• COMPLETE 2017 HEAD OF THE LAKE RESULTS

SEATTLE – In between the delayed start and premature ending Sunday, the Falcons crews finished their race in fine fashion.
 
Seattle Pacific's boats claimed second and third place in the women's collegiate third varsity eight competition in the 38th-annual Head of the Lake Regatta. The NCAA Division II Falcons defeated three Division I entries in the process.
 
Washington State completed the three-mile course in 19-minutes, 11-seconds to capture first place, well ahead of the Falcons "B" entry that was second in 22:03. Their "A" boat posted a third-place time of 22:13 despite being slowed by a collision with less than 1,000 meters remaining.
 
Portland finished fourth (22:58) followed by Seattle University (23:27) and Gonzaga (23:44).
 
The Falcons "A" crew was directed by coxswain Jacqueline Kemp and included five returning rowers and three true novices in their first race ever. The "B" boat, coxed by freshman Cecilia Krause, was comprised of six returning rowers and two novices.
 
"Some of them rowed harder on the water than they ever had before because they actually got put in a competition type environment," said second-year SPU coach Andrew Derrick. "Hopefully they are learning that they are capable of more than they think.
 
"We've got to take the good parts out of the day, separate some of the challenges and just keeping moving forward."
 
Instead of traditional Olympic-style racing, with boats lining up side-by-side on a 2,000-meter course, Sunday utilized a head race format, covering more than double that distance (4,800 meters).
 
Head races are time trials, processional events that start with boats in a single-file line with a rolling start at 15-second intervals. Passing is allowed and the order of finish is determined by each crews' elapsed time from start to finish.
 
The course started in the northeast corner of Lake Union heading east beneath the University Bridge. Crews rowed into Portage Bay and through the Montlake Cut to Lake Washington where the course took a sharp turn back toward Husky Stadium and UW's Conibear Shellhouse.

 

It was at the beginning of that final turn where SPU's top entry got slightly tangled with another crew before regrouping to complete the final segment of the course.
 
"Even though they were pretty even lineups, our "A" boat proved to be just a little bit faster in practice," Derrick said of his top crew that lost about a minute due to the collision, but still managed to finish within 10 seconds of the other SPU entry. "Our "B" boat did pass a couple other crews.
 
"The officials sent our "A" boat out for another warm-up lap and that put them late to the start. So they had a really boring race, unfortunately, because they started way back. They still caught up quite a bit, but they were on their own the whole time."
 
Before the scheduled 8 a.m. start of the regatta, a tugboat towing a giant barge made its way westbound through The Cut and into Lake Union, requiring the opening of the Montlake Bridge. Racing was delayed for 30 minutes while waiting for the barge to pass through, and its wake to settle.
 
"The barge went through just a few minutes before the racing was supposed to start and just delayed absolutely everything," said Derrick. "So everyone was out there getting backed up because they had to let it clear all the way through, not just The Cut, but also through the University Bridge and Lake Union.
 
"The joys of being a non-controllable outdoor sport, I guess."
 
There were 67 events on the slate, involving 489 boats. But only 10 events were contested before racing was halted, and eventually cancelled, due to hazardous conditions on the water. The temperature was in the low 30s and there were strong winds along with a steady drizzle of rain mixed with some snow.
 
Fortunately for the Falcons, their event was sixth on the racing card and they crossd the finish line before the regatta was stopped.
 
"The girls seemed to be in pretty good spirits after the race even though they were pretty darn cold," Derrick described. "All in all, a lot of little details added up to not creating the best day possible, but they kind of rolled with it as best they could."
 
Weather permitting, SPU will complete the early portion of the 2017-18 schedule on Saturday, Nov. 11, with the End of Fall Intrasquad Scrimmage. Racing will take place in the morning on the Lake Washington Ship Canal that runs along the north edge of the SPU campus.
 
The primary collegiate rowing season is in the spring and the Falcons commence that campaign on March 10 at the Pacific Lutheran Invitational on American Lake in Lakewood, Washington.
 
 
NCAA ROWING
Head of the Lake Regatta
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Montlake Cut / Seattle, Wash.
(3-mile course from Lake Union into Lake Washington)
 
Women's Collegiate Third Varsity Eight Results
1, Washington State, 19:11.12
2, Seattle Pacific "B", 22:03.77
3, Seattle Pacific "A", 22:13.04
4, Portland, 22:58.41
5, Seattle University, 23:27.65
6, Gonzaga, 23:44.26
 
SPU "B" lineup:  cox–Cecilia Krause, stroke-Hannah Hutchinson, 7-Gracie Hoidal, 6-Natalie Beall, 5-Samantha Kimmel, 4-Madison Simmons, 3-Lakyn Coppedge, 2-Laura Su, bow-Hannah Cenusa.
 
SPU "A" lineup:  cox–Jacqueline Kemp, stroke-Chloe Remley, 7-Amanda Larsen, 6-Emily Monday, 5-Gillian Edgar, 4-Megan Chalfant, 3-Suzanne Stafford, 2-Briana Inman, bow-Kaitlin Dickinson.