ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Severn River will be busy this Saturday morning with a pair of rowing competitions. The doubleheader will consist of the No. 20 Navy heavyweight team racing against No. 9 Syracuse and No. 15 Cornell with the Goes Trophy up for grabs between the first varsity eight crews, while the women's team will get an up-close view of Patriot League rival Georgetown in a four-race series. The heavyweight competition begins at 7:00 a.m. before the women's meet kicks off at 8:40 a.m.
The teams will be racing on Navy's Lower Course, a 2,000-meter stretch of the Severn River that finishes up along the seawall at Hospital Point.
Order of Events
Saturday's doubleheader will consist of five heavyweight races and four contests for the women. The action will go off in 20-minute increments starting at 7:00 a.m. with the fifth varsity eight heavyweight race. Of note, Navy's 6V8 will participate as a guest in this event. Following that initial contest, the men's meet will go in orderly fashion with the first, second, third and fourth varsity eight races going off at 7:20, 7:40, 8:00 and 8:20 a.m., respectively. The first varsity eight competition between Navy, Cornell and Syracuse will be for the right to take the Goes Trophy back to their home boat house.
At the conclusion of the men's heavyweight action, the women will take center stage with a quartet of races. The first varsity eight race headlines the racing with Navy and Georgetown going head-to-head at 8:40 a.m. 20 minutes later at 9:00, a three-boat bout is scheduled between the second varsity eight crews for the Mids and Hoyas with Georgetown's 3V8 racing as a guest. The docket will close out with four-person boat action with the first varsity fours going off at 9:20 and the second varsity fours heading off down the Severn River at 9:40 a.m. The 2V4 event will have an additional entry with Navy's 3V4 testing itself in the third lane.
Heavyweight Preview
Most Recent Navy-Cornell-Syracuse Matchup: April 20, 2024 at Onondaga Lake
The No. 11 Navy heavyweight crew team continued its regular season action with racing on Onondaga Lake versus No. 7 Syracuse and No. 14 Cornell over a series of five contests. The Mids, Orange and Big Red were racing for the Goes Trophy and Stagg Team Points Cup and when the competition was in the books, the host Syracuse squad went home with all of the hardware courtesy of three varsity eight victories, including the first varsity eight, while Navy grabbed a win in the fifth varsity four race.
The Goes Trophy was on the line in the initial race of the day as the first varsity crews from all three institutions battled it out over 2,000 meters of Onondaga Lake. The Orange took control down the stretch to claim the victory with a time of 5:40.6, though the Mids held off the Big Red's final efforts to earn the runner-up result by 1.8 seconds, 5:46.2 to 5:48.0.
What's at Stake
Goes Trophy
Dating back to 1955 and presented to the winner of the heavyweight varsity race between Navy, Cornell and Syracuse, the trophy was created by Clifford "Tip" Goes (Syracuse - 1914) to honor Jim Ten Eyck of Syracuse, Charles Courtney of Cornell and Richard Glendon of Navy. All-time, Navy holds a slim edge with 27 wins versus 25 for Cornell and 15 for Syracuse.
Stagg Cup
The Stagg Cup is presented to the program that scores the most points in the combined action between the V8, 2V8 and 3V8 boats.
Last Time Out: at Schuylkill Invitational, April 12
One week after opening its 2025 campaign against Princeton, the Navy heavyweight rowing team was busy with action in two sessions of racing as part of the Schuylkill Invitational. The Mids entered five crews into the competition that saw teams descend upon the Schuylkill River from within the Philadelphia city limits and from as far away as California. At the conclusion of the racing, Navy came away with four victories, including a sweep of its two races in the fourth varsity classification, as well as single event wins by its first varsity eight in the afternoon and third varsity in the morning.
Each of Navy's five crews raced twice on Saturday. The first matchup of the day saw the No. 17 Mids racing against the No. 13 Georgetown Hoyas and No. 19 La Salle Explorers in a 2,000-meter piece down the Schuylkill River in the first varsity eight division. Georgetown and La Salle pulled away over the second half of the race and were separated by just 0.62 seconds at the finish line, 5:21.60 to 5:22.22 with Navy closing out the race in third at 5:27.24. The Mids had a powerful rebuttal in the afternoon session as they shaved over four seconds off their initial time and out-paced both the No. 21 Drexel Dragons and R/V San Diego Toreros. Navy cruised to a first-place result with a time of 5:23.20 versus 5:26.65 and 5:35.56 marks for Drexel and USD, respectively.
--
Women's Preview
Saturday morning's women's contest will be just the third home meet on the Severn for the Mids since the 2012 season. Over the past 13 years, Navy has hosted a three-team meet against Georgetown and Lehigh on April 6, 2019 and most recently a head-to-head contest against George Washington on April 17, 2021. The Mids went a combined seven-for-seven over those two home series of races.
The Navy-Georgetown duel will give the competitors, coaches and spectators an early preview of two of the lead combatants in next month's Patriot League Championship event. The league-wide regatta scheduled for May 16 in Pennsauken, N.J. features nine teams entered in first and second varsity eight, as well as in first varsity four racing.
Most Recent Navy-Georgetown Matchup: April 6, 2019
The Navy women's rowing team had a stellar day of action in on the Severn River on April 6, 2019. Hosting a four-race slate on Saturday morning, the Mids dominated a pair of Patriot League opponents in Georgetown and Lehigh on their way to a four-for-four showing. Navy won all for races by at least eight seconds.
The first varsity eights from all three schools kicked off the competition at 9:00 a.m. Racing on a 2,000-meter piece of the Severn River and finishing along the Naval Academy's Hospital Point Seawall, Navy was in control throughout the majority of the event and defeated Georgetown by eight seconds at 6:34.4 to 6:42.4. Lehigh was third, 9.7 seconds behind the Hoyas at 6:52.1.
Last Time Out: at Doc Hosea Invitational, March 29
The Navy women's rowing team continued its early season action on Saturday with two sessions of racing at the 2025 Doc Hosea Invite. Navigating a 2,000-meter stretch of the Cooper River, the Mids had five boats competing on Saturday and saw four of those crews advance to grand finals.
The regional-heavy field consisted of 12 teams, including ranked squads, No. 9 Rutgers, No. 12 Penn, as well as fellow 2024 NCAA Championship teams, Northeastern and Rhode Island. Additionally, Navy got a chance to size up Patriot League rival Bucknell on the same course that both teams will race again in May at the 2025 Patriot League Championship.
The Mids' first varsity eight paced the fleet on Saturday with two ultra-competitive results. In the morning's qualifying heat, Navy was edged in a photo finish by Rhode Island in a battle to the line for second place by 0.371 seconds, 6:42.398 to 6:42.769. Advancing into the grand final as one of the two fastest wild card boats (the top-two finishers in each heat earned automatic berths), Navy was involved in another photo finish, this time in a fight for third place with Northeastern. Down early to the Huskies, the Mids charged towards the finish line and came up feet short of completing the comeback with a minuscule, 0.182-second decision going the way of Northeastern, 6:36.560 to 6:36.742.
Race Schedule
Heavyweight Men: Navy - Cornell - Syracuse
7:00 AM - Heavyweight Fifth Varsity Eight (w/Navy 6V)
7:20 AM - Heavyweight First Varsity Eight (Goes Cup Race)
7:40 AM - Heavyweight Second Varsity Eight
8:00 AM - Heavyweight Third Varsity Eight
8:20 AM - Heavyweight Fourth Varsity Eight
Women: Navy - Georgetown
8:40 AM - First Varsity Eight
9:00 AM - Second Varsity Eight (w/GTown 3V8)
9:20 AM - First Varsity Four
9:40 AM - Second Varsity Four (w/Navy 3V4)
Directions to Navy Boathouse and viewing on Navy's Lower Course
*you will need a photo ID to walk onto Navy campus*
These driving directions will take you to Gate 8 of the Naval Academy. Spectators and guests should park outside of the gate at the Halligan Hall lot and make the short walk (0.25 miles) to the boathouse. Once at the boathouse, it is another short walk (0.33 miles) to the finish line of the Lower Course.
• Route 50 towards Annapolis
• Take Exit 24, Rowe Blvd, Annapolis
• After approx 1 mile, make a left onto Taylor Ave.
• After passing a 7-Eleven, make a right at the T-intersection.
• Turn right at the second traffic light and then make another immediate right into a parking area and park there. To get to the boathouse, you need to walk down the hill along the practice baseball field and to the guard shack. Show your photo ID to the guard and continue to walk down the hill. The boathouse is the first building that you will see on the right after the guard shack.
• From the boathouse, you can walk to the finish line of the Lower Course. After crossing the road near the boathouse towards the cemetery, take the road that takes you along the water's edge in the creek (Do not cross over bridge). Once you get to the hospital point fields, walk across field to the right corner of the seawall. The finish line is directly at that corner.
