CHERRY HILL, N.J. – The Navy women's rowing program continued its string of dominance over the Patriot League with a clean sweep at the league's 2021 Championship on Friday. Racing on the Cooper River amongst a field of seven league foes, the Mids made certain that they would punch their ticket for a return trip to the NCAA Championship as the conference's automatic qualifier with a clean sweep of the day's grand final action in first varsity eight, second varsity eight and first varsity four competitions.
Earning all 54 team points for finishing atop the standings of the three individual races, Navy was pressured by Bucknell, who garnered 47 points and Boston University, who placed third with 43 points. Colgate and Holy Cross rounded out the top-five with respective team totals of 32 and 28 points. Lehigh (26 pts) and Loyola (19) finished sixth and seventh overall.
"Months ago, in a meeting with the coaches and Patriot League staff, I remember saying that I'm going to be so thankful when we get to race the Patriot League Championship again," remarked head coach
Joe Schlosberg. "All schools have gone through their own challenges this past year and getting to line up today was so gratifying after everything that has happened in the last 14 months.
"The teams in the Patriot League came in on Friday with guns blazing. We had to work to get out and then try and hold off hard-charging Bucknell and BU squads. I'm so proud of our efforts today to win this championship!"
The Mids' second varsity eight crew of
Skylar Lodice,
Cathy Meehan,
Katie Roland,
Kate Long,
Claire Schnorr,
Maura Dawson,
Caroline Coleman,
Elizabeth Downing and coxswain
Natalie Graham was the first to score points for Navy on Friday afternoon as it earned 18 with the outright victory. After cruising to a 24.260-second victory in heat one of the morning prelim race, the Mids found themselves in a tough three-team battle in the grand final. Boston University and Bucknell both broke away early from Navy with strong respective opening sprints. Tight during the opening 500 meters, all three lead crews were within three seats of each other. Boston was the first team to fall off the pace of this trio as Navy and Bucknell were even at the mid-way point. The Mids continued charging hard through the field and overtook the Bison soon after and broke out to a full length lead over Bucknell by the 1,500-meter mark. Accelerating away, Navy earned the 2V8 title with a time of 7:07.199, 4.176 seconds ahead of Bucknell (7:11.375). Boston concluded the race at 7:19.493.
"The second eight led us off in finals action," said Schlosberg. "Bucknell and Boston got off the line well and we were sitting in third for a while. We were incredibly patient and slowly worked our way back through Boston first and then Bucknell. Once they got the lead, they never lost it."
Varsity four action was next up on the Cooper River. The top-seeded Mids crushed their opposition in the morning heat race as they out-paced the field by 51.542 seconds. In the grand finals, Navy got off to a fast start though Bucknell and Boston broke equally as good. Stroke-for-stroke over the opening 250 minutes, Navy hit its stride soon after and moved into clear water by the 750-meter mark. Over the next 1,250 meters, the Mids held that lead and coasted to a 3.154-second victory over Boston, 7:40.074 to 7:43.228. Bucknell was 0.348 seconds back of Boston in third place at 7:43.576. Racing for Navy in the V4 on Friday were
Sofia Ferguson,
Sky Schork,
Brienna Voss,
Phoebe Haller with
Elle Perozzi serving as the victorious coxswain.
"In the varsity four it was a similar start as we sat in third early for the first 250 meters," said Schlosberg. "Once we got moving we worked through Bucknell and BU and held that lead to the finish."
Having collected 27 of a potential 27 team points, the scene was set for Navy to collect its sixth straight league title via the first varsity eight race. Knowing that a second-place finish would clinch the team championship, the Mids' V8 wanted more and looked to complete three-race sweep. The grand final opened extremely even with Navy, Boston and Bucknell starting out nearly equal with Lehigh and Colgate close behind the lead trio. The Mids slowly crept ahead taking a one-seat lead by the quarter point of the race. Navy continued its pace and pulled away to as much as an eight-seat lead over Bucknell at the 1,500-meter mark. Down the stretch, a game Bison squad tried to make a late run at the Mids' lead, but Navy would not be denied. The Mids clocked in 2.748 seconds ahead of the Bison, 6:34.638 to 6:37.386.
Sarah Zanzuri,
Margaret Lane,
Millie Oldham,
Hanna Prince,
Alexandria Vallancey-Martinson,
Lauren Day,
Brooke Campbell,
Ellie Dabney and coxswain
Polly Finch made up the lineup that earned 2021 Patriot League Boat of the Year honors.
"The varsity eight was a tight four/five-boat race for the first 500 meters," remarked Schlosberg. "By the 1,000-meter mark, we pushed out on the field and maintained control through the third 500. With about 400 meters to go, Bucknell made a huge push to try and come back into us, but we were able to do what we needed to do and held them off."
The three-race sweep was the second in as many league championships as the Mids placed first in the V8, 2V8 and V4 contests in 2019.
In recognition of Navy's team title, head coach
Joe Schlosberg was honored as the 2021 Patriot League Coach of the Year.
The league championship is the eighth in program history as Navy has now taken the crown in 2005, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
As champions of the Patriot League, the Mids will represent the conference at the 2021 NCAA Division I Rowing Championships on May 28 through 30. The action will be contested at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla.
"We'll enjoy today's championship for a short bit, but soon we'll switch gears and focus on representing the Naval Academy and the Patriot League at the NCAA Championship, which we are all very excited to do," said Schlosberg in closing.
Results
First Varsity 8
First of 3 in Heat 1 - 6:49.334 (+16.064 seconds)
Grand Final
Navy – 6:34.638
Bucknell – 6:37.386
Boston U. – 6:43.674
Lehigh – 6:46.526
Colgate – 7:14.516
Holy Cross – 7:21.044
Loyola – 7:35.757
Second Varsity 8
First of 3 in Heat 1 – 7:10.966 (+24.260 seconds)
Grand Final
Navy – 7:07.199
Bucknell – 7:11.375
Boston U. – 7:19.493
Colgate – 7:26.157
Holy Cross – 7:37.745
Lehigh – 7:46.881
Loyola – 8:02.225
First Varsity 4
First of 3 in Heat 1 – 7:50.149 (+51.542 seconds)
Grand Final
Navy – 7:40.074
Boston U. – 7:43.228
Bucknell – 7:43.576
Holy Cross – 8:35.500
Colgate – 8:42.400
Loyola – 9:29.916
Team Standings
Navy – 54
Bucknell – 47
Boston U. – 43
Colgate – 32
Holy Cross – 28
Lehigh – 26
Loyola - 19
Boat Lineups
