6/1/2001 - Men's Heavyweight Crew
Crew Completes Season at IRA Championship

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CAMDEN, N.J. - Navy's heavyweight crew team concluded competition Saturday at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship, being held on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J.

The Midshipmen won a trio of races on the final day of the three-day regatta. The varsity four without coxswain won the third-level final with a time of 6:44.51, the varsity eight won the fourth-level final in a time of 5:49.53, and the novice four with coxswain crossed the finish line in a third-level final winning time of 6:57.91.

Even thought the varsity eight team was competing in the fourth-level final, its time was the 10th fastest of all boats in its class on the day. Navy's time was faster than five boats who raced in the third-level final, faster than two boats in the petite final and faster than one boat in the grand final.

"It seemed like our varsity eight team was snakebit on our first two days here," said Navy heavyweight head coach Rick Clothier. "On Thursday we got tangled up in a buoy and ended up last in the race, then on Friday we were leading the race after a great start and the field gets called back by the officials due to a problem with another crew. After the new start our boat had a problem at 300 meters that caused us to stop, but by then it was too late to call the race and we again finished at the back of the pack.

"Today was a true indicator of what this team was capable of accomplishing. Our time was considerably faster than that of a number of boats which had given us trouble during the season. We had been coming along since the Eastern Sprints (three weeks ago) and we were able to put it together our best row of the year in our last row of the year.

Navy's varsity pair, novice eight and open four with coxswain teams all had strong showings on Friday to advance to petite finals on Saturday. The varsity pair boat placed third on Saturday with a time of 7:27.36, the novice eight finished in fourth place with a time of 6:06.16, and the open four team had a time of 7:13.81 to place sixth in its petite final.

Rounding out Navy's day on the Cooper River was the second varsity eight, which placed third in the third-level final with a time of 6:04.53, and the varsity four with coxswain, which finished in sixth place in the third-level final with a time of 7:09.22.

Also in action on Saturday was Navy's lightweight varsity eight boat. The Mids began the day by placing second in its trial heat with a time of 5:57.59, seven-tenths of a second behind Dartmouth and ninth-tenths of a second ahead of third-place Harvard. Navy then finished in fifth place in the grand final with a time of 5:51.50. Navy's time was less than three seconds out of a second-place finish.

"It was a great day for the lightweights," said Navy lightweight head coach Dale Hurley. "In the final, we had the lead from about the 500-meter mark until 1200 meters when Harvard came up and took the lead from us. Dartmouth and Yale pushed past us a short time later and then Georgetown nipped us at the finish for fourth place.

"I couldn't be prouder of the way we raced today. We are losing an important group of seniors, but I feel we can find a way to be faster next season."

Saturday's Results

*Varsity Eight

Fourth-level final - 5:49.53 (1st place)

*Second Varsity Eight

Third-level final - 6:04.53 (3rd place)

*Varsity Four w/Coxswain

Third-level final - 7:09.22 (6th place)

*Varsity Four w/o Coxswain

Third-level final - 6:44.51 (1st place)

*Varsity Pairs

Petite final - 7:27.36 (3rd place)

*Novice Eight

Petite final - 6:06.16 (4th place)

*Novice Four w/Coxswain

Third-level final - 6:57.91 (1st place)

*Open Four w/Coxswain

Petite final - 7:13.81 (6th place)

*Lightweight Varsity Eight

Heat - 5:57.59 (2nd place)

Grand final - 5:51.50 (5th place)