May 5, 2003

FAIRFAX, VA...The George Mason women's rowing team competed in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Crew Championships on its home water this past Sunday, with the Novice Eight winning its race and the other Patriot boats finishing among the top three in their respective divisions.

The Novice Eight won its race in 7:22.1. The team was comprised of coxswain Alissa Strouse, 8: Nicole Pierce, 7: Summer King, 6: Terry Seal, 5: Kelly Bryan, 4: Kathryn Rose, 3: Marissa Olesen, 2: Leanne Creger and 1: Jenny Welfare.

"They won a pretty hard fought race against a couple of decent teams," said head coach Paul Rassam. "It was a fun race to watch."

The Junior Varsity Eight took second, while the Varsity Eight and the Varsity Lightweight Four each finished third.

The Junior Varsity Eight -- coxswain: Nancy Irby, 8: Meia Raboteau, 7: Megan Duvall, 6: Kelly Bryan, 5: Lesley Topping, 4: Michelle LeBlanc, 3: Christina Piazza, 2: Cristina Gonzalez and 1: Amanda Scott - finished in 7:20.1.

"They had a pretty decent race," commented Rassam, who mentioned that those eight athletes would now split into two boats of four for this weekend's Dad Vail Regatta. "They weren't able to surpass Drexel (the race winner), but they were able to close the gap a little from the race two weeks ago."

During their race, the Varsity Eight of coxswain Annmarie Fitzpatrick, 8: Laurel Sachleben, 7: Ally Chewning, 6: Patricia Angelo, 5: Lindsay English, 4: Melissa Sanford, 3: Laura Craig, 2: Paige Beaudion and 1: Liz Judge got out to a quick start, but were unable to maintain their surge. They finished in 6:53.0.

"They started out very aggressive for the first 1,000 meters, but couldn't hold the pace they established," said Rassam. "But I'd rather see them go too hard and fade than have too much left in reserve."

The Varsity Lightweight Four of coxswain Irby, 4: Raboteau, 3: Duvall, 2: Gonzalez and 1: Scott posted a time of 8:02.1.

"They simply had a flat race," stated Rassam. "They are capable of a much better race next weekend at Dad Vail."

Rassam also noted that the entire program could do better at this weekend's season-finale.

"The focus and intensity of the team members has been dipping the past few weeks, despite an increase of intensity in the workout schedule," he said. "The result was that our boats did not go as fast as they should have this past weekend. But I blame myself for not doing a better job of nipping this trend in the bud.

"The upside to all this, however," continued Rassam. "Is that we are a young team and hopefully they'll learn from this. I also believe that a lot can be done within the next few days, especially with getting into the proper mental framework for a successful showing at the Dad Vail Regatta. We'll see how hungry they look at practice Tuesday morning."

Results from this past weekend:


Women's Division I Varsity Eight
1. Drexel, 6:41.9
2. Bucknell, 6:42.1
3. George Mason, 6:53.0
4. Johns Hopkins, 6:55.3
5. Loyola, 7:02.5



Women's Lightweight Four
1. La Salle, 7:49.7
2. Carnegie Mellon, 7:52.5
3. George Mason, 8:02.1
4. Catholic, 8:13.4
5. Pittsburgh, 8:27.8


Women's Junior Varsity Eight
1. Drexel, 7:09.1
2. George Mason, 7:20.1


Women's Novice Eight
1. George Mason, 7:22.1
2. Bucknell, 7:25.1
3. Penn State, 8:07.4