Navy Boats Prepare for Eastern Sprints Championship

Men's event held in Worcester, Mass.; women's in Cherry Hill, N.J.

	Navy Crew

May 15, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy rowing teams will compete against the top programs on the East Coast this weekend when the Mids take part in the annual Eastern Sprints Championship. The men's event will be held Sunday on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., while the women's championship will be contested on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.

The varsity boat from Navy's heavyweight squad is seeded eighth heading into the meet. Joining the Mids in their trial heat are No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 5 Northeastern, No. 11 Georgetown, No. 14 MIT and No. 17 Dartmouth. The top-two boats in each of the three heats will advance to the grand final, the third and fourth-place finishing boats will compete in the petite final, with the remaining crews competing in the third level final.

The Mids placed 14th in the varsity flight and 11th as a team at the 2007 championship.

"I believe we are gaining speed with our new varsity lineup," said Navy heavyweight head coach Rick Clothier. "The qualifying heat should be very 'hot' racing. We have great respect for Wisconsin and Northeastern, especially, but all of the crews in our heat have shown good speed during their early season races. I am excited to see our new lineup in racing action!"

Navy's lightweight team has been one of the top programs at the Eastern Sprints over the last four years. During this time the varsity boat has finished no lower than fourth place in the grand final and Navy as a team has recorded two first place and two second-place finishes in the team points competition.

The Mids won the team title and placed fourth in the varsity race last year.

Sunday's trial heat for Navy's varsity boat includes Yale, Georgetown, Columbia, Penn and Delaware.

Navy's women's program travels to the Sprints for the 13th time in program history. The Mids have advanced to the petite final of the varsity flight three times over the last four years, including last year when crew placed 12th overall and Navy as a team finished in 11th place in the points standing.

Navy's varsity crew is seeded 12th this year and will challenge top-seeded Brown, No. 6 Dartmouth, No. 7 Boston University, No. 13 Syracuse and No. 18 MIT in the trial heats.

"Our first goal for the weekend is to advance our varsity boat to the grand final," said Navy women's head coach Mike Hughes. "We'll have to beat some of the top boats in the NCAA to do so, but we are excited about the opportunity to measure ourselves against the best competition in the country."