PRINCETON, N.J. -Â The Navy lightweight rowing team got its 2025 season going with a four-race slate of competition on the road at Princeton on Saturday. Taking on an Eastern Sprints League rival on the Tigers' home course of Lake Carnegie, the Mids went 2-2 on the day with their third and fourth varsity eight crews earning victories. In the first varsity eight race for the Murtaugh Cup, Princeton (1-0) secured its third straight trophy win over Navy (0-1) with a 3.3-second margin of victory in the culminating event of the competition.
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Getting on the water in reverse order, the fourth varsity crews raced first on Saturday. Working on its speed throughout the offseason, Navy's fourth varsity boat shot out of the starting blocks with a dominant opening sprint as the Mids were nearly a half boat ahead of the Tigers over the initial 250 meters of the 2,000-meter race. Navy's pace continued to advance up the course and broke out to an open-water lead over Princeton in short order and were up by over two boat lengths by the mid-way mark. The Mids' 4V crew cruised across the finish line with a victorious time of 5:57.0. Racing as a guest team in the event, Navy's 5V crew stayed in close proximity to Princeton throughout the race and were edged out by just 0.5 seconds as the Tigers placed second at 6:16.2 with the Mids' 5V crossing at 6:16.7.
The third varsity eight was a back-and-forth battle up the Lake Carnegie course as both teams came off the starting line aggressively, though Princeton held a slight two-seat lead by the quarter mark. Over the next 500 meters, Navy responded and pulled closer to Princeton by the 1,000-meter mark. Nearly even at the mid-point of the race, the Mids pulled ahead soon after and started to move out on the Tigers. Up three-to-four seats through 1,500 meters, Navy calmly added seats down the stretch and completed the race with a 3.8-second margin of victory, 5:49.1 to 5:52.9.
Princeton pulled into the win column on the ensuing race with its second varsity eight. Leading wire-to-wire, the Tigers were up by multiple seats within the first 500 meters and out in open water within the next 1,000 meters. While the Mids put up a strong sprint towards the finish line, the Tigers' early lead was too much to overcome and the hosts took the 5:46.3 to 5:53.5 victory.
With the Murtaugh Cup on the line in the final race of the series, Princeton used a stout initial sprint by its first varsity crew and broke out to a three-seat lead by the 500-meter juncture. The Tigers slowly put distance between themselves and the Mids and jutted out to a half-boat lead by the mid-way point. Navy kept in contact with Princeton over the second half of the race and left it all out on the water matching their rival's pace with multiple rebuttals. At the conclusion of 2,000 meters of competitive racing, the Tigers held on for the 5:37.5 to 5:40.8 victory to retain the Murtaugh Cup.
"We had a good first test down the race course in our racing versus Princeton today," remarked head coach
Shawn Bagnall. "It's always an honor to race for this cup named for one of the true gentlemen in our sport, Joe Murtaugh.
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"We were blessed with great water and sunshine, so it was a matter of us performing on the day. We received a really outstanding effort from our 3V who rowed a gritty race to win their event. We still have work to do in our 1V and 2V, but this team is built to improve each week. We're looking forward to the work ahead."
Navy continue its early season action next weekend with a trio of contests as part of the 2025 National Collegiate Lightweight Invitational over Saturday and Sunday in Princeton, N.J. First up will be a Saturday afternoon showdown versus Yale at Lake Carnegie before heading into contests against Cornell and MIT on Sunday morning and Dartmouth on Sunday afternoon.
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
Princeton – 5:37.5
Navy – 5:40.8
Second Varsity Eight
Princeton – 5:46.3
Navy – 5:53.5
Third Varsity Eight
Navy – 5:49.1
Princeton – 5:52.9
Fourth Varsity Eight
Navy 4V - 5:57.0
Princeton - 6:16.2
Navy 5V - 6:16.7
Boat Lineups
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