RALEIGH, N.C. – The Navy women's rowing team put the finishing touches on its last regular season competition with a series of five fast races on Saturday morning on the second day of the 2024 Lake Wheeler Invitational. Entering three varsity eight crews and a pair of fours, the Mids collected two top-three results with their first varsity four leading the way with a runner-up result. Overall, Navy passed at least one power-five conference boat in every race on Saturday.
"Duke and UNC put together another great event with a diverse field of 18 teams from across the country," remarked head coach
Joe Schlosberg. "With three independent rounds of racing, we had a mixture of two common opponents (UCF and Louisville) and three unique opponents each round. With that setup we were able to not only race three times in two days, but learn and adjust relative to UCF and Louisville.
"We made progress and it was fantastic to be able to finish our weekend with incredibly tight racing in the final round. To be able to get multiple boats across going stroke-for-stroke is simply invaluable."
The opponents for Navy's three NCAA boats (V8, 2V8, V4) were R/V UCF, Boston College, Kansas, Louisville and Tulsa.
Racing in the third of five events for Navy on Saturday, the Mids' first varsity four found itself in a two-way battle for second place. After posting times of 8:09.956 and 7:58.177 on Friday, Navy's crew was fast and right in the mix on Saturday. While UCF was the class of the heat with a victorious time of 7:29.152, Navy and Kansas were locked in stroke-for-stroke to the line with the Mids nipping the Jayhawks by 0.048 seconds, 7:40.582 to 7:40.630. The pair was over seven seconds ahead of fourth-place Tulsa (7:48.114), 15 seconds ahead of fifth-place Boston College (7:55.778) and 20 seconds ahead of sixth-place Louisville (8:02.166).
Navy's second varsity four crew was also significantly faster as it carved over 25 seconds off its two Friday results of 8:19.923 and 8:22.022. On Saturday morning, the Mids were in a one-on-one tussle for second place with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane down the stretch. At the finish line, Tulsa edged out Navy by 0.28 seconds, 7:53.181 to 7:53.461. UCF was the event winner with a 7:43.313 result. Kansas and Boston College rounded out the field at 7:56.981 and 7:59.867, respectively.
The second and third varsity eight crews both finished fourth in their individual events. After turning in times of 7:11.375 and 7:29.802 on Friday, the Mids in the 2V8 challenged the 7:00-minute plateau as they held off the Kansas Jayhawks and Boston College Eagles to cross in fourth place at 7:01.014. KU and BC posted respective times of 7:01.894 and 7:02.446.
Saturday's third varsity eight race was a bit more spaced out as Boston College grabbed third place at 7:17.775, 3.314 seconds ahead of Navy's 7:21.089. The Mids out-paced the fourth varsity entry from North Carolina by 5.586 seconds as the Tar Heels clocked in at 7:26.675.
Navy's first varsity eight carried on the theme of improving times from Friday as it bested times of 6:58.814 and 7:10.867 with a speedy 6:52.817 on Saturday. Right in the thick of the action, second through fifth place was separated by just 3.872 seconds. UCF cleared the field with a victorious time of 6:43.481 before a crowded group of crews finished in quick succession with Louisville (6:48.945) and Tulsa (6:49.081) placing second and third. Tight to the end of the 2,000-meter course, Boston College recorded a fourth-place time of 6:51.433, 1.384 seconds faster than Navy's 6:52.817. Kansas brought up the rear of the V8 heat at 6:56.309.
"We have some good, hard work to do as we head into the Patriot League Championship," commented Schlosberg. "It's going to be fun."
Navy will turn all of its attention to the Patriot League Championship set for Friday, May 17 in Cherry Hill, N.J. The Mids are the defending champions of the year-end league regatta. The victorious program from the Patriot League Championship will earn an automatic berth into the 2024 NCAA Championship Regatta.
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
UCF – 6:43.481
Louisville – 6:48.945
Tulsa – 6:49.081
Boston College – 6:51.433
Navy – 6:52.817
Kansas – 6:56.309
Second Varsity Eight
UCF – 6:49.558
Louisville – 6:53.938
Tulsa – 6:55.894
Navy – 7:01.014
Kansas – 7:01.894
Boston College – 7:02.446
First Varsity Four
UCF – 7:29.152
Navy – 7:40.582
Kansas – 7:40.630
Tulsa – 7:48.114
Boston College – 7:55.778
Louisville – 8:02.166
Second Varsity Four
UCF – 7:43.313
Tulsa – 7:53.181
Navy – 7:53.461
Kansas – 7:56.981
Boston College – 7:59.867
Third Varsity Eight
Duke 4V – 7:06.835
Kansas – 7:15.715
Boston College – 7:17.775
Navy – 7:21.089
UNC 4V – 7:26.675
Louisville – 7:29.747
Boat Lineups
