FAIRFAX STATION, Va. – The No. 17 Navy heavyweight rowing team collected seven victories over an eight-race slate of competitions on Sunday at the 2023 Occoquan Collegiate Invitational. An all-day event at the Occoquan Reservoir at the Sandy Run Regional Park showcased the Mids' strength with head-to-head duels in the morning before later coming back in the afternoon and racing in multi-team finals.
 
Each of Navy's first, second, third, fourth and fifth varsity eight crews were in action twice on a 2,000-meter stretch of the Occoquan on Sunday. The first and second varsities competed in and won individual contests versus Saint Joseph's before advancing to the A Finals of both classifications. The third, fourth and fifth crews had predetermined matchups in both the morning and afternoon sessions.
 
The Mids' first varsity eight kicked off the day of racing with a win in its one-on-one contest against the Hawks of Saint Joseph's with a 2.08-second margin of victory, 5:51.79 to 5:53.87. Qualified for the A Final, Navy ran into a fast field that ended up being paced by No. 15 Drexel, who won with a 5:40.99 time. No. 21 Holy Cross and No. 22 Georgetown finished in a tight battle for second, 5:42.49 to 5:42.79. The Mids placed fourth overall with a time of 5:47.75.
 
Similar to its brethren in the first crew, Navy's second varsity collected a victory over Saint Joseph's in the morning session. The Mids lead wire-to-wire over the Hawks and cruised to a 6.83-second win, 5:55.64 to 6:02.47. Coming back a few hours later, Navy's 2V found itself in a clash at the top of the leaderboard with Drexel. Close throughout, the Mids edged the Dragons by a 0.17-second margin, 5:55.02 to 5:55.19. Holy Cross and Georgetown rounded out the four-team with respective times of 6:01.98 and 6:05.64.
 
Navy's third varsity eight turned in two dominant performances on Sunday as the Mids eased to a 20-plus victory in the morning as they found that top gear and never looked back throwing down a scorching 5:49.36 time. Hobart (6:12.51) and Jacksonville (6:18.95) had no answer for Navy in the morning contest. In the afternoon session, Navy once again had no troubles crossing the finish line first as the Mids clocked in just under 20 seconds ahead of the Drexel Dragons in a head-to-head race, 5:57.23 to 6:17.21.
 
Navy's fourth and fifth varsity eight crews were matched up together alongside Drexel's fourth varsity in both the morning and afternoon pieces. In the morning, the three boats spiritedly went at each other over the entire 2,000-meter course and were separated by just 2.90 seconds, first-to-third. Navy's 4V was the ultimate victor with winning time of 5:53.90, while Drexel barely held off the Navy 5V by 0.30 seconds, 5:56.25 to 5:56.55. In the ensuing session, Navy's 4V and 5V battled for the top spot and the fifth squad nearly pulled the upset. At the line, the Mids' 4V came in 0.74 seconds ahead, 5:54.12 to 5:54.86 over the 5V. Drexel was over 11 seconds off that pace and came in with a 6:06.02 final result.
 
Next up for the heavyweights is a road trip to Ithaca, N.Y. for the annual Goes Trophy competition between Navy, Cornell and Syracuse.
 
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
AM
Navy – 5:51.79
Saint Joseph's – 5:53.87
 
PM Finals
Drexel – 5:40.99
Holy Cross – 5:42.49
Georgetown – 5:42.79
Navy – 5:47.75
 
Second Varsity Eight
AM
Navy – 5:55.64
Saint Joseph's – 6:02.47
 
PM Finals
Navy – 5:55.02
Drexel – 5:55.19
Holy Cross – 6:01.98
Georgetown – 6:05.64
 
Third Varsity Eight
AM
Navy – 5:49.36
Hobart – 6:12.51
Jacksonville – 6:18.95
 
PM
Navy – 5:57.23
Drexel – 6:17.21
 
Fourth Varsity Eight
AM
Navy 4V – 5:53.90
Drexel 4V – 5:56.25
Navy 5V – 5:56.55
 
PM
Navy 4V – 5:54.12
Navy 5V – 5:54.86
Drexel 4V – 6:06.02

Boat Lineups

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