Oct. 20, 2004

Fairfax, Va...--George Mason University's women's rowing team competed in the Occoquan Chase on Oct. 17 in Occoquan, Va., which was hosted by Mason's own men's club rowing team.

The First Varsity Eight boat finished the 5,000-meter race fifth for the Patriots, out of 15 boats, in a time of 17:27. The Mason team comprised of coxswain-Jessica Dillman, stroke-Megan Duvall, 7-Kelly Bryan, 6-Paige Beaudoin, 5-Lindsay English, 4-Marissa Olesen, 3-Jessica Barnes, 2-Cristina Gonzalez, bow-Nicole Pierce.

The Second Varsity Eight boat competed in the same race as the First Varsity Eight and crossed the finish line in 17:43 to garner a seventh place finish for Mason, which was ahead of all of the other `B' boats. The Patriots were comprised of coxswain-Lee Ann Fisher, stroke-Terry Seal, 7-Ednaline Concepcion, 6-Christina Piazza, 5-Casey Clausen, 4-Lydia Wheeler, 3-Kathryn Rose, 2-Sibley Slinkard, bow-Christina Friend.

"The Varsity Eight `A' boat made some big improvements from the previous weekend, which I hope will continue into this weekend's competition in Boston," said interim head coach Andrea Smail. "The Second Varsity Eight had a great race overall on Sunday as we defeated every other `B' boat in the 5,000-meter event."

The Patriots will return to action when they compete at the Head of the Charles in Boston, Mass. on Oct. 23.