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Navy Lightweights Win a Pair of Silver Medals at IRA Championship

Mids place second in varsity eight grand final

	Navy Rowing

June 7, 2008

CHERRY HILL, N.J. - The Navy lightweight rowing team placed second in the grand finals of the varsity eight and varsity four without coxswain races Saturday at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Navy's varsity boat began the day by placing second behind trial-heat winning boat Cornell. The Big Red won the race in a time of 5:49.254, the Mids placed second with a time of 5:51.638 and Dartmouth finished in third place with a clocking of 5:52.161.

With their finishes in the trial heat, all three crews advanced on to the event's grand final. Cornell would again win the final in a time of 5:39.194, with Navy finishing 1.6 seconds later in second place with a time of 5:40.782.

"It was a fantastic race by our boat," said Navy head coach Rob Friedrich. "We were in fourth place with about 300 meters to go, but an amazing sprint allowed them to row through both Yale and Princeton and finish in second place just behind Cornell."

The Bulldogs crossed the finish line one-half of a second after the Mids did to capture third place, with the Tigers following in fourth place seven-tenths of a second later.

"It was a great result for our crew," said Friedrich. "After finishing fourth at the Eastern Sprints they worked hard over the last few weeks and that silver medal is a great tribute to them and their effort. Finishing the year second in the country to a true champion like Cornell is a nice accomplishment."

The Mids had placed sixth in the grand final in each of the last three seasons.

Navy's varsity four without coxswain boat won its first race of the regatta Thursday to automatically move on to Saturday's grand final and give the crew the opportunity to win the title for the second consecutive season. The Mids would fall just short of that goal, however, as the crew finished in second place in the final to Yale's entry by seven seconds.

"It was an exceptional row by our varsity four boat," said Friedrich. "They were outmatched by Yale, but they should be as proud of their result as I am."

Varsity Eight (2nd out of 10)
Trial Heat - 2nd of 5 - Cornell, 5:49.254; Navy, 5:51.638; Dartmouth, 5:52.161; Fordham, 6:02.127; MIT, 6:02.730
Grand Final - 2nd of 6 - Cornell, 5:39.194; Navy, 5:40.782; Yale, 5:41.203; Princeton, 5:41.948; Georgetown, 5:45.827; Dartmouth, 5:50.714

Varsity Four without Coxswain (2nd out of 12)
Grand Final - Yale, 6:11.013; Navy, 6:18.276; Harvard, 6:19.059; Wisconsin, 6:23.286; Yale, 6:25.057; Cornell, 6:27.736