PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 15 Navy heavyweight rowing team opened its 2023 season with the tough task of racing the No. 9 Princeton Tigers on the squad's home waters on Saturday morning. Going head-to-head with the Tigers over a five-race slate at Lake Carnegie, the Mids raced hard throughout and finished the meet with a victory in the fifth varsity contest.
 
The action on Saturday started out with the first varsity eight crews setting off down a 2,000-meter stretch of Lake Carnegie with the Navy-Princeton Cup on the line. The current holders of the trophy, the Tigers made sure that they would retain the hardware as they led wire-to-wire over the Mids with a 5:34.1 to 5:56.4 final decision.
 
The second varsity eight race saw Princeton break out to an early lead and hold off Navy by nearly eight seconds, 5:42.8 to 5:50.6.
 
The third varsity eight contest was the closest in the series of races between the Tigers and Mids on Saturday as a late sprint by the visitors to the finish line saw the margin of victory go final by just 0.4 seconds. Unfortunately for Navy its last-ditch push came up short as Princeton clocked in at 5:48.9 versus a 5:49.3 mark for the Mids.
 
The Tigers earned their fourth victory in as many races as they posted a 6.1-second win over the Mids, 5:51.1 to 5:57.2.
 
Navy kept its competitiveness up until the end versus Princeton as its fifth varsity crew collected the program's first win of the session. The Mids led wire-to-wire over the Tigers with a strong opening sprint that saw them break out to an open-water lead before the midway point of the race. Over the second half of the contest, Navy continued increasing its advantage before eventually clocking in 11.5 seconds, 5:59.0 to 6:10.5.
 
"We are very proud of our 5V for beating Princeton today and our 3V for making it a very tight race at the end," remarked head coach Rob Friedrich. "Our top-three boats are very tight and we have a lot more selection and development to get done. We've got a great group of hard-working guys that will continue to develop."
 
Navy will continue early season action at the Occoquan Invitational next Sunday, April 9 at Sandy Run Park in Fairfax, Virginia.
  
Results
First Varsity
Princeton – 5:34.1
Navy – 5:56.4
 
Second Varsity
Princeton – 5:42.8
Navy – 5:50.6
 
Third Varsity
Princeton – 5:48.9
Navy – 5:49.3
 
Fourth Varsity
Princeton – 5:51.1
Navy – 5:57.2
 
Fifth Varsity
Navy – 5:59.0
Princeton – 6:10.5


Boat Lineups

	First Varsity Eight	Second Varsity Eight	Third Varsity Eight	Fourth Varsity Eight	Fifth Varsity Eight
1	Jack Mollohan	Sam Beach	Kyle Perry	George Wright	Mark Ostrowski
2	Nick Bostock	Robert Freimuth	Josiah Glynn	Nathan Pawlowicz	Fletcher Matthews
3	Aidan Leavy	Rory Hagerty	Nathaniel Erickson	Claudio Montero	Chris Spencer
4	Carey Hutchens	Benjamin Vogel	Tripp Richardson	Alex Coelho	Colin Lang
5	Reed Romo	Ethan Barton	Nick Duncan	Ollen Brown	William Wright
6	Billy Duffy	Connor Feeley	Matthew Lexa	Gavin Frazer	Robert Trafford
7	Will Holsinger	Adrien Richez	Alex Vogel	Gabriel Eller	Josh Herbert
Str.	John McNicholas	Ryan Hollenbach	Duncan Ayles	Matthew Derrick	Alexander Grande
Cox.	Alex Coleman	Zack Shieh	Ava Izenour	Bradley Glass	Emily Kraft