SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17
American Lake Fall Classic
American Lake / Lakewood, Wash. / 9:00 a.m.
 
SEATTLE – The 2020-21 Seattle Pacific women's rowing season starts Sunday, Oct. 17 at the American Lake Fall Classic. The collegiate head races begin at 9:00 a.m. with the eight-oared competitions. The four-oared boats start rowing at 11:00 a.m.
 
Races take place on American Lake in Lakewood, Washington, just south of Tacoma. The regatta features 267 boats from 31 different colleges and clubs, including three SPU entries.

COACH CAITLIN McCLAIN

WHAT IS HEAD RACING?
Instead of the traditional Olympic-style racing format, with boats lining up side-to-side on a 2,000-meter course, this is a head race covering a 5,000-meter (3.1 mile) distance.
 
Head races are time trials, processional events that start with boats in a single-file line with a rolling start at intervals of 10 or 20 seconds. Passing is allowed and the order of finish is determined by each crews' elapsed time from start to finish.
 
Several rowers joined the SPU program within the last two years. Even though some of them competed in the spring, since competitions were not conducted last fall due to the COVID outbreak, this may be their initial exposure to head racing.
 
DIRECTIONS TO AMERICAN LAKE
The PLU Invitational venue at American Lake can be accessed from Harry Todd Park. Here are the directions:
• From I-5 either direction take exit 123 Thorne Lane.
• Turn west and proceed on Thorne until it curves to the left (south).
• Immediately turn right (which is still Thorne).
• It will begin to curve left (south) again and will become Woodlawn.
• The park is on your right and there is a parking lot.
 
THE FIELD
The race for collegiate women's second varsity eights starts at 9:00 a.m. That event features a five-boat field that features the top SPU crew, which leads off the group. Also competing are, in start order, Pacific, Portland, Seattle University and Pacific Lutheran.
 
Two SPU entries row in the collegiate varsity four competition that starts at 11:00 a.m. Joining the Falcons in the 10-crew field is a boat from Oregon and three PLU crews along with two entries each from, Portland and Seattle University.
 
FALCONS FAST FACTS
• This is the 45th season of intercollegiate women's rowing competition at Seattle Pacific.
• Four boat members return from last season's varsity eight crew, but not all of them are competing in that same crew on Sunday.
• Returning coxswains will direct all three SPU entries. Junior Moxie McCandless guides both the eight-oared crew and the second four-oared entry. Senior LeeAnn Arrington coxes the Falcons top four.
 
MEET COACH McCLAIN
Caitlin McClain begins her second season at the helm of the Seattle Pacific rowing program after guiding the team to a No. 2 national ranking in her inaugural campaign. The former Loyola Marymount standout, who served 15 years at the helm of the Holy Names Academy program, was hired on Aug. 8, 2021 as the Falcons head coach. McClain remains in Seattle where she has resided since 2005 while working at her alma mater, Holy Names Academy, from where she graduated in 2001. She boasts a wealth of rowing experience to SPU, including competitive stints at HNA and Loyola Marymount along with national coaching duties with USRowing.
 
During the summer, McClain served in the role of women's lead coach for the 2021 Under-19 National Team, which competed in August at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Bulgaria. She previously served as an assistant coach for the Under-19 women's national team in 2014 and then was promoted to CanAmMex coach in 2016 and the junior world championships coach in 2019.
 
A 2005 Loyola Marymount graduate with bachelor's degrees in political science and urban studies, McClain continued her education at Seattle University to complete a master's of education in student development administration in 2010.
 
McClain built a regional high school rowing power and made Holy Names a major player at the national level. Her Cougars crews accumulated 10 medals and won national championships in 2015 and 2017 at the junior club regatta. She coached three rowers and two coxswains who went on to make World Rowing Junior Championships squads.
 
McClain replaced Andrew Derrick, who served four seasons from 2017 through 2020.
 
NEXT REGATTA
The Falcons rowers close out the fall portion of their schedule on Nov. 7 at the Head of the Lake Regatta on the Montlake Cut. The annual event is hosted by the University of Washington.
 
The primary collegiate rowing season is in the spring and the Falcons will announce that schedule when it is finalized.
 
AMERICAN LAKE FALL CLASSIC
Sunday, October 17, 2021
American Lake/ Lakewood, Wash.
(5,000-meter course)
 
9:00 a.m.
Women's Collegiate 2nd Varsity Eights
Starting Order
1 – Seattle Pacific
2 – Pacific
3 – Portland
4 – Seattle University
5 – Pacific Lutheran
 
SPU lineup
cox – Moxie McCandless (Jr./Albuquerque, NM/Albuquerque Academy HS)
stroke – Megan Popielak (So./Petaluma, CA/Petaluma HS)
7 – Victoria Brohard (Sr./Puyallup, WA/Puyallup HS)
6 – Nicole Svoboda (Jr./La Quinta, CA/La Quinta HS)
5 – Summer Frank (So./Rocklin, CA/Rocklin HS)
3 – Bella Sangston (So./Bellevue, WA/Newport HS)
2 – Elise Arkills (So./Tacoma, WA/Curtis HS)
2 – Ava Liebendorfer (Jr./Silverthorne, CO/Snowy Peaks HS)
bow – Kalais Samuelson (Jr./Beaverton, OR/Sunset HS)
 
 
11:00 a.m.
Women's Collegiate Varsity Fours
Starting Order
1 – Seattle University
2 – Oregon
3 – Pacific Lutheran "A"
4 – Pacific Lutheran "B"
5 -- Seattle University
6 -- Portland
7 -- Pacific Lutheran "C"
8 -- Seattle Pacific "A"
9 -- Portland "B"
10 -- Seattle Pacific "B"
 
SPU Varsity Four "A" Lineup
cox – LeeAnn Arrington (Sr./Empire, OK/Empire HS)
stroke – Jennifer Hoag (Sr./Normandy Park, WA/Seattle Christian HS)
3 – Macie Leach (So./Chico, CA/Pleasant Valley HS)
2 – Nicole Svoboda (Jr./La Quinta, CA/La Quinta HS)
bow – Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza (Sr./Vancouver, WA/Columbia River HS)
 
SPU Varsity Four "B" Lineup
cox – Moxie McCandless (Jr./Albuquerque, NM/Albuquerque Academy HS)
stroke – Jacinta Grandel (Jr./Palmer, AK/Rosary HS)
3 – Elise Arkills (So./Tacoma, WA/Curtis HS)
2 – Danielle Johnson (Sr./Mill Creek, WA/Jackson HS)
bow – Kalais Samuelson (Jr./Beaverton, OR/Sunset HS)