PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The Navy women's rowing team had one goal in mind on Friday, defend its Patriot League Championship crown and earn the conference's automatic berth into the 2024 NCAA Championship. While fast in the morning's qualifying heats, the Mids ran into a determined Boston University squad in the afternoon that was looking to avenge last year's tie-breaking loss to Navy. At the completion of three grand final contests on the Cooper River on Friday afternoon, BU was victorious in all three classifications to claim the team crown, holding off Navy, who placed runner-up in the team standings, as well as in both the first varsity eight and varsity four races.
On the final leaderboard, Boston's sweep resulted in 54 points. Navy and MIT tied for second with 44 points each, though the Mids officially finished in second due to the tie-breaker of the higher finisher in the first varsity eight. Georgetown just missed making the podium as the Hoyas placed fourth with 36 points. Bucknell and Holy Cross were separated by two points in fifth and sixth place with point totals of 29 and 27, respectively. The standings were rounded out by Colgate (16), Lehigh (11) and Loyola (9).
"This was a tough day of racing for us today," remarked head coach Joe Schlosburg. "We are all disappointed in the results, but definitely not the effort. We left it all out there today, but BU was the faster team."
The afternoon of grand final action kicked off with the first varsity four race. The V4 contest saw Navy struggle with a tough opening sprint as the Mids broke out sixth of six teams over the first minute of action. The crew of
LauraFern Jones (Fr., Kinston, N.C.),
Melania Diah (Fr., Lafayette Hill, Pa.),
Grace Hueber (Jr., Alexandria, Va.),
Eleanor Snyder (So., Sherwood, Ore.) and coxswain
Renee Vozza (Fr., Westfield, N.J.), hit its stride over the next 500 meters and passed a trio of boats. Slightly before the 750-meter mark, Navy easily overtook MIT and started coming into contact with first-place Boston University. The next quarter of the race saw both the Mids and the Engineers take seats, Navy on BU and MIT on Navy. Up to the challenge, the Terriers surged to the finish line to take gold by 3.701 seconds, 7:45.819 to 7:49.520 over the Mids. The Engineers were 3.405 seconds back in third place to earn bronze.
The second varsity eight opened with an even sprint as BU, MIT and Navy all started nearly in-sync. After that fast start, the Mids struggled over the ensuing 500 meters and dropped into fifth place. Near the midway point, Navy's crew of
Lauren Dorfman (So., Rome, N.Y.),
Jenevieva Mulhall (Jr., Ocean City, N.J.),
Elle McCall (Fr., Panama City Beach, Fla.),
Lucy Weems (Fr., Bethesda, Md.),
Chinaeme Ozobu (Sr., Odenton, Md.),
Destinee Byrd (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio),
Grace Rimmer (So., Phoenix, Ariz.),
Lizzie Jendrysik (Jr., Sarasota, Fla.) and coxswain
Mary Catherine Harvey (So., Loch Arbour, N.J.) took aim at coming back in contact with Georgetown. While the Hoyas accelerated away, the Crusaders of Holy Cross were the next target. Down the stretch, Navy out-sprinted Holy Cross and completed the 2,000-meter piece with a final time of 7:09.873 to place fourth in the contest. Georgetown and Holy Cross surrounded Navy in third place at 7:06.092 and fifth at 7:11.873, respectively. Boston University took gold at 6:56.337.
With Boston University earning victories in the first two events, Navy knew that it would need to win and receive some help with teams surpassing the Terriers. As they had done throughout the previous contents, the Terriers broke out with a strong opening sprint. Over the first minute-plus of rowing action, Navy found itself in a three-way battle for second-place with MIT and Holy Cross. As the Crusaders slowly fell off the pace, the Mids began to move out on the Engineers, while keeping contact with the Terriers. Passing the halfway mark, Navy picked up its speed and made a deliberate move seat-by-seat up BU's boat. The Terriers had a retort for the Mids' pressure and held on for a 3.446-second margin of victory, 6:42.028 to 6:45.474. MIT posted a time of 6:52.609 to place third overall. Navy's V8 lineup on Friday consisted of
Amelia Snyder (Jr., Montclair, N.J.),
Anna Freihofer (Sr., Hebron, Ky.),
Emily Kroettinger (Fr., Folsom, Calif.),
Brienna Voss (Sr., Portland, Ore.),
Lauren Day (Sr., Seattle, Wash.),
Noelle de Vente (Jr., Greenville, N.C.),
Harlie Hanley (Fr., Culver, Ind.),
Tenlea Radack (Jr., Washington, D.C.) and coxswain
Maeve Swick (Sr., Annapolis, Md.)
That one-place differential in the first varsity eight race would prove pivotal as the Mids and Engineers tied for second in the standings with 44 points. Friday's tie-breaker was the higher V8 finish.
At the conclusion of the action, Boston University earned the overall team title with 54 points over the three events. With that victory, the Terriers will earn the automatic berth into the 2024 NCAA Championship in Batavia, Ohio, the weekend of May 31-June 2.
"We are certainly not where we want to be and strive to be better," commented Schlosberg. "The season as a whole was one of growth as our seniors led a young, inexperienced team. We are excited for the future as so many of these first-year rowers were thrown into the deep end and made a huge impact on the team and the team had a huge impact on them.
"This senior class has been through a lot- coming in during COVID and going through all of the ups and downs over the years. Through it all, they persevered and I know that they will thrive as officers in the fleet and the corps. The influence that they had on this program was tremendous and we will miss them greatly."
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
First of 4 in Heat 2 – 7:06.293 (+2.482 seconds over MIT)
Grand Final
Boston Univ. - 6:42.028
Navy - 6:45.474
MIT – 6:52.609
Georgetown – 6:56.553
Bucknell - 7:03.921
Holy Cross - 7:08.448
Second Varsity Eight
Second of 4 in Heat 2 – 7:14.119 (-1.950 seconds behind MIT)
Grand Final
Boston Univ. – 6:56.337
MIT - 7:00.317
Georgetown - 7:06.092
Navy – 7:09.873
Holy Cross - 7:11.873
Bucknell - 7:32.628
First Varsity Four
First of 4 in Heat 2 – 8:02.041 (+10.551 over MIT)
Grand Final
Boston Univ. – 7:45.819
Navy – 7:49.520
MIT - 7:52.925
Bucknell – 8:05.569
Holy Cross – 8:15.157
Georgetown - 8:24.082
2024 Patriot League Women's Rowing Major Awards
Boat of the Year: Boston University Varsity Eight
Coach of the Year: Malcolm Doldron, Boston University
2024 Patriot League Rowing Championship Results
- Boston U. - 54
- Navy - 44
- MIT - 44
- Georgetown - 36
- Bucknell - 29
- Holy Cross - 27
- Colgate - 16
- Lehigh - 11
- Loyola - 9
Boat Lineups
