GOLD RIVER, Calif. – With its first and second varsity eight crews preparing for final action on Sunday, the varsity four crew represented the Navy lightweight program on Saturday with racing in the petite final of its classification. Fighting for positions seven through ten on a 2,000-meter course down Lake Natoma in northern California, the Mids' V4+ finished second in the petite final to rank eighth nationally.
The crew of juniors
B.J. Brown (Ellicott City, Md.),
Parker Schofield (Maumee, Ohio) and
Diego Zaidle (Tulsa, Okla.) and freshmen
Hayato Majoros (Northbrook, Ill.) and coxswain
Aila Toivonen (Gales Ferry, Conn.) got off to a strong start as they were solidly in second and pressing for the lead as they were just 0.19 seconds off of Georgetown's pace of 1:41.510 at the 500-meter mark. The Mids continued to chase the Hoyas and were nearly matching their stroke rate and output as it was a 0.45-second margin of 3:24.900 to 3:25.350 at the midway mark. Navy's focus wasn't just on Georgetown as it had a fight on its hand for second place as well as Yale was within 0.66 seconds at both of those same check points.
In the second half of the race, the Mids shaved 0.13 seconds off its deficit to the Hoyas and gained nearly a second of separation on the Bulldogs. At the 1,500-meter mark it was Georgetown at 5:08.160, Navy at 5:08.480 and Yale at 5:10.000. The sprint to the finish line was an epic battle with all three boats in a near stroke-for-stroke unison. At the conclusion of each team's final push, Georgetown held on for the victory with a time of 6:48.030, 1.23 seconds ahead of Navy's 6:49.260. Yale was just over a second back in third place at 6:50.320, while Dartmouth was well off the pace in fourth with a 7:07.920 effort.
Navy's runner-up result in the petite final translates to eighth overall in the nation for the lightweight varsity four division.
The lightweight program will conclude its action at the IRA National Championship on Sunday with the grand final race for its second varsity eight at 1:12 p.m. ET/10:12 a.m. PT and the petite final for its first varsity eight at 2:26 p.m. ET
Race Results
Varsity Four
Second of Four in Petite Final
Georgetown – 6:48.030
Navy - 6:49.260 **Eighth in the nation
Yale - 6:50.320
Dartmouth - 7:07.920
Boat Lineup
