FAIRFAX, Va. - The Catholic University men's rowing team opened up its season on Sunday afternoon at the Occoquan Chase. The area had been predicted to receive 11-18 mph winds to the North, but such winds never showed, and the water stayed almost perfectly still through the whole event. 

The Catholic first varsity boat lined up ahead of two formidable crews in Virginia and Georgetown. Catholic held off Virginia for the first 2,500 meters before UVA moved ahead. The Cardinals battled the Georgetown boat, again and again, down all the way to the 4K mark. 

Coming around the final turn, Georgetown took a push and forced senior coxswain Arthur Gange to a yielded outside position. The Cardinals still crossed the finish line with a margin of just 55 seconds to that winning Georgetown top boat. 

The Cardinal's second varsity was overtaken by another Virginia boat, but chased the George Mason first varsity all the way down the course, finishing just 20 seconds back, and nearly 2 minutes and 30 seconds ahead of the VCU boat that was chasing behind them.