ANNAPOLIS, Md. - With postseason racing on the horizon next month, the Navy heavyweight rowing team will begin zeroing in on postseason speed with its second-to-last contest of the regular season on Saturday morning. Heading to Philadelphia for racing on the Schuylkill River, No. 17 Navy will be going up against the pairing of No. 7 Harvard and No. 14 Penn with the Adams Cup on the line in the featured first varsity event. The five-race slate starts at 8:00 a.m. with the fifth varsity crews in action and should culminate just over an hour later following the fourth varsity eight contest.

The entire schedule for Saturday will see the races go off in 15-minute increments with the above-mentioned fifth varsity kicking off the competition at 8:00 a.m. Next up will be the third varsity eights at 8:15 a.m. before giving way to the Adams Cup competition between the first crews at 8:30 a.m. The second and fourth varsities will go off respectively at 8:45 and 9:00 a.m. After the racing is complete, the Clothier Cup will go home with the winner of the team points competition.

Most Recent Adams Cup Competition: April 23, 2022 in Boston
Racing as one of three teams on the Charles River on Saturday morning, the No. 14 Navy heavyweight squad was challenged throughout a five-race slate by No. 5 Harvard and No. 15 Penn. At the completion of the action, the Mids were victorious in the fifth varsity contest and came in runner-up in three other races.

The Adams Cup was on the line for the first varsity crews in the second race of the day. Competitive over the opening 1,500 meters, the host Crimson pulled away from the Mids over the final quarter of the race for a seven-second margin of victory at 5:49.8 to 5:56.8. Navy nearly held that same margin over Penn as the Quakers were 6.3 seconds back at 6:03.1.

What's at Stake
Adams Cup 
The cup is awarded to the winner of the varsity eight race between Navy, Harvard and Penn. The trophy was placed into competition in 1933 and honors Charles Francis Adams, who was a Harvard graduate and former Secretary of the Navy. All-time Harvard has 57 wins, while Penn has 14 titles and Navy is one back with 13, respectively.

Clothier Cup
This will be the sixth annual race of the Clothier Trophy, which is a team points trophy for the Navy/Harvard/Penn heavyweight race. It was donated by the Navy Crews of 1984.

Last Time Out: April 15 at Cornell & Syracuse
The Navy heavyweight rowing program had a solid day of racing on Saturday in Central New York. Taking on the No. 4 Syracuse Orange and No. 12 Cornell Big Red over a six-race slate at the Cayuga Inlet, the Mids recorded two wins and three more runner-up results. Victories by Navy's fourth and fifth varsity eight crews highlighted the action.

The first varsity eight crews took center stage next with the Goes Cup on the line. The Orange were challenged early, but pulled away quickly to clear the field by 9.5 seconds with a final time of 5:33.8. The Mids and Big Red were in a tightly-contested two-boat race for second place. Down the stretch, Cornell held on for a 0.7-second margin edging Navy, 5:43.3 to 5:44.0.

Race Schedule
8:00 AM - Fifth Varsity Eight
8:15 AM - Third Varsity Eight
8:30 AM - First Varsity Eight (Adams Cup)
8:45 AM - Second Varsity Eight
9:00 AM - Fourth Varsity Eight