Nov. 4, 2002

FAIRFAX, VA...The women's rowing program completed its fall season by competing at home in the Head of the Occoquan Saturday, with all four Patriot teams turning in impressive performances.

The First Varsity Eight finished fourth out of 12 boats in a time of 16:37.3. The team of coxswain Annmarie Fitzpatrick, 8-Laurel Sachleben, 7-Melissa Sanford, 6-Laura Craig, 5-Patricia Angelo, 4-Liz Judge, 3-Ally Chewning, 2-Lindsey English and 1-Meia Raboteau was able to finish ahead of several Dad Vail power schools.

"The team didn't feel like it had its best race, but they were still able to beat a lot of Dad Vail schools, such as Drexel, William & Mary and Bucknell, which was encouraging," said head coach Paul Rassam. "It was especially nice for them to beat Drexel in this final race, because Drexel defeated them by 13 seconds just the previous week."

The Second Varsity Eight, comprised of coxswain Nancy Irby, 8-Kate Laczynski, 7-Paige Beaudoin, 6-Megan Duvall, 5-Michele Leblanc, 4-Emma Abel, 3-Christina Piazza, 2-Leslie Topping and 1-Christina Gonzalez, finished 14th out of 23 boats in its race, posting a time of 18:44.9.

In First Novice Eight action, the team of coxswain Rebecca Abarr, 8-Nicole Pierce, 7-Summer King, 6-Kathryn Rose, 5-Kelly Bryan, 4-Jennifer Welfare, 3-Jessica Dillman, 2-Terry Seal and 1-Lindsay Dahling, took third in a 33-boat race with a time of 17:58.4.

The Patriots were also able to race a Novice Four, with coxswain Candace Mauerhan, 4-Kelly Bryan, 3-Marissa Olesen, 2-Leanne Creger and 1-Anna Burmeister, finishing eighth out of 20 boats. Their time was 20:56.6.

With the fall season finished, the Mason women's rowing program will concentrate on its winter training before opening the spring season in April 2003.

"Over the course of this fall season, we showed consistent and steady improvement," said Rassam. "I believe that we are right where we want to be at the end of the fall season, but we still have some work to do over the winter to be ready for the spring."