RALEIGH, N.C. – The Navy women's rowing team concluded its action at the 2023 Lake Wheeler Invitational on Saturday with five strong pieces from across its ranks. After competing twice on Friday against a challenging fleet of national programs, the Mids went down the waters of Lake Wheeler one more time on Saturday as the team continues to prepare for upcoming postseason racing. Navy's first varsity eight and first varsity four highlighted the Mids' effort on the day as both finished runner-up in their respective races.
With threatening weather on the horizon for mid-day in the North Carolina triangle region, Saturday's racing was moved up and focused on the NCAA boats first. Getting on the water for the first contest of the day at 7:30 a.m., Navy's first varsity eight turned in a fast and spirited 2,000-meter piece in heat number one. Part of a three-boat breakaway at the front of the six-team field, the Mids finished in the middle of the SEC pairing of Alabama and Tennessee. The Crimson Tide earned the heat's victory with a time of 6:44.600, while the Mids held off the Volunteers, 6:47.070 to 6:48.880. The rest of the field consisted of UCF (6:55.540) in fourth, Georgetown (7:00.920) in fifth and North Carolina (7:04.600) in sixth. In a potential look-ahead to May's Patriot League Championship, Navy's chief rival, Boston University's time on Saturday was 1.401 seconds slower at 6:48.471 in Heat 3.
Those same six teams competed in the ensuing second varsity eight contest. The aforementioned SEC duo of Tennessee and Alabama paced the 2V8 race on Saturday as the Volunteers turned in a dominant 6:49.259 time ahead of the Crimson Tide's 6:57.825. After UCF placed third at 7:09.433, Georgetown and Navy found themselves in a tight battle to the finish line as Hoyas eked out 0.29-second advantage over the Mids, 7:14.033 to 7:14.323. North Carolina rounded out the field with a 7:18.657 result.
Navy's first varsity four equaled the output of its first varsity eight crew with a second-place effort on Saturday. Tennessee ended up crossing the finish line first with a V4 time of 7:37.863. Navy and UCF duked it out down the stretch of the Lake Wheeler course with the Mids clocking in 1.152 seconds ahead, 7:41.527 to 7:42.679. Looking across the other heats, Boston U.'s V4 posted a time of 8:03.737 in its respective heat on Saturday.
In lower boat action, Navy's third varsity eight turned in a third-place result, while the Mids' second varsity four finished fourth in its heat. Navy's 3V8 completed its piece with a time of 7:27.372 as part of spaced-out heat that saw Alabama and Tennessee go one-two at 7:14.252 and 7:19.170, respectively. The Mids' 2V4 posted a 8:10.509 time that just came short of matching UCF's third-place time of 8:09.487.
"It was great to be back at Lake Wheeler," remarked head coach
Joe Schlosberg. "This competition not only provides us with the chance to see so many great teams, but also gives us the opportunity to race, learn some things, make adjustments and quickly race again. Each boat did just that this weekend."
Following a successful weekend of racing, Navy finished ninth in the team standings of the 2023 Lake Wheeler Invitational. Getting better through each session, the Mids increased their team point totals from two to eight to 13 points for a cumulative total of 23.
Next up for Navy will be the regular season finale at the UVA Invite on Saturday, April 29.
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
Alabama – 6:44.660
Navy – 6:47.070
Tennessee – 6:48.880
UCF – 6:55.540
Georgetown – 7:00.920
North Carolina – 7:04.600
Second Varsity Eight
Tennessee – 6:49.259
Alabama – 6:57.825
UCF – 7:09.433
Georgetown – 7:14.033
Navy – 7:14.323
North Carolina – 7:18.657
Third Varsity Eight
Alabama – 7:14.252
Tennessee – 7:19.170
Navy – 7:27.372
North Carolina – 7:32.412
Georgetown – 7:47.760
UCF – 7:52.002
First Varsity Four
Tennessee – 7:37.863
Navy – 7:41.527
UCF – 7:42.679
Alabama – 7:48.399
Georgetown – 7:59.043
North Carolina – 8:08.281
Second Varsity Four
Alabama – 7:55.217
Tennessee – 7:59.833
UCF – 8:09.487
Navy – 8:10.509
North Carolina – 8:24.253
Syracuse 3V4 – 8:36.849
Boat Lineups
