PRINCETON, N.J. - The Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA) announced it 2023 postseason awards earlier this week and the Navy lightweight rowing team saw five of its athletes garner Empacher-IRCA All-American nods, while 14 were noted as Empacher-IRCA Scholar-Athletes. 

Recent graduates Jackson Fuller (Winter Park, Fla.) and Matt Ross (Anchorage, Alaska) headlined Navy's recognition as members of the 2023 Empacher-IRCA All-America First Team, while the duo of May graduate Stephen Scholl (Annapolis, Md.) and rising junior Robert Sherman (Riverside, Conn.) were named to the second team. Navy's run of All-America honors was rounded out by rising senior Stephen Frost (Pittsburgh, Pa.), who was selected as an Honorable Mention IRCA All-American.

All five honorees were integral parts in the success of Navy's first varsity eight crew this spring. Winners of trophy competitions versus Columbia and Georgetown during the regular season, Navy's V8 turned in a third-place result at the 2023 Eastern Sprints before just missing the medal stand at the IRA National Championship with a fourth-place outcome. Fuller led the crew from the stroke seat throughout the campaign, while Scholl served as the coxswain. Frost, Ross and Sherman spent the majority of their time this spring in the middle of the boat as the "engine" in the third, fourth and fifth seats.

Fuller, Sherman and Frost are all now multi-time IRCA All-Americans as Fuller was recognized on the 2021 First Team, while Sherman and Frost each mirrored this year's honors of second team and honorable mention in 2022.

In the academic portion of the IRCA's announcements, the Navy lightweights had 14 members of its team listed as Empacher-IRCA Scholar-Athletes. The Mids' Class of 2023 highlighted the group of high academic achievers with six honorees: Jackson Fuller (Winter Park, Fla. - Chemistry), Jonathan Greenberg (Providence, R.I. - History), Oliver Hasler (Duluth, Minn. - Operations Research), Colby MaGill (Edmond, Okla. - Biochemistry), Matt Ross (Anchorage, Alaska - Operations Research) and Stephen Scholl (Annapolis, Md. - Operations Research). Navy's Class of 2024 is represented by four award recipients: Kelly Bye (Stafford, Va. - Operations Research), Stephen Frost (Pittsburgh, Pa. - Robotics & Control Engineering), Robby Klanac (Strongsville, Ohio - Operations Research) and Luke McIntosh (Boise, Idaho - Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering). Four more Midshipmen from the Class of 2025 garnered national recognition in the IRCA's announcement as Andy Fichtel (Wellesley, Mass. - Computer Science), Owen O'Malley (Pittsburgh, Pa. - Robotics & Control Engineering), Jonathan Sauer (Princeton Junction, N.J. - Mechanical Engineering) and Leo Wagner (St. Louis, Mo. - Robotics & Control Engineering) were noted.
 
For the 2023 season, all honorees needed to have completed their second season of eligibility, competed in their program's top three boats during the regular season or raced at the IRA Championships in May and have a 3.50 cumulative GPA or higher through the end of the fall semester.  In total, there were 638 rowers and coxswains from 64 different teams who met the criteria set by the IRCA Awards & Polling Committee.