CHERRY HILL, N.J. – The Navy women's rowing team continued its early season action on Saturday with two sessions of racing at the 2024 Doc Hosea Invite. Taking on a talented 12-team field of east coast opponents on a 2,000-meter stretch of the Cooper River, the Mids had an up-and-down performance as their five-boat lineup struggled in the initial heat sessions before coming back in petite finals and finishing first in three of those five contests. Navy's second varsity eight, third varsity eight and second varsity four all were victorious in petite finals action to rank seventh overall for the competition.
"Today's results were disappointing," remarked head coach
Joe Schlosberg. "We didn't execute across the board in the first round of racing and were trying to figure things out as we went down the course. The finals were better for some boats (2V8, 2V4 and 3V8), but not for all. I know that we all can do better and we must do that moving forward."
Saturday's regatta was broken up into two sessions for Navy, first, heat races against No. 10 Penn, Northeastern, George Washington, Delaware and Temple and later the finals. Qualification into the finals came from a top-two finish in the heat with the final two berths going to teams with the next best times between the two heats. Unfortunately for the Mids, the Quakers and Huskies went one-two in each of the V8, 2V8, V4 and 3V8 contests so the team's best bet was timing their way into the grand finals.
Navy's first varsity eight clocked in fourth in its heat at 6:41.52; the final two qualifiers were George Washington at 6:39.13 and Clemson from heat two at 6:39.76. In the second varsity eight division, GW and Clemson grabbed the final two spots at 6:55.42 and 6:56.30, respectively with Navy posting an initial time of 6:59.71. The Mids' final NCAA boat, their V4, was also edged out of a grand final berth as their 7:56.92 effort was surpassed by the Tigers' 7:41.16 and the Rhode Island Rams' 7:52.43.
Navy's lower boats, the 3V8 and 2V4 recorded times of 7:27.42 and 8:15.84, respectively.
After a brief break to re-strategize for petite final action, the Mids' outcomes increased exponentially with a trio of victories. Navy's second varsity eight was the first crew to cross the finish line atop the standings as the boat cruised to a 4.44-second victory over Georgetown, 6:55.12 to 6:59.56. The Mids' third varsity eight flipped its fortunes in its petite final as the Mids tallied another near four-second margin of victory as they bested the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 7:15.05 to 7:19.02. Navy's last petite final victory came from its second varsity four lineup that controlled the seven-boat final with a victorious time of 7:46.10, 4.7 seconds ahead of Penn's 7:50.80.
Navy's first varsity four crew nearly collected a fourth petite final victory as the Mids lost a one-on-one duel with the Georgetown Hoyas, 7:48.06 to 7:51.17. Those two boats were over 20 seconds ahead of third-place Delaware, who clocked in at 8:11.84.
The Mids' first varsity eight came in fourth in a crowded field as first-place Georgetown won the petite final with a 6:44.12 effort that eclipsed second-place Rhode Island by 0.01 seconds and third-place Delaware by 1.36 seconds. Navy's V8 was just 3.48 seconds back at 6:48.96.
Navy will be back in action next Saturday with a pair of competitions at Overpeck Park in Leonia, N.J. The Mids' day will begin with racing at the Atlantic-10 Invitational before going head-to-head with Columbia in the afternoon.
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
Heat 1
Penn – 6:26.86
Northeastern – 6:31.16
George Washington – 6:39.13
Navy – 6:41.52
Delaware – 6:52.59
Temple – 6:57.78
Petite Finale
Georgetown – 6:44.12
Rhode Island – 6:44.13
Delaware – 6:45.48
Navy – 6:48.96
Temple – 6:58.42
Villanova – 7:05.81
Second Varsity Eight
Heat 1
Penn – 6:35.03
Northeastern – 6:50.35
George Washington – 6:55.42
Navy – 6:59.71
Delaware – 7:00.05
Temple – 7:26.01
Petite Final
Navy – 6:55.12
Georgetown – 6:59.56
Rhode Island – 7:00.78
Delaware – 7:09.45
Temple – 7:13.14
Villanova – 7:20.62
First Varsity Four
Heat 1
Penn – 7:24.48
Northeastern – 7:48.29
Navy – 7:56.92
Delaware – 7:58.92
George Washington – 8:18.39
Temple – 8:21.68
Petite Final
Georgetown – 7:48.06
Navy – 7:51.17
Delaware – 8:11.84
Temple – 8:15.38
George Washington – 8:18.74
Villanova – 8:51.85
Third Varsity Eight
Heat 1
Penn – 6:55.83
Northeastern – 7:01.39
Rutgers 4V – 7:25.18
Delaware – 7:27.35
Navy – 7:27.42
George Washington – 7:56.71
Petite Final
Navy – 7:15.05
Rutgers 4V – 7:19.02
George Washington – 7:25.76
Delaware – 7:33.30
Temple – 7:48.94
Rhode Island – 7:53.72
Second Varsity Four
Heat 1
Penn – 7:35.88
Rutgers 3V B – 7:45.98
Northeastern – 7:49.15
Navy – 8:15.84
George Washington – 8:19.93
Delaware – 8:32.16
Petite Final
Navy – 7:46.10
Penn 3V – 7:50.80
Georgetown – 7:51.46
Rhode Island – 8:05.49
George Washington – 8:05.91
Delaware – 8:32.47
Temple – 8:38.24
Boat Lineups
