ANNAPOLIS, Md. - After a competitive regular season with racing against a plethora of nationally-ranked programs, the Navy women's rowing team heads into postseason action on Friday at the 2024 Patriot League Championship. The defending champions and winners of seven of the last eight league regattas, the Mids will be on the hunt for Patriot League title number ten on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J. All-time, Navy has won league titles in 2005, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023. The winner of Friday's Patriot League Championship will earn the conference's automatic bid into the 2024 NCAA Championship that is set for Batavia, Ohio, May 31 through June 2. The racing on Friday begins at 8:00 a.m. with preliminary heats before advancing to championship finals at 1:30 p.m. All of the action will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live results provided as well.

ESPN+ is a subscription-based streaming service that requires patrons to sign-up for monthly or yearly plans prior to tuning into the contest.

Navy is seeded second in all three classifications: first varsity eight, second varsity eight and first varsity four. The top-four seeds in all three divisions are as follows: No. 1 Boston University, No. 2 Navy, No. 3 MIT and No. 4 Georgetown. The boats were seeded based on a coaches' vote in consideration of regular season results.

Navy's official race times for the morning prelims are set for 8:10 AM - First Varsity Four ... 8:30 AM - Second Varsity Eight ... 8:50 AM - First Varsity Eight. Each classification will have two heats of either four or five crews. The top-three finishing boats in each of the two heats advance to grand final action, while the remaining squads will race in the petite finals for positions, seven through nine.

The championship will be scored on a weighted scale, with nine points for the winner of the varsity four race, 18 for the second varsity eight and 27 for the varsity eight. The Patriot League Championship will be awarded to the school that accumulates the most total points in the three races. If there is a tie in final point total, the higher-place finisher of the varsity eight race is crowned Patriot League champion. Awards will also be given for Coach of the Year and Boat of the Year.

The complete field at the Cooper River this Friday will consist of Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Loyola, MIT and Navy.

Navy at the Patriot League Championship
Competing at the Patriot League Championship since 2005, the Mids have won 29 individual boat titles: seven in the first varsity eight, 11 in the second varsity eight and 11 in the first varsity four events. The program swept the three-race slate completely in 2005, 2015, 2019 and 2021. These boat titles had direct impact on Navy taking home the league team championship nine times: 2005, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023. (There was no championship in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)

Last Five Patriot League Championships
2023: V8-1st ... 2V8-2nd ... V4-2nd
    Navy 51 team points // Boston 51 ... *V8 tie-breaker to Navy
2022: V8-3rd ... 2V8-2nd ... V4-1st
    Boston 50 team points // Bucknell 48 // Navy 46
2021: V8-1st ... 2V8-1st ... V4-1st
    Navy 54 team points // Bucknell 47
2020: Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019: V8-1st ... 2V8-1st ... V4-1st
    Navy 54 team points // Bucknell 48

Most Recent Patriot League Championship - May 12, 2023 in Worcester, Mass.
Looking to get back onto of the top of proverbial Patriot League Women's Rowing mountain, Navy knew that it would need to vanquish a Boston University team that put an end to its run of six straight league titles last May in Cherry Hill, N.J. Seeded one and two in all three of their respective races on Friday, the Mids and Terriers were the favorites going into the day and gave the fans at Lake Quinsigamond a fight to the finish that many will not soon forget. Coming in second to Boston University in each of the varsity four and second varsity eight grand final events and trailing at the midway point of the first varsity eight contest, Navy battled back and overtook the Terriers down the stretch to win that final race and secure the 2023 Patriot League Women's Rowing Championship and automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA Championship.

Attaining the league title for the ninth time in program history, Navy and Boston University finished tied atop the standings with 51 points on Friday, but the Mids garnered the overall championship via tie-breaker as the highest finisher in the first varsity eight race.

Trailing Boston on the leaderboard, 27 to 24 through two contests, the first varsity eight race was setting up for a winner-take-all final. Navy's top crew got off to the program's best start of the afternoon as after the opening sprint, the Mids were in second place, two seats back of the Terriers. The two fastest boats in the conference, both BU and Navy flexed their muscles over the next 1,000 meters and sped away from the field. Still trailing the Terriers with less than a quarter of the race to go, the Mids found that next gear and nearly pulled even with under 400 meters remaining. Navy's momentum was un-matched by Boston over the final minute of action and the exhilarating comeback was clinched with a dominant final sprint. At the finish line, the Mids clocked in 3.548 seconds ahead of the Terriers, 6:36.892 to 6:40.440. MIT was over six seconds back in third place at 6:46.828.

The league championship was the ninth in program history as Navy has now taken the crown in 2005, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023.

Friday's Schedule of Events
Heat Racing
8:10 AM - Varsity Four (Heat 2)
#2 Navy, #3 MIT, #6 Holy Cross, #7 Colgate

8:30 AM - Second Varsity Eight (Heat 2)
#2 Navy, #3 MIT, #6 Holy Cross, #7 Colgate

8:50 AM - Varsity Eight (Heat 2)
#2 Navy, #3 MIT, #6 Bucknell, #7 Colgate

Finals
1:30 PM - First Varsity Four - Petite Final (Positions 7-9)
1:40 PM - Second Varsity Eight - Petite Final
1:50 PM - First Varsity Eight - Petite Final
2:00 PM - First Varsity Four - Grand Final (Positions 1-6)
2:10 PM - Second Varsity Eight - Grand Final
2:20 PM - First Varsity Eight - Grand Final

**Note, the awards ceremony is slated to begin at 3:15 PM