April 19, 2009

The George Mason rowing team participated in the inaugural CAA Championships on Saturday and finished fifth. Northeastern won two of the three conference championship races, including the varsity eight competition, as the Huskies claimed the first ever Colonial Athletic Association women's rowing championship. The University of Buffalo took first place in the varsity four competition and second in the second varsity eight and varsity eight to finish second in team points. The inaugural race was hosted by Drexel University on the Schuylkill River.

"It was a very disappointing performance," Head Coach Geoff Dillard commented. "The Varsity 8 hit a buoy at the turn under Strawberry Mansion Bridge, and caught a crab. The 2nd Varsity 8 did not follow the race plan and sprinted too late. The Varsity 4 had the best performance, finishing 3rd after only having a couple of practices together."

Mason finished third in the varsity four and fourth in the second varsity eight to earn a total of 13 points. The 2nd varsity boat was edged by Delaware by a half second with a time of 7:09.85.

"We will look to put this behind us and move forward," Dillard added. "We still have two big races left, ECAC Championship and the Dad Vail."

The Huskies shrugged off a second-place finish in the varsity four event to win the final two races by a combined 13 seconds and total 35 points, four more than Buffalo. Drexel took third place in the varsity eight race for 12 team points but fifth-place finishes in the second varsity eight and varsity four races gave them only 18 points. Delaware took third overall with third-place finishes in the varsity four and second varsity eight and a fourth in the varsity eight.

Results:
CAA Team Championship
Northeastern         35
Buffalo                 31
Delaware               20
Drexel                   18
George Mason       13
Old Dominion       8
WV4                            Time            Points
Buffalo                       7:41.93        6
Northeastern               7:50.00        5
George Mason             7:57.56        4
Delaware                     8:05.91        3
Drexel                         8:20.21        2
W2V8
Northeastern               6:52.10        12
Buffalo                       7:00.63        10
Delaware                     7:09.35        8
George Mason             7:09.85        6
Drexel                         7:17.87        4
Old Dominion             7:27.58        2
WV8
Northeastern               6:43.18        18
Buffalo                       6:48.08        15
Drexel                         6:52.62        12
Delaware                     6:54.77        9
Old Dominion             7:03.18        6
George Mason             7:14.58        3