LEONIA, N.J. – The Navy women's rowing program had a successful start to its 2021 season with a pair of victories as part of a three-race event with Northeastern University on Saturday. Racing at Overpeck Park in Northern New Jersey, the 20th-ranked Mids collected wins in the first varsity eight and first varsity four competitions. Saturday's action was the first for Navy since the 2019 NCAA Championship, 671 days ago.
"It was great to get back on the race course today," exclaimed head coach
Joe Schlosberg. "We are grateful to everyone that has had a hand in getting us here and it's a long extensive list.
"So after coming off of a month without practicing, it was only fitting that we were met with some adversity before the racing began. A huge thanks to Northeastern's Richard Schroeder for helping to get us up and running again."
Saturday's race lineup went second varsity eight, varsity fours and first varsity eight.
In a matchup of Northeastern, the six-time defending champs of the Colonial Athletic Association and Navy, winners of five straight Patriot League titles, the second varsity eight race set the tone for the day of competition. The two teams battled stroke-for-stroke the entire time. Coming down to the finish line, the Huskies edged the Mids by 0.3 seconds, 7:36.13 to 7:36.43.
"The second eight led us off," remarked Schlosberg. "They pushed out on Northeastern a few seats at the start and maintained that lead for most of the race. Northeastern had a fantastic push late and was able to sneak their bow ahead of us. It was a really good, hard race for that boat."
In the ensuing varsity four action, each program had two entries. Navy's fleet left little debate as to who was superior as the Mids' A and B boats finished first and second, just over two seconds a part from each other. Navy's A boat clocked in at 8:18.19, while its B boat came in at 8:20.23. Northeastern's top crew was four seconds off of that pace at 8:24.42. The Huskies' second boat did not record an official time, but was a length behind in fourth place.
"In the fours, we lined up four boats across," said Schlosberg. "Racing was tight early, but both of our fours pulled out on Northeastern and battled down the rest of the way."
After the teams split the first two races, first varsity eight action closed out the day. Navy ended the competition as the ultimate winner with a strong a 3.5-second victory. The Mids crossed the line at the conclusion of the 2,000-meter race with a time of 7:06.48, while the Huskies posted a 7:09.98 result.
"In the first eight, we were able to get a few seats on Northeastern in the first 250m," remarked Schlosberg. "As the race developed, we had to work to get a few more seats in the middle thousand meters. In the end, we were able to hold off a Northeastern boat that just stayed locked onto us the whole race.
"All in all, we are happy to race again. We got some great racing in versus Northeastern and now we can look forward to building on it!"
Navy will be back in action in two weeks on Saturday, April 17 versus George Washington. The Mids will host the Colonials for racing on the Severn River.
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
Navy – 7:06.48
Northeastern – 7:09.98
Second Varsity Eight
Northeastern – 7:36.13
Navy – 7:36.43
First Varsity Four
Navy A – 8:18.19
Navy B – 8:20.23
Northeastern A – 8:24.42
Northeastern B – No Time, Length behind NE-A
Boat Lineups
