OCCOQUAN, Va. - In a wailing tailwind, Mason Rowing capped off its head race season on Saturday at the Head of the Occoquan, on their home waters of the Occoquan Reservoir. The rowers competed in the Championship 8+, Championship 4+ and the Collegiate Novice 4+ events.

In the Championship 8+, Mason's varsity boat finished fifth, only six seconds behind A-10 rival George Washington. The JV boat finished fifteenth.

In the Championship 4+s, Mason put out three different line ups composed of the two eights that raced previously in the day. As the winds grew, the varsity 4+ fought their fatigue to finish thirteenth out of a field of 39. The JV and the third 4+ placed seventeenth and twenty-first, respectively.

“Our goal was top five in the varsity 8+, and we went out there and did what we expected to do today,” said head coach Ted Nagorsen. “We're at the speed that we should be for this time of year and have a high ceiling of speed to gain.

“I was extremely pleased with how the team looked technically,” Nagorsen commented. “Their catches and finishes were crisp and they had a really connected drive - that's the kind of rowing that does some damage in the spring.”

The HOTO marked the first race not only of the season for the novices, but their first race ever. During the race, the boat walked through the University of Buffalo and Carnegie Mellon, ultimately finishing fifth out of 13.

The novices will race once more next weekend at the Frostbite Regatta in West Winsor, New Jersey. The race will be a spring race format, 2,000-meters long, with six boats sprinting next to each other. While a different format than traditional fall races, the novice coach Katie O'Driscoll is excited for the novice to experience a taste of sprint racing.

“Sprint racing is so intense: you're surrounded by your competition, you're close enough to hear their coxswains, and you're able to see immediately if you're pulling ahead or falling behind,” she said. “I'm happy they will get that wonderful taste of spring racing to carry them through the winter training.”