May 17, 2005

The Navy women's crew team advanced each of its five boats to the petite finals of the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges Championship for just the second time in school history, while also recording the program's best varsity eight finish at the championship, Sunday on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J.

"We rowed okay in the morning, but then really rowed well in the afternoon," said Navy head coach Mike Hughes. "I told our team if they can row as they did in the afternoon session they are going to have a lot of success in the future at the Eastern Sprints and in every race throughout the season.

"This is the first time in a number of years in which all of our boats advanced past the third level final and into the petite final. Combine that with having our best finish in the varsity race, tying our best finish in the second varsity race and sweeping the three titles at the Patriot League Championship and we have to feel good about today and the season we have had. We are not just holding our own, we are improving as a program."

Navy's varsity boat entered the championship as the No. 7 seed, the highest seed by the boat since the Mids began competing at the championship in 1996. Navy would place fourth in its trial heat with a time of 6:44.80, with No. 1 Princeton and No. 6 Boston University placing first and second to advance out of the heat to the grand final. The Mids would also go on to place fourth in the petite final, a race won by Penn in a time of 6:31.30. Navy completed the course in a time of 6:37.10, one-half of a second behind third-place Columbia.

The 10th-place showing is the best result for a Navy varsity crew at the Eastern Sprints. The previous best place by a Navy varsity entry was 11th back in 1999.

Navy's second varsity entry would place ninth in its division, tying the best finish at the event by a Navy second varsity crew (2000). After placing fourth in its trial heat, the 11th seeded Mids would place third in the petite final with a time of 6:49.50. Cornell won the petite final with a time of 6:46.30, with Penn edging the Mids for second by 1.2 seconds with a clocking of 6:48.30.

Each of Navy's third varsity boats would place fourth in both their respective trial heat and petite final. Navy's 'A' boat in the division would record a time of 7:43.80 in the petite final, while the 'B' boat would complete the final with a clocking of 8:10.70.

Navy's freshman boat would also place fourth in its trial heat, then would finish in sixth place in its petite final with a time of 7:06.60.

The only other time Navy advanced each of its five boats as far as the petite finals in its 10 years of competition at the Eastern Sprints was in 1999.

For complete results, visit www.navysports.com.