WORCESTER, Mass. - Racing at the Eastern Sprints for the first time since 2019, the No. 14 Navy heavyweight rowing team had six boats in action at the all-day event. Competing on a 2,000-meter stretch of Lake Quinsigamond, the Mids saw three crews race in grand finals and another three closing their day in petite finals. At the end of the championship, Navy's sixth varsity eight finished atop standings of its classification, while the Mids' first varsity came in 11th overall.
"It was a day of mixed results," remarked
Rob Friedrich, the Tom & Candy Knudson Director of Navy Rowing. "We had some good heats and some solid finals. I'm proud of our team's resilience in the heat of competition.
"Our 6V highlighted the day with a gold medal and represented our entire deep fleet back at Hubbard Hall."
Each of Navy's top four boats raced twice on Sunday. The Mids' first varsity eight crew started its day with a fast initial heat time. Racing in the third heat of its division, Navy ran up against No. 4 Dartmouth, No. 7 Syracuse, No. 12 Boston University and No. 24 Holy Cross. The Big Green were tops in the heat at 5:49.924 before the Orange and Mids found themselves in a tough one-on-one battle for the final advancement spot from the heat. Tight to the end, Syracuse earned the last position with a 1.994-second advantage, 5:54.677 to 5:56.671 over Navy. The Mids finished over six-plus seconds ahead of the higher-seeded Terriers. In the afternoon petite final, Navy challenged Cornell for the fourth position, though fell by less than a second as the Big Red crossed at 6:17.173 ahead of the Mids' 6:18.090. Overall, Navy finished 11th at the competition.
Navy's second varsity eight also came in second in its initial qualifying heat in the morning. Racing in a spaced-out third heat, the Mids finished seven-plus seconds out of a qualifying spot and over six seconds ahead of fourth place with a time of 6:09.013. In the petite final of the Navy-Syracuse rivalry showed up again at the top of the leaderboard. The Orange completed the 2,000-meter race, 1.32 seconds faster than the Mids, 6:09.513 to 6:10.833. Navy's 2V8 had a slow start that left it in last place during the first half of the race, down the stretch, the Mids sprinted through the field to finish second to the Orange. Navy's second place finish in the petite final helped it place eighth overall.
The Mids' third varsity eight crew posted a time of 6:15.109 in the qualifying heat to place fourth of six. Competing in the petite final, Navy shaved 2.5 seconds off of its heat time and finished third at 6:11.609. Cornell and Boston University came in less than three seconds ahead of Navy with respective times of 6:08.714 and 6:09.131. Overall, Navy's 3V8 ranked ninth at the regatta.
Navy's fourth varsity eight advanced from its morning heat to the grand final with a third-place result of 6:14.620. Navy bested Boston University (6:18.473) and Syracuse (6:22.760) to earn the third and final qualifying position from the heat. In the grand final, the Mids found themselves in a competitive battle with the Princeton Tigers over the final half of the race. At the line, the two teams were separated by just 0.37 seconds as Princeton edged Navy for fifth place, 6:10.050 to 6:10.420.
In the straight-to-final competitions, Navy's fifth varsity eight turned in a time of 6:29.963 to place fourth of five teams.
Navy's sixth varsity eight had a gold medal-winning performance in its grand final as the Mids dominated the four-team field with a 6:23.568 result that was 6.987 seconds ahead of second-place Dartmouth.
"Overall, our boats have learned a lot over the past few weeks and have gained quite a bit of experience," said Friedrich in closing. "Our younger athletes are really starting to make a difference. We are excited to build our speed over the next three weeks and have a great showing at the IRAs."
In the team point standings for the Rowe Cup, Navy finished eighth overall with 9.0 points. Yale finished in first with 25.0 points.
Navy will continue postseason action in three weeks at the 2022 IRA National Championship. Hosted in West Windsor, N.J., the competition runs from June 3 through June 5.
Results
First Varsity 8
Third of 5 in Heat 3 – 5:56.67
Petite Final
Northeastern – 6:10.705
Wisconsin – 6:14.912
Boston Univ. – 6:14.918
Cornell – 6:17.173
Navy – 6:18.090 (11th Overall)
Columbia – 6:27.065
Second Varsity 8
Third of 5 in Heat 3 – 6:09.013
Petite Final
Syracuse – 6:09.513
Navy – 6:10.833 (8th Overall)
Northeastern – 6:12.760
Cornell – 6:12.797
Wisconsin – 6:13.844
Penn – 6:19.437
Third Varsity 8
Fourth of 6 in Heat 2 – 6:14.109
Petite Final
Cornell – 6:08.714
Boston Univ. – 6:09.131
Navy – 6:11.609 (9th Overall)
Wisconsin – 6:17.634
Penn – 6:23.854
Holy Cross – 6:43.866
Fourth Varsity 8
Third of 5 in Heat 2 – 6:14.620
Grand Final
Harvard – 5:59.367
Dartmouth – 6:01.377
Brown – 6:05.025
Yale – 6:08.322
Princeton – 6:10.050
Navy – 6:10.420 (6th Overall)
Fifth Varsity 8
Grand Final
Dartmouth – 6:17.081
Harvard – 6:17.043
Yale – 6:19.066
Navy – 6:29.963 (4th Overall)
Brown – 6:42.893
Sixth Varsity 8
Grand Final
Navy – 6:23.568 (1st Overall)
Dartmouth – 6:30.555
Harvard – 6:37.980
Yale – 6:44.776
Boat Lineups
