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Navy Wins Inaugural Eads Johnson Jr. Cup
The varsity lightweight eight from Navy continued its winning ways by knocking off 3rd-ranked Yale last weekend. On an overcast but calm day at Mercer County Park, the Mids won four of their five races against Yale including the Eads Johnson Jr. Cup.
Navy's third varsity lead off the day with a convincing 11-second win over Yale, while the Plebe eight also had a decisive victory.
The 2nd varsity lost their second straight race against a very talented Yale JV. Yale went into the lead right off the start. Navy had some strong pushes to take a few seats from Yale, but the Bulldogs countered every move and held onto a boat-length lead into the finish line.
The 2nd Freshmen fours race was the most exciting of the day. After a shaky start for the Yale crew, they managed to walk through one of the two Navy fours and have a great three-boat race all the way down the course. Both Yale and Navy B exchanged leads on each other many times. In the final sprint, the Yale crew was more poised and surged to hold the lead on the Navy B boat, while the Navy A boat held onto a three-second victory.
After all the races were done, 92-year-old Eads Johnson Jr. was on hand to present his name-sake varsity trophy to Midshipmen Captain Hunter Washburn and the rest of the Navy first boat. There was a brief talk about Eads' connection to the race, how he was the Yale Lightweight Captain, how he took the Yale 150's to Henley in 1934, and how he spent five "long" years in active naval duty during World War II. Being the grandfather of the Navy coach's wife as well, he was excited for both crews in saying "I'm a little torn about this. I hope that in the future, Navy and Yale split the trophy."
Race Results Varsity 8 Navy 5:53.31 Yale 5:56.91
2nd Varsity 8 Yale 6:05.0 Navy 6:07.6
1st Plebe 8 Navy 6:05.6 Yale 6:14.3
3rd Varsity 8 Navy 6:11.8 Yale 6:22.9
2nd Plebe Fours Navy A 7:13.3 Yale 7:16.7 Navy B 7:17.5 |