WEST WINDSOR, N.J. - The Navy heavyweight rowing team began the first of two days of action at the 2021 IRA National Championships on Friday with solid performances from across its four-boat fleet. The Mids' third varsity eight crew highlighted the program's effort as they posted the fourth fastest time trials result in the morning followed by a grand final qualifying effort in the afternoon's semifinal.
 
"Today our team was led by our five 1/C midshipmen who made the tough decision to miss their graduation today back at the Naval Academy to compete with their teammates at the National Championship," remarked head coach Rob Friedrich. "They will have a small Commissioning Ceremony next week, when they will officially become officers in the U.S. Navy."
 
Navy's first varsity eight was first on the waters of Mercer Lake in afternoon semifinal action. Seeded ninth following Friday's earlier time trials (5:34.157 time), the Mids were fast once again, but had the unfortunately luck of being in an extremely fast semifinal heat. Matched up with California, Stanford and Brown, as well as Oregon State and Temple, Navy clocked in with a 6:24.409 result, that ranked fourth in its heat, but sixth overall amongst the 30 teams in semifinal action. Per the rules of the progression, California and Stanford earned the two qualifying positions in tomorrow's grand final with respective times of 6:19.449 and 6:21.206. Brown placed third in semifinal at 6:21.720. Navy's V8 will be in action on Saturday morning at 9:50 a.m. in the petite final with the opportunity to battle for positions, seven through 12.
 
"Our varsity boat had a solid morning in the time trial, besting their seed by two places," said Friedrich. "They found themselves in a tough semi-final that posted some of the fastest times of the afternoon. They are looking forward to lining up against some strong competition tomorrow and finish the season on a high note. We have no seniors in our first Varsity boat, which bodes well for the future... actually, the whole team is fairly young and we've been very proud of our walk-on plebes and youngsters, who have shown great promise and have a bright future ahead of them."
 
The Mids' second varsity eight was the next crew in action on Friday afternoon. Also seeded ninth in its classification after a morning time trial result of 5:50.351, Navy was matched up in heat number three with the likes of Dartmouth, Syracuse, Brown, Williams College and UC San Diego. At the completion of the 2,000 meter piece, the Mids placed fourth with a time of 6:40.707. Dartmouth and Syracuse claimed the top-two qualifying spots for the grand final with times of 6:21.919 and 6:23.319, respectively. Navy's 2V8 will compete on Saturday morning in the petite final at 9:00 a.m. with the chance to place between seventh and 12th position.
 
"Tiffany Johnstone, Griffin Hamilton, and Jerra Ewing led our second varsity boat to a solid time trial finish in the morning, posting a time ahead of Brown and Wisconsin and not far off the teams competing for the grand final," said Friedrich. "In the afternoon, they struggled a bit in the rough water but we are excited to watch them have a strong finals day tomorrow."
 
The last eight-man boat to compete under the Navy banner on Friday was the Mids' 3V8 crew. Strong throughout the day, Navy turned in the fourth fastest time in the morning time trials with a 6:15.428 result. In the third heat of the afternoon semifinals, the Mids earned their way into Saturday's grand final by placing second to Dartmouth. The Big Green clocked in at 6:35.631, while the Mids finished comfortably in second at 6:42.745. Navy's time was 4.04 seconds faster than Saint Joseph's (6:46.785). Saturday's grand final is scheduled for 8:20 a.m.
 
"1/C Josey Troyer was the senior leader in our third varsity boat which had a fantastic morning, posting the fourth fastest time among all the 3Vs," remarked Friedrich. "In the afternoon, they had another solid row to qualify for the grand final and they look poised to contend for medals among the top teams in the country."
 
The final Midshipmen entry at the IRAs was its varsity four. Saddled with tough conditions as the last classification to race in the morning's time trials, Navy turned in the tenth-best time at 7:08.449. That storyline of difficult water and wind conditions reared its ugly head and forced race officials to deem Mercer Lake unfit for smaller boats, thereby cancelling the afternoon semifinals. As a result, the Mids will advance to Saturday's petite final based on their time trial. Navy will be one of seven boats battling for positions eight through 14 in the 10:20 a.m. race.
 
"Senior M.J. Duffy brings a wealth of rowing knowledge to the varsity four as the stroke seat of the boat," said Friedrich. "The Four had a solid row in the morning and was hoping for an even better afternoon, but the fours semifinals were canceled due to bad weather. They have one more shot to race in the petite final tomorrow morning."
 
At the conclusion of day one of competition in West Windsor, N.J, all four of Navy's crews had qualified for the top-two finals, with the Mids' 3V8 set to race in a grand final, while the V8, 2V8 and V4 will all compete in petite finals.
 
Results
 
First Varsity Eight
Time Trials: 9th seed – 5:34.157
Afternoon Semifinals Heat #3
California – 6:19.449
Stanford – 6:21.206
Brown – 6:21.720
Navy – 6:24.409 (6^th fastest)
Oregon State – 6:40.231
Temple – 6:44.600
            Next Up: Petite Finals (Saturday, 9:50 AM)
 
Second Varsity Eight
Time Trials: 9th Seed – 5:50.351
Afternoon Semifinals Heat #3
Dartmouth – 6:21.919
Syracuse – 6:23.391
Brown – 6:26.105
Navy – 6:40.707
Williams – 6:55.039
UC San Diego – 7:00.839
            Next Up: Petite Finals (Saturday, 9:00 AM)
 
Third Varsity Eight
Time Trials: 4th Seed – 6:15.428
Afternoon Semifinals Heat #3
Dartmouth – 6:35.631
Navy – 6:42.745
Saint Joseph's – 6:46.785
George Washington – 6:54.516
Marietta College – 7:18.089
Hobart – 7:41.225
            Next Up: Grand Finals (Saturday, 8:20 AM)
 
Varsity Four
Time Trials: 10th Seed – 7:08.449
Afternoon Semifinals – Cancelled
            Next Up: Petite Finals (Saturday, 10:20 AM)

Boat Lineups
 

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

 

	First Varsity Four
1	William Wright
2	Joseph Colley
3	Connor Feeley
4	M.J. Duffy
Cox.	Zack Shieh