April 17, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Fresh off a successful weekend that saw Navy's three varsity boats combine for a 7-1 record, the Navy rowing teams will all be in competition again this week with races slated to be held both locally and in the region.

Navy's heavyweight team opened its season last weekend by having its varsity crew post a 3-0 record at the George Washington Invitational. This week, the Mids travel to Ithaca, N.Y., to face Cornell and Syracuse on Saturday. The winner of the varsity race between the three teams will receive the Goes Trophy, while the Stag Trophy will be presented to the program compiling the most overall points between the three teams.

Syracuse has won the Goes Trophy race in each of the last two seasons, marking just the second time the Orange have won the race in back-to-back years since the inception of the award in 1955. Navy has won the trophy a series-best 24 times, most recently from 2003-05. Each of the three teams has won the Stag Trophy once over the last three seasons, with Cornell currently in possession of the award. The Mids have claimed the Stag Trophy 25 times since it was first awarded in 1967.

This week's U.S. Rowing poll has Cornell's ranked 10th nationally, while Navy and Syracuse are tied for 12th place.

"The Goes Trophy race should be an outstanding competition," said Navy heavyweight head coach Rick Clothier. "I believe the crews are very closely matched. We hope for a solid week of training to prepare properly."

In addition to the Saturday's slate of racing, Navy's varsity boat also will compete Sunday against Columbia in West Windsor, N.J., for the Maxwell Stevenson Trophy. The series has had a number of starts and stops since the trophy was initially presented in 1950, but the Mids have won each of the six races since it began anew in 2002 and hold a 21-1 advantage in the all-time series.

Columbia's varsity crew is ranked 11th in this week's U.S. Rowing national poll.

"Columbia seems to be very strong at this point of the season," said Clothier.

The remainder of the Navy and Columbia crews will square off against each other on May 4.

Navy's women's team also took part in last week's George Washington Invitational, with its varsity boat compiling a 3-1 record over the two days of the event. The Mids will play host to their only home event of the spring Saturday when Navy competes against Georgetown on the Severn River.

"Georgetown is improving weekly, so we are expecting them to have their best race of the season Saturday," said Navy women's head coach Mike Hughes. "Our goal is to match their performance by having our best race of the year."

Joining the women's squad in competing at home this weekend is the Navy lightweight team. The Mids, who won each of their three races against Columbia last week, will face Delaware Saturday morning.

"We are excited to race Delaware this weekend as a late addition to our schedule," said Navy lightweight head coach Rob Friedrich. "Delaware's freshmen have performed very well over the first few weeks of the season, so our plebes have been training hard this week in preparation for a tight race. I am looking forward to giving our third plebe boat and fourth varsity guys a race after all of their hard work in making our top boats competitive."

Schedule of Racing for Saturday on the Severn River
8:20 a.m. - Varsity, Women
8:40 a.m. - Novice, Women
9:00 a.m. - Varsity, Lightweight
9:20 a.m. - 2nd/3rd Varsity, Lightweight
9:40 a.m. - Varsity Four, Women
10:00 a.m. - 1st Freshmen, Lightweight
10:20 a.m. - 2nd/3rd Freshmen, Lightweight
10:40 a.m. - Four, Lightweight