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FAIRFAX, Va. – During the non-league portion of the college basketball season, conference challenge events often build intrigue and create outstanding matchups early in the year while getting fans ready for the exciting months to come.
 
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge and SEC/Big 12 series provide programs a chance to see where they stack up and give the fans a date to highlight on the calendar.
 
George Mason University head coach Ted Nagorsen is aiming to bring that same sense of inter-conference intrigue and support to NCAA Rowing, with a unique format that will be unveiled this Sunday (April 23) at the annual Mason Invite in Fairfax Station, Va.
 
The race will feature three teams from a trio of conferences – the Big 12, the Atlantic 10 and the CAA.
 
Mason will welcome Kansas, West Virginia and Old Dominion from the Big 12 and will host CAA programs Eastern Michigan, Buffalo and Delaware. The Patriots will join George Washington and Dayton in the A-10 portion of the event.
 
"It's very exciting for Mason to bring this event to the Occoquan," Nagorsen said. "To have NCAA Div. I competition from as far as Kansas race on the river is great for the sport and will make for an excellent race. I hope the community will come out and support the student-athletes on Sunday."
 
In the morning sessions, Varsity 8+, Second Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ boats will participate in conference heats in which the boats will race against other teams from their league.
 
The top finisher from each league will head to the A Final to compete against the top team from the other two conferences.
 
The second heat finisher from each conference will participate in a B final against the second finishers from the other two conferences and so on in a format that should lead to competitive races down the stretch.
 
Regardless of heat finish, each boat will have a chance to score points for their home conference in finals action.
 
The winner of each Varsity 8+ final will earn nine points for its home conference, the second finisher will earn six points and the third will get three. That scoring format will occur in the B Final and C Final as well.
 
The Second Varsity 8+ scoring format will be 6-4-2, while the Varsity 4+ format is 3-2-1 in the A, B and C Finals.  
 
The conference with the most points at the end of the finals series will be declared the fastest participating conference and the Mason Invite Champion.
 
"In the afternoon, A-10 schools will be pulling for A-10 schools to win and so on," Nagorsen said. "With the title of fastest conference on the line, we hope the format will lead to league camaraderie and support between schools. I hope this event continues to grow. We have six lanes, so to do a conference challenge event with six conferences in the future would be awesome."
 
Nagorsen has set up the Mason Invite to make it a fan-friendly day. Parking will be free for all attendees and a free shuttle service will be provided to take fans down from the Sandy Run Regional Park parking area to the race course grandstand.
 
Fans can follow the scoring live this Sunday on Regatta Central. A full schedule of races, including non-scored Third Varsity 8+ and Second Varsity 4+ races, can be found on GoMason.com.

Race Course Address:
Sandy Run Regional Park
10450 Van Thompson Rd, Fairfax Station, Virginia 22039

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