SARASOTA, Fla. – The Navy women's rowing team had a series of strong results on Saturday in its three respective C/D Semifinals at the 2021 NCAA Championship. After the racing at the Nathan Benderson Park, all three Midshipmen crews advanced to the C Finals by finishing amongst the top-three positions in the V8, 2V8 and V4 competitions.
"After the first day of races, we regrouped and made some adjustments," remarked head coach
Joe Schlosberg. "We are picking up race experience on the fly. One of our biggest goals was to continue to get faster throughout the championship. We are doing that across all three boats and it'll set us up for an exciting final day on Sunday."
The Mids' first varsity eight crew was the first in action in Saturday's round of semifinals. Racing as part of the first C/D Semifinal, Navy navigated the 2,000-meter course wire-to-wire in third place as the boat checked in at all four markers, 500m, 1000m, 1500m and the finish behind Wisconsin and Washington State and ahead of Northeastern and Marist. Comfortable in the last progression spot to Sunday's C-Final, the Mids clocked in with a time of 6:34.925. Navy will compete for national positions 13 through 18 tomorrow morning beginning at 9:12 a.m.
Navy's second varsity eight also placed third in its C/D Semifinal, but had a different route to that outcome as the Mids stood fourth of five boats at the midway point. 1,000 meters into the contest, Navy clocked in with a time of 3:22.324, over two seconds behind Northeastern (3:20.180). Over the ensuing 500 meters, the Mids found that next gear and overtook the Huskies, coming in 0.068 seconds ahead, 5:03.772 to 5:03.840. Navy held that momentum over the final 500 meters and closed out the race with a C-Final qualifying time of 6:43.125. Northeastern was 2.57 seconds back at 6:45.695. The Mids' 2V8 will conclude competition at the NCAAs tomorrow morning at 8:48 a.m.
The third and final boat in Navy's fleet to race on Saturday was the varsity four. The Mids came out of the starting gates fast as they paced the field at the 500-meter mark with a time of 1:46.191, 0.636 seconds ahead of the then second-place team, Wisconsin. After that fast opening quarter of racing, the Mids settled into third place for the final 1,500 meters of action and eventually crossed the finish line with a time of 7:22.851. The Princeton Tigers finished 3.85 seconds ahead in second place at 7:19.001. Navy's V4 will round out its 2021 NCAA Championship action on Sunday morning at 8:24 a.m.
Results
First Varsity Eight
C/D Semifinals #1
Wisconsin – 6:26.975
Washington State – 6:29.269
Navy – 6:34.925
Northeastern – 6:40.013
Marist – 6:53.574
Next Up: C Finals (Sunday, 9:12 AM)
Second Varsity Eight
C/D Semifinals #2
Duke – 6:35.019
Tennessee – 6:38.451
Navy – 6:43.125
Northeastern – 6:45.695
Gonzaga – 7:00.949
Next Up: C Finals (Sunday, 8:48 AM)
First Varsity Four
C/D Semifinals #2
Wisconsin – 7:14.995
Princeton – 7:19.001
Navy – 7:22.851
Rhode Island – 7:41.015
Marist – 7:49.809
Next Up: C Finals (Sunday, 8:24 AM)
Boat Lineups
