PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The Navy women's rowing team began its eighth trip to NCAA Championship on Friday with three boats representing the program against national field of top-flight competitors. With six teams in each quarterfinal heat on the Cooper River battling for a top-three position and automatic advancement into Saturday's AB Semifinals, the Mids were unable to break into the top-three, but posted solid results and gained experience with CD Semifinal action on the horizon tomorrow.
The final boat on the water on Friday, Navy's varsity four crew turned in the best result on the first day of action on the Cooper River. Breaking out in fifth place over the initial sprint alongside Southern Cal, the Mids and Trojans were in close contact during the first half of the race. With the three AB Semifinal advancement positions solidly under control by Virginia, Brown and Michigan, the remaining 1,000 meters played out with Southern Cal holding off Navy with George Washington well off the pace in sixth place. USC clocked in fourth at 8:07.578, 8.418 seconds ahead of Navy's 8:15.996 time. The Mids will hit the water again on Saturday morning at 9:48 a.m. in the first C/D Semifinal of the V4 division.
The Mids' competition began early Friday with its first varsity eight crew racing in heat four of its classification. Standing in sixth place by just 0.056 seconds behind George Washington after the opening 500-meter sprint, Navy made its move over the next quarter of the race darting ahead of its Mid-Atlantic rival by the 1,000-meter mark. The Mids and Colonials continued to battle for fifth place as Navy clocked in ahead at the three-quarter checkpoint before GW turned in a final 1:45.216 500-meter split to pass Navy, who posted a 1:48.292 for the last quarter. Overall, the Quakers of Penn won the V8 heat, with Yale and SMU locking down the other two AB Semifinal qualifying berths. The remainder of the leaderboard saw Indiana in fourth at 6:47.844, George Washington in fifth at 6:58.684 and Navy in sixth at 7:01.034. The Mids will next be in action on Saturday morning at 8:12 a.m. in the first C/D Semifinal.
Navy's second varsity eight also turned in its first piece at the 2023 NCAA Championship on Friday. Engaging with Gonzaga over the first quarter of the race, Navy trailed the Bulldogs at the 500-meter. In a straight forward contest in which positions one through six were set by the mid-way point, Stanford and Washington were the class of the field and eased to AB Semifinal qualifying spots, while Michigan stayed out ahead of Duke at every quarter marker and grabbed the final AB position by 3.25 seconds over the Blue Devils. Gonzaga and Navy finished their respective 2,000-meter efforts with times of 7:24.711 and 7:46.601, respectively. The Mids will get back on the water again on Saturday morning as part of the first C/D Semifinal at 9:00 a.m.
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
Heat #4
Penn – 6:28.454
Yale – 6:33.358
SMU – 6:38.610
Indiana – 6:47.844
George Washington – 6:58.684
Navy – 7:01.034
Next Up: C/D Semifinal #1 - Saturday 8:12 AM
Second Varsity Eight
Heat #4
Stanford – 6:38.197
Washington – 6:42.507
Michigan – 6:50.021
Duke – 6:53.271
Gonzaga – 7:24.711
Navy – 7:46.601
Next Up: C/D Semifinal #1 - Saturday, 9:00 AM
First Varsity Four
Heat #3
Virginia – 7:27.030
Brown – 7:31.278
Michigan – 7:42.806
Southern Cal – 8:07.578
Navy – 8:15.996
George Washington – 8:34.806
Next Up: C/D Semifinal #1 - Saturday, 9:48 AM
Boat Lineups
