WORCESTER, Mass. – The Navy lightweight crew program had five entries in Sunday's Eastern Sprints Championship. Taking on conference rivals from across the Eastern Sprints League, the Mids collected three top-five results over an action and drama-packed day of racing at Lake Quinsigamond.
"We know that the distance from first to last in the Sprints League is always a tight margin," remarked head coach
Shawn Bagnall. "Credit to all the teams in our league for displaying some awesome speed in Worcester. These were not the results that we trained for, and in some cases today, we did not execute as we should. Â
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"With that said, our top boat rebounded from their race in the morning to finish strong and qualify our full team for the Men's National Championships, which we never take for granted. It was great to see our 4V win their race, and the 5V finish strong in the 4V final. Unfortunately, there was a ticky-tack protest lodged against our 4V, nullifying their legitimate victory in that race. The officials didn't see it our way, and I vehemently disagree with their decision. But our athletes are resilient, and will bounce back from this momentary setback."
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The Mids' first and second varsity eight crews raced twice on Sunday as qualification and seeding for afternoon finals were set by morning heat results. Navy's third, fourth and fifth boats all competed in single grand final contests.Â
The first varsity eight opened its day of racing with an initial time of 5:40.202 in heat number two. That time was sixth-fastest and would've advanced the Mids into the grand finals if they were racing in the first heat, but unfortunately, they were on the outside looking in and left to compete in the petite final for positions seven through nine at the championship. Navy was locked in and laser-focused in the petite final and cruised to a 5.274-second victory over Georgetown, 5:41.968 to 5:47.242. Again, the Mids' V8 found itself in a wrong-place at the wrong-time situation as that time would've slotted them fourth overall compared to teams in the grand final. The petite final victory ranked Navy seventh in the field.
The second varsity eight was part of an ultra-competitive morning heat as second through fourth place were separated by just 1.106 seconds. After Penn (5:47.429) grabbed the first qualifying spot, Yale, Columbia and Navy were in a three-team fight for two grand final berths. Nip-and-tuck to the end of the 2,000-meter race, the Lions edged the Mids by 0.478 seconds for the final spot as the standings went Yale (5:50.041) in second, Columbia (5:50.669) in third and Navy (5:51.147) in fourth. In the afternoon petite final, the 2V8 held off a game Georgetown crew that pressured them down the stretch in a hotly-contested battle for second place. At the finish line, Dartmouth won with a time of 5:53.978, while Navy came in second at 5:56.704 and Georgetown crossed in third at 5:57.084.
The first straight-to-final action of the regatta came for Navy's third varsity eight. The Mids fought valiantly throughout and found themselves in the mix late as Penn, Yale, Harvard and Navy jockeyed for positions two through five over the second half of the race. The Quakers garnered the silver for their efforts at 5:57.111, just ahead of the Bulldogs' 5:57.837. The Crimson and Mids went back-to-back in fourth and fifth place with respective times of 5:58.281 and 6:01.107. Columbia was over three seconds back in sixth at 6:04.441.
The heart-break for Navy culminated in the fourth varsity eight contest, which saw its 4V and 5V crews racing against Cornell, Yale and Penn. In a fairly straight-forward race, the Mids' 4V went wire-to-wire over the 2,000 meters and crossed the finish line in first place over a second ahead of the runner-up Big Red and nearly eight seconds better than the Bulldogs, but a post-race protest was lodged claiming that the Mids momentarily left they lane. Following an official review, the committee ruled that Navy would be penalized and dropped back to third place. Navy's 5V came in fourth place as all times from the race were officially scrubbed from the competition. Unofficially, the 5V was two seconds shy of Yale's 4V and three-plus seconds ahead of Penn's 4V.
In the Jope Cup team standings, Navy tied for sixth with 17 points, though held the tie-breaker over Columbia due to its petite final win in the V8 competition.
"It's a bitter-sweet start to the championship season, as many of our First-Class Midshipman raced their last race with the "N150" on their chest," said Bagnall in closing. "Our team is grateful for their dedication and commitment over the past four years. They will undoubtedly take that same leadership and commitment and apply it in service to our great country. We are excited for the next chapter in their lives, and look forward to celebrating with them this week as we prepare for the IRA."
Navy will continue postseason rowing in two weeks at the IRA National Championship. Hosted in West Windsor, N.J., the competition runs from May 31 through June 2.
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Race Results
First Varsity 8
4th of 4 in Heat 2 – 5:40.202
Petite Final
Navy – 5:41.968  *7th at Sprints
Georgetown – 5:47.242
Columbia – 5:49.938
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Second Varsity 8
4th of 4 in Heat 2 – 5:51.147
Petite Final
Dartmouth – 5:53.978
Navy – 5:56.704  *8th at Sprints
Georgetown – 5:57.084
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Third Varsity 8
Grand Final
Cornell – 5:52.595
Penn – 5:57.111
Yale – 5:57.837
Harvard – 5:58.281
Navy – 6:01.107  *5th at Sprints
Columbia – 6:04.441
Princeton – 6:16.273
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Fourth Varsity 8
Grand Final (standings following protest ... Navy 4V dropped from 1st to 3rd)
Cornell – No Time
Yale – No Time
Navy 4V – No Time *3rd at Sprints
Navy 5V –No Time *4th at Sprints
Penn – No Time
Boat Lineups
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