• PLU Invitational results (pdf)       |       • VIDEO: Amanda  Larsen

LAKEWOOD, Wash. – One word repeatedly came up in Andrew Derrick's post-regatta comments Saturday – "encouraging."
 
The Seattle Pacific women's varsity eight won its inaugural race under the first-year coach, rowing to an open-water result against host Pacific Lutheran in the PLU Invitational on American Lake.
 
The Falcons top crew completed the 2,000-meter course in 7-minutes, 43.8-seconds to cross the line over 10 seconds ahead of the Lutes second-varsity boat, which finished in 7:53.9.
 


The SPU eight-oared crew features six novice competitors in their first year of collegiate competition, including freshman coxswain Jacqueline Kemp. The trio of returning rowers are Natalie Beall, Abby Kopack and Emily Monday.
 
Derrick downplayed the win because they were competing down a level, in the second varsity race. But he was pleased that his inexperienced crew was rewarded with a positive result.
 
"Hopefully it does a lot to encourage them that what we're doing is putting us on the right path. It's not easy. It's early mornings, it's hard work, it's cold, it's wet. But hopefully it's worth it.
 
"Certainly as far as a baseline for the varsity eight, they did as good a job as we could have expected in showing what they are capable of on March 11."
 
The Falcons eight returned to the course two hours later to square off with the Puget Sound second varsity. The Loggers finished first in 7:19.1. SPU was a distance second despite clocking a time of 7:34.2 that was nine seconds faster than their initial outing.
 
"We fixed some stuff in between the races, which is always encouraging," Derrick described. "We did get a little bit faster despite even some equipment breakage, so that's encouraging. We didn't come up with a win in that one, but we talked a lot about focusing on our performance and the results will eventually come."

 

SPU's novice eight competed twice as well, in races won both times by a second varsity entry from Seattle University. The Redhawks had a first-place time of 7:50.2 in the morning race, followed by PLU in 8:27.3 and SPU in 8:37.2.
 
In the afternoon novice event, SU won in 7:40.3, Puget Sound was second in 7:53.1 and the Falcons third in 8:54.1. SPU's novices were directed by coxswain Kaylah Amis.
 
The four-oared varsity competition featured a pair of head-to-head races between Seattle University and the Falcons. The Redhawks won the morning meeting with a time of 8:57.1 to 9:03.9 for SPU. In the afternoon SU's winning time was 8:36.6. The Falcons, coxed by Paige Ortiz, crossed the finish line in 8:57.4.

 

The rowers will be jockeying for positions in the upcoming weeks, battling for spots in the three boats.
 
"The other crews are going to get really mixed up," Derrick said. "The varsity eight boat will most accurately represent the direction we're going in. It's easier to get one boat fast before you get two boats fast. That is certainly one of our biggest priorities, but the other one, equally as big, is building a program not just a boat."
 
Derrick assumed the helm of the program in October, returning to Seattle where he was a four-year UW letterman and helped the freshman crew to the 2001 national championship. He rowed in the bow seat for the Huskies' national runner-up varsity eight boats in 2003 and 2004.
 
Most recently, Derrick served for five seasons as the head coach at Central Oklahoma. He coached the team to the NCAA Championship Regatta in each of his five seasons, including a national runner-up result in 2016.

 

Derrick is nearly starting from scratch at SPU, which did not field an eight-oared crew last season. Saturday was the first opportunity to watch his 27-woman team in action, a figure that includes 21 first-year competitors.
 
 "It's good to have it behind us, good to have one under our belt. We've got way more experience now than we did just a few hours ago," Derrick said after the regatta. "We've got a lot to work on, but I think the girls also saw that some of their hard work is really paying off.
 
"The fact that we can come and be competitive with how short our training season has been so far is really encouraging. But we want to more than just competitive as fast as possible, so we're going to keep pushing hard."
 
The SPU rowers return to action on April 1 at two different venues. The varsity eight crew travels to San Diego, Calif. for the two-day San Diego Crew Classic on Mission Bay. The rest of the team remains in Seattle to compete on the Montlake Cut in the Husky Open.
 
"The next time that we are competing will be on Mission Bay as well as the Husky Open, so we've got to get a lot better in the next few weeks because the competition is getting a lot better too," Derrick concluded.
 
 
NCAA Women's Rowing
PLU Invitational
Saturday, March 11, 2017
American Lake / Lakewood, Wash.
(all races 2,000 meters, only SPU events listed)
 
Second Varsity Eight (SPU V8)
Morning – 1, Seattle Pacific 1V, 7:43.8; 2, Pacific Lutheran 2V, 7:53.9.
 
Afternoon – 1, Puget Sound 2V, 7:19.1; 2, Seattle Pacific 1V, 7:34.2.
 
    SPU lineup: cox-Jacqueline Kemp, stroke-Chloe Remley, 7-Amanda Larsen, 6-Natalie Beall, 5-Kaitlin Dickinson, 4-Emily Monday, 3-Abby Kopack, 2-Hannah Hutchinson, bow-Anna Claunch.
 
 
Novice Eight
Morning – 1, Seattle University 2V, 7:50.2; 2, Pacific Lutheran, 8:27.3; 3, Seattle Pacific, 8:37.2.
 
Afternoon – 1, Seattle University 2V, 7:40.3; 2, Puget Sound, 7:53.1; 3, Seattle Pacific, 8:54.1.
 
    SPU lineup: cox-Kaylah Amis, stroke-Kyra Bower, 7-Hannah Cenusa, 6-Briana Inman, 5-Larissa Schuermyer, 4-Ellie Hoffner, 3-Lakyn Coppedge, 2-Jolene Akasaki, bow-Laura Su.
 
 
Varsity Four
Morning – 1, Seattle University, 8:57.1; 2, Seattle Pacific, 9:03.9.
 
Afternoon – 1, Seattle University, 8:36.6; 2, Seattle Pacific, 8:57.4.
 
    SPU lineup: cox-Paige Ortiz, stroke-Lindsey Heller, 3-Moriah Sisk, 2-Caroline Beresford-Wood, bow-Gracie Hoidal.