ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A showdown between two of the nation's top heavyweight rowing crews lies ahead this Sunday in Northern New Jersey when No. 7 Navy goes head-to-head with No. 5 Boston University. Scheduled for three races, the action at Overpeck Park in Leonia, N.J. is set to go live at 1 p.m. In the first weekly IRCA Men's Varsity Eight National Poll of 2021, both teams find themselves squarely in the top-10 coming into this matchup as the Mids have a 3-1 record through four competitions, while the Terriers opened their season with a loss on April 10 to No. 3 Northeastern.

The racing on Sunday will go in a third, second and first varsity eight order starting at 1:00 p.m. Heading out in 20-minute increments, the 2V8s will race at 1:20 p.m. before the first varsities wrap up the competition at 1:40 p.m.

The coaching staff from Navy plans on providing live video on the team's Facebook page "Navy Crew".

Navy vs. Boston University 
Two of the more accomplished programs in the Eastern Sprints League, the Mids and Terriers have rarely met in regular season action. The last non-postseason matchup between Navy and Boston University came in 1989. Most recently, at the 2019 Eastern Sprints, BU finished four spots ahead of Navy, as the Terriers placed sixth versus 10th for the Mids. A few weeks later at the IRA National Championship, Boston's V8 came in six positions ahead, eighth to 14th. 

Last Time Out vs. #10 George Washington & R/V Jacksonville
Racing on a 2,000-meter stretch of the Occoquan Reservoir in Northern Virginia last Sunday, April 18 against Syracuse in the morning and Jacksonville in the afternoon, the Mids went 1-1 in first varsity eight competitions before collecting three wins over the other four combined races.

Syracuse led throughout most of the V8 contest slowly inching out ahead of Navy over the course of the race to take a final margin of victory of 7.47 seconds, 5:58.10 to 6:05.57. Taking on a game Jacksonville squad later in the day, the Mids broke away from the starting line fast and ended up earning a wire-to-wire victory as they cleared the Dolphins by the halfway mark and were more than two boat lengths away by the 1,500-meter buoy. At the end, Navy's V8 was victorious by 15.47 seconds, 6:11.32 to 6:26.79.

Race Schedule
1:00 PM - Third Varsity Eight
1:20 PM - Second Varsity Eight
1:40 PM - First Varsity Eight