The women's rowing team competed in the second regatta of their fall season at the Head of the Occoquan on Saturday, November 6, on the Occoquan Reservoir. The Patriots raced eight boats: two varsity eights, three varsity fours, two novice eights, and one novice four.
The first Mason medalist of the morning was the First Varsity 8 that won silver medals in the Collegiate 8+ race with a time of 17:32.63. The Varsity 8 finished 14 seconds behind the first place boat from Georgetown. U.S. Naval Academy rounded up the top three finishes.
"We had a strong race. We had a little trouble with one of the buoys, but the girls did not let that faze them. They were able to recover and keep it strong all the way down the course. I believe this is the first time we have been able to beat Navy, which is a great accomplishment." said Head Coach Geoff Dillard.
The Second Varsity 8 also competed in the Collegiate 8+ race, finishing 10th out of the twenty-five boats. Posting a time of 18:31.76, the Second Varsity 8 finished third among the other schools' Second Varsity 8's.
"I was happy with how our Second Varsity 8 rowed. They have made some real progress this fall. We wanted to hold off Delaware's first eight as long as possible, and catch West Virginia's second eight. The girls were able to accomplish both of those goals." said Dillard.
The big win of the afternoon was in the Collegiate 4+ race, where the First Varsity 4 took 1st place with a time of 18:55.56. The Second and Third Varsity 4's placed 6th and 21st of the thirty-one boats.
"The girls built their confidence in their eight's race, and were excited to get back out there in the fours. All three of our fours rowed the way I wanted them to row. The first four rowed a very aggressive race and it paid off. I was really proud of their race." Dillard added.
The novice boats also did well in their first race of the fall season. Mason finished 11th and 25th in the Collegiate Novice 8+ race with times of 20:40.42 and 24:49.19, respectively. In the Collegiate Novice 4+ race, the Patriots finished 18th of twenty-six boats with a time of 26:09.83.
"This was our novice's first race, we wanted them to go out there and focus on their technique. They rowed long and controlled. They will gain a lot of speed as we work on their conditioning and building the rate. They will improve a lot, learning from each race they compete in. We look forward to them hitting the water again next weekend." said Dillard.
For complete results from the Head of the Occoquan visit the Ronin Racing website.
The Patriots will finish their fall schedule next Saturday, November 13, at the Philadelphia Frostbite Regatta on the Schuylkill River.
