PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The George Mason University rowing team's Varsity 4+ boat qualified for the Atlantic 10 Championship grand final for the first time in more than a decade to lead the Patriots at their conference regatta on Saturday.
 
It marked the Green & Gold's first Varsity 4+ grand final since 2015. GMU placed third in its heat in 8:26.15, then placed sixth in the grand final in a time of 8:45.58 to cap an excellent day of racing for the Patriots.

"It was a pretty good day of racing for us," head coach Joseph Richards said. "We are very proud of our Varsity 4+ for their big step forward today. The Varsity 8+ and Second Varsity 8+ both performed well in close races. They both narrowly missed the grand final by small margins. A couple breaks here or there that went their way and it could've been different. But they raced hard and they were able to finish with their bows in front in the petite final. On the whole, the team raced really well and I'm proud of the work they put in all year."
 
George Mason's Second Varsity 8+ boat finished fourth in its heat in 7:16.285, just seconds behind third for a spot in the grand final. In the petite final, the Patriots captured the event victory with a time of 7:29.48, more than 35 seconds ahead of Dayton.
 
The Varsity 8+ finished fourth in its heat in 7:00.193, also just missing a spot in the grand final. In its petite final, the Patriots also knocked off the Flyers to capture the race win in 7:04.569.
 
After the conclusion of the racing, Molly Gredel was named to the All-Atlantic 10 First Team. Gredel is the first All-A-10 First Team pick for the Patriots since Megan Gooding in 2018.