The big winner of the day was the First Varsity 8 that won the Open 8+ title. The boat edged out previous champion, UNC Chapel Hill by 1.4 seconds. UNC had won the title last year by nine seconds.

"I was really proud of the girls finishing in first place at their first race. They have been practicing hard and they carried that over to their racing. Our coxswains did a great job all day steering the course, and definitely shaved some seconds off our time." said Head Coach Geoff Dillard.

The Second Varsity 8 also competed well, placing 7th out of the eighteen boats. The Second Varsity 8 finished ahead of all but one of the other schools' Second Varsity 8's.

"Our Second Varsity 8 made some significant improvements a couple of days before we raced. I challenged them to execute these improvements on race day which is not always easy. I felt they raced a hard focused race and were able to accomplish what we wanted. I was happy with where they finished, and even more excited about how much more potential they have." Dillard added.

In the Open 4+ race, Mason finished 3rd, 5th, 16th and 19th out of twenty-five boats. The third place boat finished with a time of 17.56.43, 12 seconds out of first and 2 seconds behind second. Mason's fifth place boat was 17 seconds behind Mason's third place boat.

"The fours' races challenged our rowers how well they could row when they are fatigued and how much can they push themselves. Every race we get is another race of experience and we learn about ourselves. I was happy with how they pushed themselves in the fours." said Dillard.

Full results from the competition can be found at the Ronin Racing website.

The Patriots will be back in action for their second race of the fall season on Saturday, Nov 6., at the Head of the Occoquan.