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Day Two Navy Recap from IRA Championship

Mids place first or second in four races; varsity boat qualifies for petite final

	Navy Crew

June 6, 2008

CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- Boats representing the Navy heavyweight rowing team placed either first or second in four races on the day, while the varsity eight crew advanced to the petite finals Friday at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Navy's varsity boat, the No. 10 seed in the regatta, was placed into one of Friday's championship semifinal races along with No. 1 Washington, No. 4 Cal, No. 6 Yale, No. 7 Northeastern and No. 11 Harvard. Only the top three finishing boats would qualify for Saturday's grand final. As the race began Washington and Cal took the early lead with Navy close behind in third place. The Mids strengthened their position over the remaining three crews by the 1,000-meter mark before Northeastern made a big push to bump Navy down to fourth place. With 500 meters to go, Harvard and Yale also had slightly overtaken the Navy shell, dropping Navy briefly down to sixth place, but the Mids responded and in the end finished in fourth place a few feet in front of both the Crimson and the Bulldogs.

Navy, who finished 3.5 seconds behind third-place Northeastern, posted a time of 5:47.091, Harvard followed in fifth place with a time of 5:47.333 and Yale finished sixth with its clocking of 5:47.523.

"It was a great race," said Navy head coach Rick Clothier. "We found enough left in our tanks to hold off Harvard and Yale. It would have been nice to move into third place and Saturday's grand final, but we are anxious about our opportunity to hold or improve upon our seed tomorrow in the petite final."

A pair of Navy entries recorded victories in their respective consolation semifinal races Friday. The second varsity eight crew posted a three-second win over Michigan in its contest, while the varsity four with coxswain boat won its race by nearly three seconds. Both of those Navy shells will compete in third-level finals Saturday.

Finishing second in their races Friday were Navy's freshman four and varsity pair boat. The freshman four crew will compete in the third-level final Saturday, with the pairs entry slated for the petite final.

Rounding out the Navy efforts on the day was the freshman eight boat with a sixth-place showing in its championship semifinal. The Mids will compete Saturday in the petite final for the first time in three years.

The original schedule of races posted for Saturday has been moved up due to the excessive heat forecasted for the region. Racing will begin at 7 a.m. and conclude at 1:12 p.m.

Varsity Eight
Championship Semifinal -- 4th of 6 -- Washington, 539.454; California, 5:40.088; Northeastern, 5:43.585; Navy, 5:47.091; Harvard, 5:47.333; Yale, 5:47.523
Saturday's Schedule -- Petite Final, 12:12 p.m.

Second Varsity Eight
Consolation Semifinal -- 1st of 5 -- Navy, 6:01.078; Holy Cross, 6:04.145; Michigan, 6:04.256; George Washington, 6:04.458; Dartmouth, 6:09.800
Saturday's Schedule -- Third Level Final, 8:12 a.m.

Freshman Eight
Championship Semifinal, 1 p.m. -- 6th of 6 -- California, 5:38.302; Washington, 5:39.884; Princeton, 5:50.333; Syracuse, 5:53.553; Wisconsin, 5:53.560; Navy, 6:07.320
Saturday's Schedule -- Petite Final, 11 a.m.

Varsity Four with Coxswain
Consolation Semifinal -- 1st of 6 -- Navy, 6:37.609; Loyola, 6:40.341; Minnesota, 6:40.357; Washington State, 6:43.670; Michigan, 6:50.012; Boston Univ., 7:11.785
Saturday's Schedule -- Third Level Final, 7:48 a.m.

Varsity Four w/o Coxswain
Did not race Friday
Saturday's Schedule -- Grand Final, 10:24 a.m.

Freshman Four with Coxswain
Consolation Semifinal -- 2nd of 5 -- Marietta, 6:57.202; Navy, 7:01.533; Brown, 7:07.700; Michigan, 7:17.269; Dartmouth, 7:25.443
Saturday's Schedule -- Third Level Final, 7:36 a.m.

Varsity Pair
Repechage Race -- 2nd of 3 -- Rutgers, 7:22.749; Navy, 7:24.430; Loyola, 7:36.714
Saturday's Schedule -- Petite Final, 8:24 a.m.

Lightweight Varsity Eight
Did not compete Thursday or Friday
Saturday's Schedule -- Semifinal, 7 a.m.; either Petite Final (1 p.m.) or Grand Final (1:12 p.m.)