ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Local rivals Navy and Georgetown faced off in a nip-and-tuck three-race showdown on Saturday morning that saw a pair of sub-one second margins of victories and all three contests decided by less than five-and-a-half seconds. At the conclusion of that series of hard-fought races, the No. 5 Hoyas (3-1) came out on top of the No. 8 Mids (1-3) in two of the three events, including the first varsity eight battle for the Forster Cup.

With the action going off in a 2V-1V-3V order on Saturday the spectators watching along the seawall were treated to a spectacle off the bat as the second varsity eight contest came down to the final strokes as Navy's crew edged Georgetown at the finish line by 0.5 seconds, 6:09.5 to 6:10.0.

Ownership of the Forster Cup was next up on the line for the Mids and Hoyas. Close throughout the majority of competition down the Severn River, Georgetown was able to push out to an open-water margin of victory down the stretch and earned the hardware with a 5:58.1 to 6:03.4 final result.

The three-race slate closed with a near repeat of the 2V8 contest, only this time it was the Hoyas ending up on the plus side of a near photo finish in the third varsity eight event as the visitors held off the Mids by 0.7 seconds in a 2,000-meter battle. Georgetown was victorious with a 6:09.5 time versus a 6:10.2 mark for Navy. The Mids' fourth and fifth varsity crews also participated in the race with the 4V right in the mix with a 6:12.5 effort, while the 5V clocked in at 6:29.4.

"Grateful for another great morning of competition on the Severn River," remarked head coach Shawn Bagnall. "It's always an honor each year to race the JJ Forster Cup with Georgetown, honoring a Hoya oarsman, US national team rower, and decorated Marine Corps Officer. While we were not on the "right" side of the finish flag in all our races, I have no doubt our young squad is growing and learning as we head toward the most important time of the year in May. It was good to see our 2nd Varsity come out with a gutsy win, and clearly the knife fight that was going on in the 3V race will pay dividends at championship time. Looking forward to seeing how our guys take these lessons and apply them to our work this coming week. Semper Fi." 

Navy will continue regular season action next Saturday with the program's final home race of the spring on the Severn River. The Mids will go head-to-head with the Harvard Crimson with the right to take ownership of the Haines Trophy.
 
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
Georgetown – 5:58.1
Navy – 6:03.4
 
Second Varsity Eight
Navy – 6:09.5
Georgetown – 6:10.0
 
Third Varsity Eight
Georgetown – 6:09.5
Navy – 6:10.2
Navy 4V – 6:12.5
Navy 5V – 6:29.4

Boat Lineups

	First Varsity Eight	Second Varsity Eight	Third Varsity Eight	Fourth Varsity Eight	Fifth Varsity Eight
1	Sam Rembold	Jacob Harvey	Alexander Crowther	Sam Rahm	Robert McGinley
2	Decker Moy-Jacobs	Max Gomez	Diego Zaidle	Frank Whitlock	Nathan Fasano
3	John Michael Blake	Chris Binney	B.J. Brown	Noah Gomez	Nick Rueda
4	Alexander Kaiser	Thomas Kelly	Ryan Kennedy	Collin de la Garza	Brady McKiernan
5	Nani Veluchamy	Charlie Conroy	William Seitz	Hayato Majoros	Conor Parro
6	Paddy McNamara	Frank Keusenkothen	Parker Schofield	Ben Fleming	Nihko Johnson-Newman
7	Noah Ferguson	Gunner Williams	Owen Maloney	Jacob MacNab	Stephen Cross
Str.	Tanner Hamilton	Ben Lacuesta	George Liu	Chirag Chandnani	Will Register
Cox.	Aila Toivonen	Christian Ramos	Jack Bode	Alejandro Feliciano-Acevedo	Colton Burton