May 5, 2008

On Sunday, May 4th, the George Mason University Women's Rowing Team competed at the ECAC Metro Championship for the first time in program history. Among the 11 universities represented, the championship featured conference champions from the Patriot League, the A-10 Conference, the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference and Mason's own Colonial Athletic Association. Mason Rowing finished 6th in team points, behind Bucknell, UMass, URI, SUNY Buffalo, and Rutgers.

The Novice 8, a freshman boat, finished second in their morning heat to the University of Massachusetts. The second place finish qualified them for the Grand Final. In the final the Mason novices battled UMass again and fought off a late charge by SUNY Buffalo to finish fourth, just 1.6 seconds out of the medals. Novice Coach Ellen Gallagher notes, "While the rowers were disappointed to be on the losing side of such a small margin, I was very pleased with the competitive race they put together. This weekend was an opportunity to preview next weekend's Dad Vail competition and the novices learned some critical lessons that we hope to capitalize on over the next five days."

Mason's Second Varsity 8 also qualified for the Grand Finals with a gutsy third place finish in their heat. In the Grand Final the 2V posted a season-best time of 7:01.6 to finish in 6th place, right behind Rutgers' 6:59.1 5th place finish. "The 2V had a great sprint in their heat that got them into the Grand Final. They took some risks in the final that paid off and they finished with a solid race," Head Coach Geoff Dillard commented after the race.

The Varsity 8 finished 4th in their heat with a time of 6:56.0. In the petite final, the Patriot rowers finished 2nd in a time of 6:55.4 to Marist College's 6:52.1. "We have been up and down in the Varsity 8 all spring, and today we just did not have enough. We will need to be at our strongest next weekend and try to be more consistent," said Coach Dillard.

Dillard comments, "This was the first time that Mason attended the ECAC Metro Championship, and we knew the field was really tough. I was impressed with how our girls competed this weekend and we were in the mix with the field in every race. This is a level of rowing that we want to be able to achieve and compete at. I felt we were able to compete this weekend and will look to improve our finish in future years."

Dillard concludes, "The Varsity boats will draw from this weekend's racing to get ready for the Dad Vail."