April 17, 2006

The Mason women's rowing team entered four boats into the Bucknell Invitational and had some good results. The varsity 8 had a strong start and a great first 1000m. and were about even with Bucknell at the half way point, but Bucknell made a move and fell off the pace. "I know we have what it takes to hang with some fast schools, but we have not been able to do it over 2000m," said Head Coach Geoff Dillard. "We need to improve or mental toughness and conditioning to put a complete race together."

The Patriots varsity 4 beat Delaware for the second consecutive week. It was a really long race against a strong current, but they were able to get down the course in a strong fashion. The outlook looks good for the varsity 4 heading into CAA's this weekend, as they will look to have a repeat performance.

The novices continue to improve and had another great weekend. In the largest race of the day, the novice eight, finished second to Temple. The boat passed Bucknell and claimed runner-up honors by just more than three seconds with a time of 9:01.63. George Mason second novice boat (9:11.00) and Delaware (9:21.60) rounded out the five-boat field. The novice 8 was down the first 1000m but they did not panic, and rowed through Delaware and Bucknell the second 1000m. "The novice 8 has a very strong desire to win, and they go out and compete hard every race," added Dillard.

"The goal was to be as close to our top 8 as possible, they definitely went out there and did that," said Dillard. "The 2nd novice 8's performance is proof of this year's novice squad depth, hard work, and great team attitude. We look forward to them moving up to varsity next year."

The Patriot rowers will compete in the CAA Championship this weekend.

Varsity Eight
Heat 1
1. Temple - 7:50.49
2. Bucknell - 7:55.78
Heat 2
1. Bucknell JV - 8:05.18
2. Delaware - 8:12.30
Petite Final
1. Bucknell - 8:12.73
2. George Mason - 8:41.59
Grand Final
1. Temple - 8:10.44
2. Delaware - 8:35.70
Second Varsity Eight
1. Bucknell - 8:13.74
2. Delaware - 8:15.15
3. Temple - 8:29.22
Novice Eight
1. Temple - 8:55.44
2. George Mason - 9:01.63
3. Bucknell - 9:04.96
4. George Mason - 9:11.00
5. Delaware - 9:21.60
Varsity Four
1. Bucknell A - 9:32.82
2. Bucknell B - 9:43.57
3. George Mason - 9:57.34
4. Delaware - 10:33.16