• DAD VAIL RESULTS

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – A swift start and a gutty finish against several of the nation's finest crews has the Falcons buoyant about their future.
 
The Seattle Pacific women's varsity eight crew finished fourth Saturday among a high-level field of NCAA Division II crews in the grand finals of the Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill River.
 
The Falcons have likely seen their 2018 season come to an end as they probably needed at least a second-place result to keep alive their NCAA Championships aspirations.
 
The top eight-oared group was the only crew SPU sent across the country to compete in the 80th edition of this weekend's historic event. First contested in 1934, the Dad Vail Regatta is the largest collegiate regatta in North America, with over 100 colleges and Universities from the U.S. and Canada participating.
 
Entering the competition as the No. 4 seed, that projection proved prophetic for the Falcons. They tried early on to exceed that billing.
 
West Coast competitors UC San Diego and SPU burst off the starting line, surging ahead of the other four boats. San Diego, the event's second seed, immediately gained a lead that was never relinquished en route to an impressive open-water triumph in the race that produced swift times.
 
The Falcons delivered a high stroke rate through the early stages and rowed in second place for a good portion of the 2,000-meter race with top-seeded Barry back in third by more than a boat length.
 
"That was the plan. They are a young crew and I really wanted them to believe that they could do it in the body of the race," second-year SPU coach Andrew Derrick said of the quick early pace.
 
"I couldn't be more proud of the way they attacked it. Getting a seat or two of open water up on a crew full of internationals and much more experienced rowers, they deserve a lot of credit."
 
Mercyhurst was in fourth place for the first 500 meters before making a move near the midway mark. That surge carried past Barry and eventually SPU.
 
Barry made a furious sprint at the end to claim third place, five seats in front of the Falcons.
 
"I'm incredibly proud of them," Derrick exclaimed. "They emptied the tank and unfortunately it was just a little it too far before the line. Barry did a commendable job of reeling us back in."
 
UC San Diego's winning time was 6-minutes, 26.72-seconds. Mercyhurst was second in 6:32.85 and Barry third at 6:34.53.
 
Seattle Pacific's fourth-place time of 6:36.68 was more than 12 seconds faster than the mark clocked during a second-place effort in Friday's heats (6:49.03).
 
Jefferson, the regatta's title sponsor, placed fifth in the grand final at 6:41.04 and Humboldt State was sixth in 6:45.48.
 
"We proved that we can race with the likely winner of the South and the East," said Derrick. "So for us to be sitting in fourth in our region and really be able to got toe-to-toe with all these teams out here, three of whom will be at the NCAA Championships in another couple weeks, they're showing an incredible amount of speed and maturity for really just being a bunch of first- and second-year rowers."
 
For the second straight season, the Falcons top crew is directed by coxswain Jacqueline Kemp with Chloe Remley sitting in the stroke seat. They are two of five sophomores in the boat, including Kaitlin Dickinson, Gillian Edgar and Amanda Larsen.
 
Three of the SPU rowers are true freshmen; Suzanne Stafford, Samantha Kimmel and Megan Chalfant. The lone upperclassmen in the youthful crew is senior Natalie Beall.
 
The Falcons were forced to borrow a shell and oars in Philadelphia.
 
"We weren't able to bring our own equipment and stuff, but they handled that great. No excuses," Derrick said. "Bottom line, we weren't quite fast enough on the last day of the season. But hands down the athletes have to feel good about all that they've accomplished this year.
 
"A year ago we made great progress from non-existent in the fall to a good spring. But we weren't even talking about the NCAA Championship. Here we are without a doubt the first team that's left out. That's a lot of progress."
 
The 2018 NCAA Rowing Championships will take place May 25-27 in Sarasota, Florida. The field will be announced online on Monday at 2 p.m. Pacific Time with the NCAA Selection Show at -- https://www.ncaa.com/
 
The championships will feature four Division II teams, each of them required to field one boat of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers. In addition, two at-large crews from institutions not represented in the team field are selected to compete for the varsity eight championship.
 
SPU is out of the running for the team competition as its four-oared entry is not ranked high enough. But the Falcons could be considered for an at-large varsity eight invitation.
 
Until this weekend, Seattle Pacific's opponents were all from the formidable West Region. They had many meetings with defending national champion Western Washington, NCAA runner-up Central Oklahoma which won the varsity eight title in 2017, and UC San Diego. All three will earn NCAA bids this year.
 
"The West has proven to be a very, very fast region this year. It's tough to sit in the middle of a region and get beat by some very good teams, not knowing how your speed compares with the rest of the country," Derrick described. "The girls just kept after it, kept their spirits up continued to get better throughout the season."
 
Despite the heartbreak of a near miss that perhaps cost them an NCAA berth, Derrick hopes his rowers will remember this day. Eight of the nine women in the boat are eligible to return.
 
"You learn more from the close losses than you do the close wins. I really hope that this affects them in the right way and they come back motivated and hungry. This is certainly a day we'll talk about a lot next year in an attempt to not have a repeat performance.
 
"We're on just a great trajectory of improvement and I don't see any way that we can't be even faster next year."
 
NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING
Dad Vail Regatta
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Schuylkill River / Philadelphia, Pa.
(2,000-meter races)
 
DIVISION II VARSITY EIGHT RESULTS
 
Grand Final
1, UC San Diego, 6:26.72
2, Mercyhurst, 6:32.85
3, Barry, 6:34.53
4, Seattle Pacific, 6:36.68
5, Jefferson, 6:41.04
6, Humboldt State, 6:45.48
 
Petite Final
1, Nova Southeastern, 6:50.48
2, Assmption, 6:50.96
 
      SPU varsity eight lineup:  cox–Jacqueline Kemp, stroke-Chloe Remley, 7-Kaitlin Dickinson, 6-Gillian Edgar, 5-Suzanne Stafford, 4-Natalie Beall, 3-Samantha Kimmel, 2-Megan Chalfant, bow-Amanda Larsen.