• PHOTO GALLERY (Day 2/June 1)     |    • PHOTO GALLERY (Day 1/May 31)    |    • PHOTO GALLERY (practice day/May 30)
    • NCAA ROWING RESULTS
    • VIDEO: JACQUELINE KEMP               |    • VIDEO: SAMANTHA KIMMEL

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Seattle Pacific's varsity eight crew crossed the finish line second in Saturday's repechage to earn a grand final berth and, 10 minutes later, the varsity four replicated that feat to qualify for its own title race at the NCAA Division II Women's Rowing Championships on the Eagle Creek Reservoir.
 
Advancing both crews to Sunday morning's grand finals is an improbable accomplishment for the fifth-ranked Falcons who are appearing at the national regatta for the first time since 2011. They needed to get past third-ranked UC San Diego to achieve the feat and both crews were winless in two previous encounters this season with the Tritons.
 
Both SPU crews moved into the second-place position early in their respective races and held on. They each needed to finish among the top-two crews to gain a grand final spot.
 
"It's a great day! A great day for our program, a great day for our athletes," exclaimed third-year SPU coach Andrew Derrick. "Everyone in our division, especially everyone at these championships, is working very hard. But our athletes found a way to make it happen and I'm incredibly proud of them.
 
"Those were some gutsy races and they kept their composure."


 
The Falcons are guaranteed at least a fourth-place finish in the team standings. They will battle defending champion Central Oklahoma, Florida Tech and Western Washington, schools that also qualified both boats for the grand finals.
 
UC San Diego and Jefferson, formerly Philadelphia University, will square off in both the varsity eight and varsity four petite finals.
 
The weather was ideal, but still racing was delayed two hours on Saturday to enable the organizers to clean up the course. That delay paled in comparison to Friday when the teams had to wait over seven hours from the scheduled start time while the course was cleared.
 
Heavy rain and thunderstorms on Thursday evening left the course littered with debris.
 
Once racing began Saturday, the only impediment for competitors was a stiff cross, headwind that made rowing more strenuous and slowed times.
 
Varsity Eight
Seattle Pacific's top crew assumed the critical No. 2 position early in the race and held off a late charge by UC San Diego.
 
Getting a good start was a focal point for the Falcons, according to Derrick.
 
"Our eight was concerned about the start and they found a way to put themselves right in it, right out of the blocks. That probably gave them some confidence.
 
"I don't know how they did it, but I know they found a way. We'll figure out what we have left in the tank for Sunday."
 
Florida Tech went wire-to-wire for the win, opening a two-seat lead during the opening 500 meters. SPU had a similar margin over Jefferson, which soon faded to fourth.
 
San Diego nearly drew even with SPU at the midway mark before that margin grew to five seats with 500 meters to row. The Falcons closed an open-water deficit with front-running FIT, drawing within five seats at the finish.
 
Meanwhile the Tritons were closing even faster, bearing down on the SPU in the final sprint. San Diego ran out of real estate, finishing with its bow on the Falcons deck.
 
Florida Tech completed the 2,000-meter course in 7-minutes, 8.17-seconds, just over two seconds in front of second-place SPU's time of 7:10.31. UCSD was third in 7:10.88 and Jefferson a distant fourth at 7:24.99.
 
The grand final is scheduled for Sunday at 7 a.m. Pacific Time. SPU will be joined by Friday's heat winners, Central Oklahoma and Western Washington, along with Florida Tech.
 
Varsity Four
A Falcons four-oared crew advanced to the NCAA grand final for the first time in school history.
 
They may not look as formidable as their foes, but SPU's varsity four rowers rely on technique and consistency to complete the task.
 
"They're not the biggest crew out there, but when they relax they do a good job of keeping it really horizontal and just maintaining speed," Derrick described. "They may not have the same top end as every crew out there, but they're really good at being consistent and taking good strokes even deep in the piece.
 
"Our four is small, but they just kept motoring through and earned distance late in the piece."

 
Western Washington streaked in front and never relinquished first place despite a late challenge from SPU.
 
The Falcons waged an early battle with UC San Diego and Jefferson for second place. Each of them held that position at some point before SPU grabbed it for good 350 meters into the race.
 
At the 1,000-meter mark, Western was up by seven seats over the Falcons, who led Jefferson by the same margin and UCSD trailed the pack by open water. SPU continued to purse the Vikings in the second half of the race and drew within four seats at the finish with a runner-up time of 8:16.66.
 
Western clocked a winning time of 8:15.26. San Diego was the fastest crew over the second half of the course, but was unable to overcome a dismal first 1,000 meters to finish third in 8:22.98. Jefferson's fourth-place mark was 8:32.51.
 
The grand final field features Central Oklahoma and Florida Tech, winners of Friday's heats, along with Northwest rivals SPU and Western Washington. The race to determine the varsity four national champion is slated for 6:36 a.m. PDT.
 
Derrick hopes his Falcons will continue to exceed expectations.
 
"We'll keep embracing that underdog mentality. We're the new kids on the block here.

"We set some lofty goals at the beginning of this year and I'm not sure if they believed them or not. But they've surpassed them already, so we'll just keep going for more."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Eagle Creek Reservoir / Indianapolis, Ind.
(2,000-meter races)
 
DIVISION II WOMEN'S RESULTS
(top two finishers in each race advance to grand final, rest to petite final)
 
Varsity Eights Repechage
1, Florida Tech, 7:08.17
2, Seattle Pacific, 7:10.31
3, UC San Diego, 7:10.88
4, Jefferson, 7:24.99
 
     SPU lineup: cox-Jacqueline Kemp, stroke-Chloe Remley, 7-Gillian Edgar, 6-Megan Chalfant, 5-Suzanne Stafford, 4-Julienne Renne, 3-Shelby Janes, 2-Amanda Larsen, bow-Kaitlin Dickinson.
 
 
Varsity Fours Repechage
1, Western Washington, 8:15.26
2, Seattle Pacific, 8:16.66
3, UC San Diego, 8:22.98
4, Jefferson, 8:32.51
 
      SPU varsity four lineup:  cox–Roxy Ruther, stroke-Brooklyn Liberato, 3-Samantha Kimmel, 2-Jennifer Hoag, bow-Talia Ferguson.
 
 
SUNDAY, JUNE 2 SCHEDULE
6:36 a.m. PDT -- Varsity fours grand final
      Central Oklahoma, Florida Tech, Seattle Pacific, Western Washington
7:00 a.m. PDT -- Varsity eights grand final
       Central Oklahoma, Florida Tech, Seattle Pacific, Western Washington