• VIDEO: MADISON  SIMMONS

SATURDAY, MAY 4
Windermere Cup Regatta
Montlake Cut / Seattle, Wash. / 10:15 a.m.
Webcast -- https://pac-12.com/live/pac-12-plus
Live Results -- https://herenow.com/results/#/races/20575/results
Regatta/Parking Information --  https://gohuskies.com/sports/2015/3/24/209981320.aspx
 
SEATTLE -- Seattle Pacific will make a third consecutive appearance at the Windermere Cup Regatta, the unique rowing event that launches the Opening Day festivities for the start of boating season in the Northwest. The Falcons primary two eight-oared crews will compete as part of the 22-race schedule that starts at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday, May 4.
 
Thousands of spectators line the entire length of the 2,000-meter Montlake Cut course, in boats and on shore. The annual regatta, hosted by the University of Washington, is in its 33rd year under title sponsor Windermere Real Estate.
 
The featured events are the men's and women's Windermere Cup races for eight-oared crews. Collegiate power Washington's men and women will face the German National Teams while the Boston University men and UCLA women will also compete.
 
Headlining the undercard is the Cascade Cup in which SPU will compete for the first time.
 
THE FALCONS FLEET
Seattle Pacific competed at the Windermere Cup the last two years for the first time after a six-season absence from the popular affair. Just one Falcons crew competed in 2017 and two in 2018. This year there are two.
 
Varsity Eight
The Falcons top eight-oared crew rows at 11:10 a.m. in the Cascade Cup competition. They will race against Northwest rival Western Washington's varsity along with the UCLA second varsity and Washington third varsity.
 
The SPU varsity eight features six members of crew that rowed to a runner-up result in the third varsity event at last season's Windermere Cup: coxswain Jacqueline Kemp along with rowers Chloe Remley, Suzanne Stafford, Gillian Edgar, Amanda Larsen and Kaitlin Dickinson.
 
Those six will be joined by rowers Megan Chalfant, Julienne Renne and Shelby Janes.
 
The SPU varsity is coming off a fifth-place result in Sunday's grand final of the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships on Lake Natoma near Sacramento. Western Washington was fifth in that race, crossing the line less than one second ahead of the Falcons.
 
Second Varsity Eight
SPU's second entry will compete in the collegiate open eight event at 10:54 a.m. versus the Seattle University varsity, the Puget Sound second varsity and Washington's fourth varsity.
 
Five of the Falcons rowers have previous Windermere Cup experience, including Gracie Hoidal, Madison Simmons and Talia Ferguson who helped the second varsity to a third-place finish last year on the Montlake Cut.
 
That trio will pull oars alongside Brooklyn Liberato, Samantha Kimmel, Tamyra Clark-Hoogstrate, Jennifer Hoag and Danielle Johnson. Sophomore coxswain Cecilia Krause will steer the boat.
 
The Falcons are coming off gold medal performance at Sunday's WIRA Championships with an open-water triumph in the second varsity eight category.
 


COACH ANDREW DERRICK ON THE WINDERMERE CUP
"There's nothing like it in rowing, it's such a spectacle. It's NASCAR meets rowing. It's great racing, but it's also a great exercise in keeping focused despite everything else going on. There are going to be 70,000 people there. It's a very unique experience and I'm really glad that we get to take part in it.
 
"The last 600 meters is pretty deafening, especially for some of those well-attended Windermere Cups in the nice weather. They've got to be prepared for it. There are lots of mishaps that happen in the last 600 meters. As long as our rowers are prepared and focused and keeping their head in the boat, they'll be fine.
 
"We have it a lot better than most places, rowing here in Seattle. We can go down the course and we're a lot more visible to the public than most places that are kind of buried off in some state park somewhere. We're a little more used to rowing in a highly populated area, but very few things get you ready for this kind of crowd."
 
THE MONTLAKE CUT COURSE
The starting line is on Lake Washington, parallel to the Evergreen Point floating bridge. The course runs from east to west through the Montlake Cut to the finish line at the mouth of Portage Bay, near Lake Union.
 
WHERE TO WATCH
Spectators are encouraged to view the Windermere Cup races from the shores of the Montlake Cut. This is a free community event with paid parking available at surrounding University of Washington lots. Please note that the Montlake Bridge will be closed to traffic from 9:20 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The races begin at 10:15 a.m. and are followed by the boat parade. The Montlake Bridge will be raised and remain open during the boat parade.

 

LAST YEAR
Seattle Pacific's top women's eight-oared crew rowed to a runner-up result on May 5, 2018 and the second varsity placed third in its race at the Windermere Cup Regatta on the Montlake Cut.
 
The SPU varsity eight crew competed alongside the Seattle University varsity and the Washington freshman crew in the third varsity eight event. One-quarter into the race, UW held a six-seat lead over the Falcons, who owned open water ahead of Seattle U. The Huskies stretched their margin to several lengths while SPU moved even farther ahead of the Redhawks.
 
Washington continued to extend its advantage during the final 1,000 meters and crossed the finish line in 6-minutes, 54.98-seconds. SPU maintained its runner-up margin, clocking a time of 7:13.26 to claim second place by over two boat lengths. Seattle University's third-place time was 7:23.78.
 
The host Huskies' second freshman boat won the event for women's open eights, completing the 2,000-meter course in 6:55.61. They led from wire-to-wire, surging ahead by two lengths of open water over the field during the first 500 meters and steadily adding to that margin the rest of the way.
 
The Pacific Lutheran second varsity occupied second place the entire race, finishing in 7:27.00 The Falcons rowed in third place throughout. They gained a five-seat lead over fourth-place Seattle U during the opening 500 meters and more than doubled that margin by the midway mark. SPU added another boat length to its lead by the finish, crossing the line in 7:38.63 while the Redhawks had a time of 7:49.21.
 
ROWERS RANKED
Seattle Pacific's rowing team retained its No. 5 national ranking in the April 24 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) poll conducted by USRowing. The Division II poll projects the quality of each team's combined varsity eights and varsity fours as those are the two crews that factor into NCAA Championships qualification.
 
SPU is in pursuit of its first NCAA regatta appearance since 2011.
 
This week's rankings, presented by Pocock Racing Shells, show the strength of the West Region which provides five of the nation's top six programs. Only No. 3 Florida Tech is from outside the West.
 
CRCA Rankings (May 1)
1, Central Oklahoma
2. UC San Diego
3. Florida Tech
4. Western Washington
5. Seattle Pacific
6. Humboldt State
7. Barry
8. Nova Southeastern
 
FALCON FAST FACTS
Third-year SPU coach Andrew Derrick returns to his alma mater on Saturday. He rowed four years in the Windermere Cup as an oarsman at Washington, from 2001-04 … The various Falcons crews have combined for 15 first-place finishes in races this season, including heats ... The SPU rowing roster includes 34 student-athletes, forming the largest women's rowing in Coach Andy Derrick's tenure … The roster is equally divided between 17 returnees and 17 novices. Many of those are true novices who had no prior rowing experience before joining the SPU squad … The Falcons hail from eight different states with 19 of them calling Washington their home. California is next with six, three are from Oregon and Idaho two. One student-athlete comes from each of Connecticut, Kansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
 
COACH DERRICK
Former University of Washington standout Andrew Derrick is in his third year as the women's rowing coach at Seattle Pacific. He assumed the helm of the program in October 2016, returning to Seattle where he was a four-year UW letterman and helped the freshman crew to the 2001 national championship. Derrick rowed in the bow seat for the Huskies' national runner-up varsity eight boats in 2003 and 2004.
 
Derrick's crews improved dramatically from his first to the next, highlighted by a win over Western Washington in the Falcon Regatta on April 14, 2018.
 
A 2004 graduate with a bachelor's degree in history, Derrick remained at UW to earn his master's in intercollegiate athletic leadership in 2008. He was named a to the All-Pac-10 Team as well as earning all-conference academic honors three years in a row.
 
Derrick, 35, came to SPU after a five-year stint as the head coach at Central Oklahoma. The former UCO assistant was promoted to head coach in 2011 and directed the team to the NCAA Championship Regatta in each of his five seasons. The Bronchos were national team runners-up in 2016 after placing third in 2015. Their varsity eight and varsity four crews each won silver medals at the 2016 NCAA championships.
 
NEXT REGATTA
The Falcons travel to Oklahoma City on May 18 for their final regular-season regatta. They face a clash of NCAA Division II powers, rowing against top-ranked Central Oklahoma and No. 7 Barry on the Oklahoma River.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING
Windermere Cup Regatta
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Montlake Cut / Seattle, Wash.
(2,000-meter course)
 
SCHEDULE & ENTRIES (SPU races only)
10:54 a.m. -- Women's Open Eight
Lane 1 -- Seattle University 1V
Lane 2 -- Seattle Pacific 2V
Lane 3 -- Puget Sound 2V
Lane 4 -- Washington 4V
 
11:10 a.m. -- Women's Cascade Cup (varsity eights)
Lane 1 -- Western Washington 1V
Lane 2 -- UCLA 2V
Lane 3 -- Washington 3V
Lane 4 -- Seattle Pacific 1V
 
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC LINEUPS
 
Varsity Eight
cox – Jacqueline Kemp (Jr./Burien, WA/homeschool)
stroke – Chloe Remley (Jr./San Diego, CA/High Tech HS)
7 – Gillian Edgar (Jr./Seattle, WA/King's HS)
6 – Megan Chalfant (So./Roseville, CA/Woodcreek HS)
5 – Suzanne Stafford (So./Clackamas, OR/Clackamas HS)
4 – Julienne Renne (Jr./Bellingham, WA/Woodinville HS)
3 – Shelby Janes (Jr./Stanwood, WA/Academy Northwest HS)
2 – Amanda Larsen (Jr./Eugene, OR/Willamette HS)
bow – Kaitlin Dickinson (Jr./Monroe, WA/Monroe HS)
 
Second Varsity Eight
cox – Cecilia Krause (So./Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury HS)
stroke – Brooklyn Liberato (So./Mount Vernon, WA/Mount Vernon HS)
7 – Samantha Kimmel (So./Woodinville, WA/Bellevue Christian HS)
6 – Tamyra Clark-Hoogstrate (Jr./Shoreline, WA/Shorewood HS)
5 – Jennifer Hoag (Fr./Normandy Park, WA/Seattle Christian HS)
4 – Talia Ferguson (So./Coeur d'Alene, ID/Charter Academy HS)
3 – Danielle Johnson (Fr./Mill Creek, WA (Jackson HS)
2 – Gracie Hoidal (Sr./Everett, WA/Cascade HS)
stroke – Madison Simmons (So./Corona, CA/Santiago HS)