Oct. 21, 2008

The George Mason women's crew raced in the Championship Eight at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta over the weekend, finishing 37th with a time of 18:09.263. The field included a couple of National Teams including USA and Great Britain. The rest of the field was composed of mostly all Top 25 programs in the country.

"This is by far the strongest field we will face all year," Head Coach Geoff Dillard said. "Our goal was to focus on the schools we will face in the spring and if you compare those boats we had a decent weekend. We finished within 6 seconds of UMass, San Diego St., and Drexel all of which are strong competitors at the Dad Vail every year."

"We struggled in the middle of the race when we were passed by Michigan and Boston University and it took us awhile to regain our composure. But once we did that the boat took off. We need to improve our focus and composure and always be moving the boat. When we do that it is one of the fastest boats I've had here at Mason," Dillard added.

Mason will compete next at the Head of the Schuylkill this weekend.