This past August, coach Billy Edwards of the Navy Women’s Triathlon team joined me on the Navy Sports Central podcast. Their sport had just transitioned from club to varsity status, just like rugby did last year. That gave the Naval Academy a total of 36, tying them with Ohio State and Stanford for the most in NCAA Division One. Coach Edwards and I had a great discussion about how the sport of triathlon has grown in popularity, especially at the collegiate level.  During the course of our conversation, I learned that the NCAA Championships for the sport would take place in Tempe, AZ ..read more

Navy Rugby has a long and storied history at Annapolis. It was introduced in 1962 as an intramural sport. The following spring, the Second Battalion won the first Brigade Championship. The Mids also began playing local teams that same year. And over the next six decades, they enjoyed quite a bit of success as a club program, often competing against some of the best varsity teams in the country. Now . . . besides having a highly competitive program, Navy Rugby also has a very loyal and active fan base. For years, they had been advocating to elevate the team to varsity status. The alumni was ver ..read more

Navy Rugby has a long and storied history at Annapolis. It was introduced in 1962 as an intramural sport. The following spring, the Second Battalion won the first Brigade Championship. The Mids also began playing local teams that same year. And over the next six decades, they enjoyed quite a bit of success as a club program, often competing against some of the best varsity teams in the country. Now . . . besides having a highly competitive program, Navy Rugby also has a very loyal and active fan base. For years, they had been advocating to elevate the team to varsity status. The alumni was ver ..read more

One of the more interesting aspects of shining a light on these amazing student athletes at the Naval Academy is finding out how they wound up on that path to Annapolis. So when I had the chance to learn about Navy quarterback Tai Lavatai’s journey, I thought it made perfect sense to feature it in the Navy Sports Nation blog. When it comes to the Navy Football team, I am really sensitive with respect to their time. They have so many competing demands to manage. The last thing I want to do is pile on one more. And where Tai Lavatai is concerned, I’m sure he is in high enough demand with the loc ..read more

Can you believe it? Navy’s Triple Option is turning 20 this year. That just blows me away. It’s amazing how time flies. During the past two decades, Navy football fans have seen the program achieve some unprecedented success. And the fact that this success lines up with the team transitioning to the triple option offense is no accident. Seeing how it has been 20 years, I thought it might be fun celebrate some of those accomplishments. But to gain a true appreciation for how far the Navy Football program has come, it’s important to remember where it had been. Rock Bottom There’s no other way to ..read more

This past May, the Navy Lightweight Rowing team won its first national championship since 2004. And just a couple months ago, head coach Shawn Bagnall joined me on the Navy Sports Central podcast to talk about that great run. As we finished our conversation, it occurred to me that it would be really interesting to watch the team train. And when I mentioned to Coach Bagnall that I would be in Annapolis over the three day weekend in October, he was nice enough to invite me for a tour. Naturally, I took him up on it. And I’m glad I did. That time I spent at Hubbard Hall learning more about the Na ..read more

If you’re like me, water polo isn’t a sport that makes it onto your radar screen very often. It started as club sport at the Naval Academy in 1982 before gaining varsity status two years later. Since then, team has piled up a very impressive record while maintaining a pretty low profile for nearly 40 years. I think it’s time for that to change. So in this blog post, my goal is to do my best to provide you with the Ultimate Guide to Navy Water Polo. There are a lot of different ways to go with this, but I think the most simple way is to go in the following order. First, we’ll cover some basic r ..read more

With just over two minutes to go in the Navy-Georgetown basketball game this past season, the Hoyas brought the ball up court following a missed three pointer by Tyler Nelson. Down by six after hitting a three of their own, Georgetown looked ready to grab the momentum. But Navy guard Austin Inge was having none of it. As the Hoyas Jahvon Blair passed the ball to the top of the three point arc, Inge flashed in front of his man and poked it away. He chased it down and made the lay up off the steal to put the Mids back up by eight. Cam Davis stole the ball again on Georgetown’s next possession. H ..read more

It’s been nearly a year since Cary Kolat took over the Navy Wrestling program as its head coach. Prior to his arrival, it had been stuck in a serious rut. But in just his first year at the controls, Coach Kolat has delivered in a big way. And Navy wrestling fans couldn’t be happier. The Mids finished the season with a 5-1 record in dual meets. The fact that they completed that many was a small miracle considering the pandemic still hasn’t quite loosened its grip on college sports. And the team’s performance in the EIWA Championships served to validate their accomplishments this season. So let ..read more

If you’re like me, water polo isn’t a sport that makes it onto your radar screen very often. It started as club sport at the Naval Academy in 1982 before gaining varsity status two years later. Since then, team has piled up a very impressive record while maintaining a pretty low profile for nearly 40 years. I think it’s time for that to change. So in this blog post, my goal is to do my best to provide you with the Ultimate Guide to Navy Water Polo. There are a lot of different ways to go with this, but I think the most simple way is to go in the following order. First, we’ll cover some basic r ..read more