WORCESTER, Mass. – The Navy heavyweight rowing program opened its run of postseason racing on Sunday at the 2023 Eastern Sprints. Entering six boats in competition against its Eastern Sprints League rivals, the Mids saw two crews place top-four and three more race in petite finals. Navy's sixth varsity eight took top billing for the squad as the crew placed first in its respective classification final.
 
"I have never seen a faster and deeper varsity heavyweight field, remarked Rob Friedrich, the Tom & Candy Knudson Director of Navy Rowing. "We were obviously not happy about where we placed, but our times also put us right in the mix with some of our perennial rivals. It's a young team and I'm proud of their efforts.
 
"Our 6V highlighted the day, bringing home the gold medal for the second year in a row. It's their only race of the year and they represented the deep fleet in fine fashion.
 
Navy's first varsity eight found itself in a fast morning qualifying heat that relegated it to the Third Final. The Mids' time of 5:44.160 was 12^th fastest overall, but only fifth-fastest in its heat that saw the top-four move on to grand and petite finals. Navy increased its pace in the afternoon finals and broke out to a lead over the first 1,500 meters. Over that initial three-quarters of the race, Columbia stayed in contact with Navy and eventually made its move in the final 300 meters. In a near photo finish, the Lions edged the Mids by 0.233 seconds, 5:38.199 to 5:38.432. That result ranked Navy 14^th overall in the field at the league meet.
 
The Mids' second varsity eight crew qualified for the petite final of its division after posting a 5:46.919 time in the morning session. In its second time on the waters of Lake Quinsigamond on Sunday, Navy found itself in a competitive race that no boat was ever more than 7.5 seconds out of first place at any of the 500-meter markers. In a close trio of boats racing for fourth place, Penn held off Wisconsin and Navy for the position. The Quakers clocked in with a final time of 5:47.345, while the Badgers and Mids were separated by just 0.369 seconds, 5:49.866 to 5:50.235.
 
A sign of Navy's depth, the program's overall results continued improving in the next final for the third varsity eight. Following a 5:55.285 result in their morning heat, the Mids cut nearly four seconds off their time in the afternoon's petite final. Breaking out in fourth place after the initial 500-meter sprint and being slightly edged back to fifth place at the 1,000-meter mark, Navy closed in a hurry and darted past Cornell and Wisconsin in the second half of the race. After surpassing the Big Red, the Mids set their sights on the Quakers of Penn and nearly grabbed second place. At the finish line, Boston University won the petite final with a time of 5:50.200, 0.8 seconds ahead of Penn (5:51.000) and 1.3 seconds ahead of Navy, who crossed at 5:51.500. Overall, that third-place result placed the Mids' 3V8 ninth at the meet.
 
The improvement in the standings kept up with Navy's fourth varsity eight crew. In the morning qualifying heat, the Mids turning in a 5:48.288 time that set them up in the petite final. Strong from start to finish, Navy battled with Northeastern down the stretch and won the race with a time of 5:49.269 that was 1.69 seconds better than the Huskies' 5:50.959. Boston University finished third in the petite final at 5:52.410. The Mids' win ranked them seventh overall in the field.
 
In the direct-to-final portion of the competition, the fifth and sixth varsity eight crews got their chance to shine on Sunday. The grand final of the 5V8 classification had Navy racing against Dartmouth, Yale, Harvard, Brown, Princeton and Cornell. Having to dig out of sixth place after the opening 500-meter sprint, the Mids slowly pushed through the field and passed the Tigers and Big Red by the 1,500-meter mark. Challenged by Brown in the final 500 meters of action, Navy hit the finish line 0.175 seconds faster to claim fourth place, 5:49.141 to 5:49.316. Dartmouth (5:40.173), Yale (5:41.994) and Harvard (5:43.726) finished on the podium for the fifth varsity eights.
 
Navy's sixth varsity eight finished atop its classification in a blended lightweight fifth varsity/heavyweight sixth varsity event. Going head-to-head in the heavyweight category versus Harvard, the Mids outpaced the Crimson throughout all 2,000 meters to finish first in the division. In the overall four-boat field, Navy's lightweight 5V8 placed first at 5:50.453, while the heavyweight 6V8 boat clocked in at 5:53.982. The Harvard heavies were third at 6:00.985 with the Yale lights over 12 seconds back with a time of 6:13.923.

In the final team standings for the Rowe Cup, Yale held off Princeton for the title, 36 to 33. Navy netted five points for their efforts on Sunday and tied for 11th overall in the field.
 
"As a whole, I'm honored to coach such a fine group of young men and women," said Friedrich in closing. "I'm very excited to see our firsties graduate to serve our country in the Navy and Marine Corps."
 
Navy will continue postseason action in three weeks at the 2022 IRA National Championship. Hosted in West Windsor, N.J., the competition runs from June 3 through June 5.
 
Race Results
First Varsity 8
Fifth of 5 in Heat 1 – 5:44.160
Third Final
Columbia – 5:38.199
Navy – 5:38.423 (14th overall)
Holy Cross – 5:45.447
 
Second Varsity 8
Fourth of 5 in Heat 3 – 5:46.919
Petite Final
Cornell – 5:44.341
Northeastern – 5:46.186
Boston Univ. – 5:46.653
Penn – 5:47.345
Wisconsin – 5:49.866
Navy – 5:50.235 (12th Overall)
 
Third Varsity 8
Fifth of 6 in Heat 2 – 5:55.285
Petite Final
Boston Univ. – 5:50.200
Penn – 5:51.000
Navy – 5:51.500 (9th Overall)
Cornell – 5:53.100
Northeastern – 5:56.800
Holy Cross – 5:58.300
Wisconsin – 5:59.200
 
Fourth Varsity 8
Fourth of 6 in Heat 2 – 5:48.288
Petite Final
Navy – 5:49.269 (7th Overall)
Northeastern – 5:50.959
Boston Univ. – 5:52.410
Cornell – 5:54.920
Penn – 5:57.574
Wisconsin – 6:02.170
Holy Cross – 6:13.010
 
Fifth Varsity 8
Grand Final
Dartmouth – 5:40.173
Yale – 5:41.994
Harvard – 5:43.726
Navy – 5:49.141 (4th Overall)
Brown – 5:49.316
Princeton – 5:53.184
 
Sixth Varsity 8
Grand Final
Navy 5V8 LWT – 5:50.453 (1st Overall-LWT)
Navy 6V8 HWT – 5:53.982 (1st Overall-HWT)
Harvard 6V8 HWT – 6:00.985
Yale 5V8 LWT – 6:13.923

Boat Lineups

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