FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University rowing teams will return to the water this weekend for the Mountain Hawk Invitational, a competition that will include Fairfield, Iona University, Loyola University Maryland and host Lehigh University.

The Stags will have the challenge of rowing in two different flights during the all-day competition with each boat rowing two races. The teams will compete in the first, second, and third varsity eights during the event.

"The double-dual format is a great opportunity to show our ability to compete against multiple schools and demonstrate our ability to perform two 2k races in a relatively short period of time," Men's Head Rowing Coach Stephen Baranoski said. "The whole squad is looking forward to the opportunity, and are excited to lineup against strong competition."

Both programs opened their season at the Jesuit Invitational and put together several strong performances that were quite encouraging despite less than ample conditions. Still, both coaches saw promise in the team's performances especially for the opening week of the spring schedule.

"Last weekend, the Jesuit Invitational was the first time on the racecourse after we had very limited water time in the week running up to competition," Women's Head Coach David Patterson said. "While we weren't as sharp as we would have like to have been, we have had a much better week of training leading up to his weekend's competition. I am excited to see if we can show that we have made significant progress."

The men's team also enjoyed the quality weather conditions over the past week which also enhanced their training as it prepared for this weekend's competition at the Mountain Hawk Invitational.

"The second varsity 8 and the varsity 4 delivered strong, composed performances, each finishing in second place behind St. Joseph's University to open the spring racing season," Coach Baranoski said.  The first varsity 8 faced challenges in finding their rhythm and became unsettled when the race did not unfold as planned.  As a result, they relied too heavily on individual effort rather than maintaining cohesive boat speed, which impacted their ability to stay competitive with the field.  This week in practice, our focus has been on reinforcing composure under pressure and emphasizing collective response and execution as a unified crew."

After this weekend's competition, the Stags will have a week off before moving on to the Knecht Cup on April 11-12. The two teams will travel to Pennsauken, N.J. for the prestigious event.