Oct. 7, 2007

FAIRFAX, Va. -- The Navy lightweight crew team opened its 2007 fall season by winning titles in both the championship eight and championship four races at the Occoquan Challenge, Sunday on the Occoquan Reservoir in Fairfax, Va. This marks the third-straight year in which Navy has swept the two crowns at the event.

"It was a great day of racing to begin our fall season," said Navy head coach Rob Friedrich. "We put onto the water two very evenly matched boats in the championship eight race, and to have them place first and second is a great accomplishment. Also, to have three of the top-four boats in the championship eight race and three of the top-five crews in the championship four race shows the depth we have on the team."

Navy's top-two boats in the championship eight event finished both very close to each other and well in front of the rest of the 11-boat field. The crews recorded times of 14:50.50 and 14:51.35, respectively, to finish first and second in the race. Dartmouth's top entry finished over five seconds in back of the Mids (14:56.73) to place third.

In the championship four race, the Mids saw their top entry finish with a time of 16:41.09 to outdistance second-place Georgetown by over five seconds (16:46.44).

"Today was a great tune-up for the remainder of our fall meets," said Friedrich. "This really puts us on track for where we need to be for both having a successful season and continuing to gain speed."

The Mids will continue their fall season Saturday when the program takes part in the Navy Day Regatta in Philadelphia.

Championship 8 Race (11 boats)
1. Navy, 14:50.5000
2. Navy, 14:51.3533
3. Dartmouth, 14:56.7367
4. Navy, 15:09.5700
5. Dartmouth, 15:15.7767
9. Navy, 15:51.2400

Championship 4 Race (18 boats)
1. Navy, 16:41.0933
2. Georgetown, 16:46.4460
3. Dartmouth, 16:50.8167
4. Navy, 16:51.7700
5. Navy, 16:54.8733
8. Navy, 17:21.0133