this year."
Navy's second varsity crew of
Giovanna DeVito,
Riley Schliem,
Julia Bailey,
Annie Pentaleri,
Sky Schork,
Jessica Martin,
Clare McCarthy,
Elizabeth Downing and coxswain
Elizabeth Drake also raced in its respective C-Final in Indianapolis on Sunday. In the mix at the midway point with a time of 3:18.100, that was within 4.51 seconds of second-place Duke, Navy was unfortunately unable to cut into that deficit and move up in the standings. Over the last quarter of the race, the Mids were in a one-on-one battle with the Northeastern Huskies for fifth-place. At the line, Northeastern held onto fifth place with a complete time of 6:36.083, 3.321 seconds ahead of Navy, who clocked in at 6:39.404. In the final standings, the Mids' sixth-place result in the C-Final translated to 18th overall in the nation.
"All crews got off the line pretty well, but were able to get a good number of seats on us," said Schlosberg about the second varsity eight contest. "We were able to maintain contact throughout the race, but just weren't able to push back into a very competitive cluster of boats ahead of us. The 2V put together a great race, but they couldn't keep up the speed of the rest of the field. This boat has been making steady gains all year and probably had one of their best races to finish it off."
The Mids' time at the NCAAs wrapped up when its varsity four crew took part in the C-Final of its classification. Fast from the start as part of a four-boat pack, Navy eventually settled into a competitive one-on-one battle with Iowa over the final 1,000 meters as Wisconsin and UCF pulled away at the front. Ahead of the Hawkeyes at the 1,500-meter mark, 5:27.659 to 5:28.255, the Mids were overtaken for third place down the stretch as Iowa posted a final time of 7:17.531 versus a 7:21.023 for Navy.
Dana Hirschhorn served as the coxswain for the Mids' crew of
Hanna Prince,
Stephanie Read,
Brianna Warren and
Kate Long this weekend. That fourth-place result by Navy meant that the Mids finished the championship 16th overall nationally.
"In the varsity four race, Harvard and UCF got off the line pretty quickly with Navy and Iowa doing a good job of separating away from the other two crews, while working their way back towards UCF," remarked Schlosberg. "Our crew went toe-to-toe with Iowa for 95 percent of the race, it was just at the end that it slipped away from them. This four did a great job of coming together in a short period of time and did a really good job of racing this weekend."
At the conclusion of Sunday's racing, Washington found itself atop the standings with 132 team points. The Huskies held off a challenge from runner-up Texas (125) and third-place Michigan (119). Stanford and Ohio State rounded out the top-five with team point totals of 116 and 105, respectively. With 40 overall points, Navy finished the three-day competition in 17th place, tying the 2018 team for the best result in program history. In the fifth straight NCAA Championship appearance for the Mids and sixth all-time, 40 points are the most for any single Navy team at the championship. Navy was nine points clear of 18th place, Central Florida, who finished with 31 points.
"I'm really proud of this team for what it did this year," exclaimed Schlosberg. "The work that was put in, and the racing maturity that we continue to develop really has us in position to do some more incredible things ahead. We wouldn't be where we are without the hard work and love that all the coaches and staff bring to this team. This family that we have is quite incredible!"
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
C-Final
Harvard – 6:15.170
Indiana – 6:16.928
Navy – 6:20.048 **15th in Nation
Wisconsin – 6:20.483
Duke – 6:22.440
UCF – 6:34.395
Second Varsity Eight
C-Final
Harvard – 6:25.441
Duke – No Time
Rutgers – 6:30.233
Iowa – 6:32.721
Northeastern – 6:36.083
Navy – 6:39.404 **18th in Nation
First Varsity Four
C-Final
Wisconsin – 7:09.694
UCF – 7:13.604
Iowa – 7:17.531
Navy – 7:21.023 **16th in Nation
Northeastern – 7:28.544
Rhode Island – 7:34.949
Boat Lineups
