April 13, 2009

The George Mason rowing team won the Petite Final at the Knecht Cup Regatta on Saturday, April 11. For the first time in program history, twenty-seven Mason Women Rowers saw action in the finals of the Knecht Cup Regatta. Hosted by Villanova, the Knecht Cup is the largest non-championship regatta on the east coast, featuring competitors from the Big East, ACC, Atlantic 10, Big 10 and CAA Conferences.

"The Knecht Cup is a great race to attend," Head Coach Geoff Dillard commented. "It offers lots of racing against tough competition. We get to see how we stack up against a lot of schools in a championship format regatta."

The Mason Varsity Rowers came together on Saturday to post impressive results showcasing the team's size and depth. The Varsity 8, Second Varsity 8 and Novice 8 all put together solid qualifying races on Friday to advance to Saturday's racing. The Varsity 8 had a pretty good heat finishing 3rd, only needing to be in the top four to advance. "We put a late charge on 2nd place UConn and finished just .4 seconds behind them," Dillard added. "I think that gave us some confidence we could hang with them." The Patriots needed to finish in the top two in the semi-final, but were edged out by Delaware and finished third, putting the Green and Gold in the Petite Final. "We had been struggling a bit in the first 1000m, so we wanted to focus on attacking the first 1000m" Dillard said. "We accomplished that and were up on Boston College fighting for 2nd place with Delaware. Delaware had a better last 1000m then us and we took 3rd place."

In the Petite Final, Mason's Varsity 8 came together for their best race of the spring. Posting a time of 7:20.0, the V8 outraced UMass, Rutgers, Boston College and UConn. "Looking at the schools in the petite final we knew this was going to be a really hard race," Dillard added. "We needed to put together a complete race to do well. The girls did just that, having a strong first 1000m and hanging right with the field." Mason's boat was in 3rd place with 750m left, and that's where the Patriots made the move and pushed out into first place and held on until the finish. This is the first time this season the Patriots have beaten UMass, Rutgers, Boston College, and UConn in the Varsity 8.

The Second Varsity 8 finished in sixth place, the highest result for the Patriots team. "The Knecht Cup hosts one of the most competitive fields in the 2nd Varsity 8; making the grand final was a big accomplishment," Dillard added. "Unfortunately we did not have our best race in the final and fell off the pace right from the beginning. That is something we will need to work on."

The 2nd Varsity 8 was in a tough heat against Rhode Island and Boston College. The boat needed finish in the top two to advance to the grand final. They were fighting with Boston College for 2nd place with about 750m left and finished ahead of the Eagles by four seconds. "Once again the girls were able to find another gear and kicked it in beating BC and advancing to the grand finals," Dillard said.

Mason's Novice 8 boat performed well in their event, finishing in third place in the petite final, behind Wisconsin's Lightweights and Temple. They qualified for the final with a 3rd place finish in the semi-final. After a slow start by the Patriots boat, the team battled back into the race. "The novice 8 had a great race Friday afternoon," Novice Coach Ellen Gallagher noted. "Their start was a bit rocky and they were behind for about 400 meters, but they maintained their composure and worked their way back into the race, passing URI. They continued to work on both Rutgers and Tulsa, but just weren't able to make up the distance. It was a close, competitive race that showcased just how far our novice rowers have come this spring."

Mason also raced Varsity and Novice 4s, both of which faced larger fields and tougher progressions. Neither boat advanced out of the heats.

Mason will return to action this Saturday, April 18th at the inaugural Colonial Athletic Association championships against Buffalo, Northeastern, Old Dominion, Drexel and Delaware. Hosted by Drexel, the races will take place on the Schuylkill River.