LEONIA, N.J. – The No. 7 Navy heavyweight rowing team split a three-race slate with No. 5 Boston University at Overpeck Park in Northern New Jersey on Sunday. Racing in a head-to-head format for the first time since 1989, the Mids (3-2) and Terriers (1-1) each earned a win in 2V and 3V action before the first varsity eight crews closed the day with a back-and-forth duel that saw Boston edge Navy late by less than a second.
 
"I'm very proud of how aggressive our boats raced today against BU," remarked head coach Rob Friedrich. "We did not come out on top in every race, but we proved that we have the speed to compete with the top crews in the nation. This is a young group and we made some huge improvements in just one week and I expect our boats will be much faster by the IRA National Championship."
 
A contest between the third varsity crews started the action on Sunday. Fast out of the starting blocks, the Terriers took a wire-to-wire win over the Mids by withstanding a Navy comeback in the second half of the race. The Mids tried to rally late and got as close as four seats with 500 meters to go before Boston held on for a 1.99-second victory, 6:33.67 to 6:35.66.
 
"Our 3V did not get off the line well, but they hung in there against a strong BU crew and managed to narrow the gap in the last 1,000 meters," said Friedrich. "We have some raw talent in that boat, including two novice freshmen, and it's great to see how they improve dramatically at every practice."
 
Navy evened up the meet with a dominant performance by its second varsity crew. Strong from the start, the Mids were clear of the Terriers within the first 500 meters of the race and had a boat-plus length lead for most of the final 1,000 meters for a 6.34-second margin of victory. Navy clocked in 6:32.84, while BU finished the 2,000 meter race at 6:39.18.
 
"The race of the day was from our Second Varsity," remarked Friedrich. "They took a commanding lead early and never took their foot off the pedal. Our goal was to come out more aggressive than last week and they definitely poured it on early."
 
With the matchup knotted at one win each, the first varsity crews concluded the day of racing with a classic nip-and-tuck battle. Navy's top boat broke out early with a fast start and had an approximate four-seat lead on BU within the first minute of racing. The Mids continued revving high and cleared the Terriers prior to reaching the midway mark. Navy held its lead over Boston deep into the race before the Terriers unleashed a torrid sprint to the finish line to earn the come-from-behind 0.8-second win. The final times for the first varsities were 6:17.38 for BU and 6:18.18 for Navy.
 
"Our varsity went for it today...they had a great start and had a one length lead on BU early," said Friedrich. "They were able to hold that margin until 500 meters to go, when BU started to move. It wasn't until the last 250 meters when BU started to pull even. I give all credit to BU for their fantastic sprint. Today our First Varsity learned a great lesson and I'm looking forward to seeing them improve their finishing speed in the last few weeks of the season."
 
Navy will close out its regular season next Sunday, May 2 with a three-team meet at Overpeck Park. The Mids are scheduled to race versus George Washington and Holy Cross.
 
Race Results

First Varsity Eight
Boston Univ. – 6:17.38
Navy – 6:18.18
 
Second Varsity Eight
Navy – 6:32.84
Boston Univ. – 6:39.18
 
Third Varsity Eight
Boston Univ. – 6:33.67
Navy – 6:35.66

Boat Lineups
 

	First Varsity Eight	Second Varsity Eight	Third Varsity Eight
1	Billy Duffy	Mark Ostrowski	Hill Atwell
2	Reed Schilb	Luke Phelan	Robert Freimuth
3	James Walsh	Claudio Montero	Nathaniel Erickson
4	Ian Dennis	Carey Hutchens	Alex Sucato
5	Griffin Dunne	Aidan Leavy	Sam Beach
6	Will Geib	Griffin Hamilton	Evan Robertson
7	James Sills	Peter Faber	Nick Bostock
Str.	James Pushner	Jack Gill	Jerra Ewing
Cox.	Matthew Catanoso	Tiffany Johnstone	Alex Coleman