April 2, 2008

The Mason Patriots raced at the Carolina Cup in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday against The University of North Carolina and Duke University. The Varsity 8 race against UNC was the tightest race of the day. The V8 jumped out ahead in the first thousand meters of the race but was unable to maintain the lead against a Tar Heel charge at the thousand meter mark. UNC's winning time was 7:19.62 to Mason's 7:23.4. Head Coach Geoff Dillard notes, "It was a little disappointing that we were not able to keep our composure on Saturday. We did not do the things we do well. This was definitely a step up for us in competition and I think we had some results that showed we can compete at this level, but unfortunately we did not have a complete race."

The Mason Novice 8 also found themselves in close racing against two North Carolina Novice 8s. The novice patriots finished eight seconds behind Carolina's first eight and fought a late push by the Carolina second eight to finish two seconds ahead. "In the second race of their careers, our novice rowers showed their growth and commitment to improvement. We were very pleased with their progress and the novices were thrilled to be in such a competitive situation."

Mason Rowing returned home for the Occoquan Sprints on Sunday on their home race course on the Occoquan Reservoir. The Mason Varsity 8, Second Varsity 8 and Novice 8 won their events in a decisive fashion and the Varsity 4 finished their race in a strong second. Even though the quick turnaround from Saturday made for a busy weekend, Coach Dillard comments, "I was glad we were racing so soon on Sunday. It really allowed our girls to refocus and correct their mistakes from Saturday. We had great results on Sunday, but more importantly we raced the way we are capable of racing. We need to learn from this weekend and be able to row to our potential in a big race or away from our home race course."

For Carolina Cup results click here.

For Occoquan Sprints results click here.