ANNAPOLIS, Md. - After a strong and competitive regular season, the Navy women's rowing team will lay it all on the line Friday with a chance to grab gold at the 2023 Patriot League Championship. Racing on a 2,000-meter stretch of Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., the Mids will be on the hunt for their ninth conference crown in program history. All-time, Navy has won league titles in 2005, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. The winner of Friday's Patriot League Championship will earn the conference's automatic bid into the 2023 NCAA Championship that is set for Cherry Hill, N.J., May 26 through 28. The racing on Friday begins at 8:00 a.m. with preliminary heats before advancing to championship finals at 1:15 p.m. All of the action will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live results provided as well.

ESPN+ is a subscription-based streaming service that requires patrons to sign-up for monthly or yearly plans prior to tuning into the contest.

Navy is seeded first or second in all three classifications: first varsity eight, second varsity eight and first varsity four. The Mids' V4 boat is the highest ranked as it is seeded number one overall in the nine-team field. Navy's V8 and 2V8 is ranked second overall in their respective events, seeded just behind Boston University. The boats were seeded based on a coaches' vote in consideration of regular season results.

Navy's official race times for the morning prelims are set for 8:00 AM - First Varsity Four ... 8:30 AM - Second Varsity Eight ... 8:50 AM - First Varsity Eight. Each classification will have two heats of either four or five crews. The top-three finishing boats in each of the two heats advance to grand final action, while the remaining squads will race in the petite finals for positions, seven through nine.

This year's championship will be scored on a weighted scale, with nine points for the winner of the varsity four race, 18 for the second varsity eight and 27 for the varsity eight. The Patriot League Championship will be awarded to the school that accumulates the most total points in the three races. If there is a tie in final point total, the higher-place finisher of the varsity eight race is crowned Patriot League champion. Awards will also be given for Coach of the Year and Boat of the Year.

The complete field at Lake Quinsigamond this Friday will consist of Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Loyola, MIT and Navy.

Navy at the Patriot League Championship
Competing at the Patriot League Championship since 2005, the Mids have won 28 individual boat titles: six in the first varsity eight, 11 in the second varsity eight and 11 in the first varsity four events. The program swept the three-race slate completely in 2005, 2015, 2019 and 2021. These boat titles had direct impact on Navy taking home the league team championship eight times: 2005, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. (There was no championship in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)

Last Five Patriot League Championships
2022: V8-3rd ... 2V8-2nd ... V4-1st
    Boston 50 team points // Bucknell 48 // Navy 46
2021: V8-1st ... 2V8-1st ... V4-1st
    Navy 54 team points // Bucknell 47
2020: Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019: V8-1st ... 2V8-1st ... V4-1st
    Navy 54 team points // Bucknell 48
2018: V8-1st ... 2V8-1st ... V4-5th
    Navy 50 team points // Boston 46

Most Recent Patriot League Championship - May 13, 2022 in Cherry Hill, N.J.
The Navy women's rowing team finished its 2022 season with a third-place result at the Patriot League Championship on Friday. Racing three boats in the league championship, the Mids collected one win and one runners-up outcome among the nine-team field. Navy's first varsity four crew led the way on Friday on the Cooper River as it controlled its event and collected the victory. As a program, Navy finished third in the team standings behind Boston University and Bucknell.
 
The six-time defending champions, Navy nearly captured its seventh straight win, but came up four points short. Boston University won the team title with 50 points, while Bucknell was second with 48. The Mids rounded out the top-three with a total of 46 points.

After posting a preliminary time of 8:25.732 in the morning heat race, the Mids' first varsity four squad came out in the afternoon and shaved nearly 14 seconds off of its time and captured a 2.896-second victory over Boston University with an 8:11.846 to 8:14.742 final margin.

Following a second-place result by the Mids in the second varsity eight competition, the top of the standings were closely packed with Boston University leading Navy, 26-25 and Bucknell just four points back of the Mids in third with 21 points. The first varsity eight contest would ultimately decide the league champion on May 13. Moving towards the halfway mark of the contest, Boston and Bucknell were nearly even with Navy fighting to hold onto the eighth seat of Boston. A slowly-built effort by the Bison helped them bolt ahead of the pack over the final 500 meters with clear water in-between them and the Terriers. A valiant closing push by the Mids drew them closer to the Terriers, but not enough to overtake them. At the finish line, Bucknell was the champion of the varsity eight race with a time of 6:49.813, over seven seconds head of Boston and Navy, who went back-to-back in second and third with respective times of 6:57.150 and 6:59.210.

Friday's Schedule of Events
Heat Racing
8:00 AM - Varsity Four (Heat 1)
#1 Navy, #4 Bucknell, #5 MIT, #8 Holy Cross, #9 Loyola

8:30 AM - Second Varsity Eight (Heat 2)
#2 Navy, #3 Georgetown, #6 Lehigh, #7 Holy Cross

8:50 AM - Varsity Eight (Heat 2)
#2 Navy, #3 Bucknell, #6 Lehigh, #7 Colgate

Finals
1:20 PM - First Varsity Four - Petite Final (Positions 7-9)
1:32 PM - Second Varsity Eight - Petite Final
1:44 PM - First Varsity Eight - Petite Final
1:56 PM - First Varsity Four - Grand Final (Positions 1-6)
2:08 PM - Second Varsity Eight - Grand Final
2:20 PM - First Varsity Eight - Grand Final

**Note, the awards ceremony is slated to begin at 2:50 PM