Aug. 25, 2005

Former George Mason student-athlete Melissa Rice is a member of the U.S. National Rowing Team scheduled to compete at the 2005 FISA World Championships in Gifu, Japan August 28-September 4. The 61-person roster includes 35 past national team members and 14 members of the 2004 Olympic Team.

The Virginia Beach, Va. native will compete at her first world championship in the lightweight women's quadruple sculls. Her team includes Wendy Campanella (Needham, Mass.), Sarah Hirst Smith (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and Heather Moon (Windsor, Vt.). The U.S. won a bronze medal in the event last year. China looked strong during the world cup circuit as it took two of the top three spots in Lucerne, with Denmark winning the silver medal and the Netherlands finishing fourth. However, China will not race in Gifu.

Rice, a 2001 graduate of Mason, took up rowing in 1997, coincidentally the season the Patriots rowing program went from a club sport to varsity, and rowed all four years. The former Patriot Co-captain helped varsity four and varsity eight to first-place finishes in the Occoquan chase and the Head of the Occoquan respectively in fall of 2000.

She has compiled a successful rowing resume since graduating in 2001, which includes a bronze medal in the lightweight sculls at the 2003 Pan American Games and winning the elite lightweight singles sculls and double sculls at the 2002 US Rowing National Championships. In 1999, Rice competed in her first international competition in the Canadian Henley and place second in her heat behind the world silver medalist, and was eighth overall for the under-23 age group.

The 27-year old is a member of the Occoquan Boat Club. She is currently working towards a master's degree from Mason and is employed as an acquisitions and logistics contractor.