Nov. 16, 2006

Fairfax, Va.--George Mason University's swimming and diving teams will host the annual Patriot Invitational at the Aquatic and Fitness Center Nov. 17-19. Teams joining Mason at the Invitational are American, Duke, Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, North Carolina-Wilmington, Seton Hall, Shippensburg and UMBC.

In 2005, Yale University's swimming & diving teams both took home the Patriot Invitational titles, with the men claiming it for the second year in a row. Both of Mason's squads placed fifth, out of 11 teams, with the women scoring 458 points and the men, 343, in the three-day event.

Most recently, the Patriot women claimed wins at the CAA Pod Meet (Nov. 3-4) against Charleston (235-115), Davidson (251-101) and Drexel (263-89), while the men's squad was edged by Drexel (180-147) and fell to both Charleston (215-122) and Davidson (233-110).

The Patriot Invitational preliminaries will start at 10 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday, while the finals have a 6 p.m. start. On Nov. 20, preliminaries and finals will begin at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., respectively. Cost of admission for an all-day adult pass is $8 and $5 for an adult single session. Youth and faculty/staff are $2 for a single session, while Mason students are free.