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FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason University women's rowing team will host arguably the most unique collegiate regatta in the sport Sunday when the Patriots hit the water for the annual Mason Invite.
 
As the only conference challenge race in the collegiate ranks, the Mason Invite pits three programs from the Atlantic 10 in a head-to-head battle against three programs from the Big 12 and three from the CAA.
 
In the morning heats, conference boats will race against each other for seeding. The winner of each heat will go to the afternoon grand final, the second team will go to the petit final, and the third will be put in the third final.
 
Those afternoon finals will have a boat from each league participating. The top team in each final will receive the most points while down the line lesser point values will be awarded. The conference with the most points at the end of the day will be crowned the winner.
 
Mason will be joined by fellow A-10 programs George Washington and Saint Joseph's. Kansas, West Virginia and Old Dominion will represent the Big 12, while Delaware, Villanova and Eastern Michigan will be on hand for the CAA.
 
"This event has grown and grown over the years because we have such a good race course. We wanted to figure out the best way to utilize it the most," head coach Ted Nagorsen said. "This format allows league teams race each other and gives a better picture of seedings heading into conference championships."
 
In addition to that predictive value, the Mason Invite also gives boats in all finals a chance to perform at a high level and earn valuable points for their league.
 
"When you figure out how you stack up against your conference, we then determine what the best conference is at the end of the day," Nagorsen said. "Athletically, it gives value to teams that aren't always in the grand final. They're competing to represent their conference to the best of their abilities, which makes this such a unique format."
 
The Big 12 won the inaugural Mason Invite conference challenge event in 2017. The Atlantic 10 and CAA will look to add a title to their collection in 2018.
 
The Patriots are also hoping to use Sunday's race as a way to build momentum into the 2018 Atlantic 10 Championship, which is just a fortnight away.
 
Nagorsen has been encouraged by a strong week of practice in which the Second Varsity 8+ has found some speed and the Varsity 4+ is competing at its best level of the year.
 
"One boat can't win the A-10 Championships for us. It takes all three boats," Nagorsen said. "It's exciting to see the potential's there. We just have to carry it over into Sunday on race day. We want to see team success this weekend, not only for the A-10, but for our program because it's our last race before the conference championship."
 
One area particularly that Nagorsen looks to see improve is in consistency.  
 
"The Varsity 8+ has put together good races but they've been volatile at times," Nagorsen said. "At the Knecht Cup we had a really good showing in the qualifying round but in the afternoon race we didn't put it together as well as we could've. The second Varsity 8+ did the opposite of that. We'll be looking to put back to back solid races together on Sunday."
 
Events at Sandy Run Regional Park begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday.