SEATTLE – Seattle Pacific was the runner-up in the women's open four event Sunday morning and fared well with a sixth-place finish against primarily NCAA Division I opponents in championship eight competition at the Head of the Lake regatta.
 
Both of the NCAA Division II Falcons boats were only beaten by Division I competitors.
 
Sunday was the second regatta of the non-qualifying season for SPU, which raced Oct. 17 at the American Lake Fall Classic in Lakewood, Washington.
 
"We definitely executed what we were hoping to around being able to take what did at the American Lake Fall Classic and then amplified it and be a little more aggressive and race oriented," said second-year SPU coach Caitlin McClain.
 
"That kind of translated into a little bit higher rate and more consistent pressure. Both boats were able to do that even after the four was out there for an hour."
 
Soon after SPU's eight finished its race, the four floated up to the start line only to be informed of a delay. Initially they were told racing would cease for 20 minutes to allow a barge to traverse the waterway, but it ended up being nearly one hour before racing resumed.
 
The Falcons four was the first boat off the line after the interruption.

NICOLE SVOBODA INTERVIEW

UNIQUE RACING FORMAT
Instead of traditional Olympic-style racing, with boats lined up side-by-side on a 2,000-meter course, Sunday's regatta through Lake Union and the Montlake Cut utilized a head race format over a shortened 3,200-meter (2 mile) course.
 
Crews departed the start line in intervals, one-after-another in a single-file, time-trial format. Passing was allowed and the order-of-finish was determined by each crew's elapsed time from start to finish.
 
VARSITY EIGHT RECAP
SPU's varsity eight crew competed in the featured women's event, the Championship 8 sponsored by Pocock Racing Shells. The nine-boat field was comprised of seven Division I crews along with the Falcons and Division III Puget Sound.
 
The Falcons clocked a sixth-place time of 12-minutes, 18.84-seconds to finish exactly 41 seconds faster than Seattle University (12:59.84). UPS was eighth (13:27.55) and Oregon ninth (15:21.27).
 
A pair of eight-oared entries from host Washington placed one-two, with the winning crew completing the course in 11:15.76. The Huskies second boat crossed in 11:23.33 followed by Gonzaga's first (11:38.78) and second (11:50.75) crews.
 
Portland finished ahead of SPU with a fifth-place time of 12:05.71.
 
"We went into it thinking if we could continue what we've been doing since American Lake and execute what we were doing in practice that we would be certainly ahead of who we had seen at American Lake," McClain described.
 
"Even though we didn't directly race Seattle University, we felt like we could probably keep that and be within striking distance of another D-I team, which for us today was University of Portland. It really helped to have Portland start behind us, and us to be able to push off of them."
 
Directed by senior coxswain LeeAnn Arrington, the SPU boat featured Jacinta Grandel in the stroke seat along with rowers Macie Leach, Elise Arkills, Hannah Miller, Danielle Johnson, Kalais Samuelson, Jennifer Hoag and Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza.
 
Arrington, Hoag, Leach and Grandel were members of the Falcons crew that rowed to a second-place finish in the varsity eight race at the 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships in May.
 

OPEN FOUR RECAP
The Falcons four gamely dealt with the delay and performed well once the break was over.
 
"I'm really happy that they were able to stay focused and execute no matter what the conditions and no matter the situation," McClain said.
 
Oregon registered the fastest time in the Collegiate Open 4 competition with a mark of 14:26.46. SPU's second-place time of 14:55.30 put them nearly 16 seconds ahead of Seattle University's time of 15:11.23. Washington State was fourth in 15:12.20.
 
Coxed by Moxie McCandless, the Falcons crew included returning rowers Megan Popielak, Sophie Sandahl and Nicole Svoboda along with freshman Victoria Brohard.
 
NEXT REGATTA
The Head of the Lake is the official final event on the fall racing calendar, but the Falcons may compete in a scrimmage against some local college crews.
 
The primary collegiate rowing season is in the spring and the Falcons will announce that racing schedule when it is finalized.
 
"All in all, I'm just really happy the we're where we are at this point in the season," McClain concluded. "This is a good launch point for spring."
 
NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING
Head of the Lake Regatta
Sunday, November 7, 2021
Montlake Cut / Seattle, Wash.
(3,200-meter course, head racing)
 
RESULTS (SPU races only)
 
Championship Women's Eight
(Sponsored by Pocock Racing Shells)
1, Washington "A", 11:15.76
2, Washington "B", 11:23.33
3, Gonzaga "A", 11:38.78
4, Gonzaga "B", 11:50.75
5, Portland, 12:05.71
6, Seattle Pacific, 12:18.84
7, Seattle University, 12:59.84
8, Puget Sound, 13:27.55
9, Oregon, 15:21.27
 
       SPU lineup:  cox–LeeAnn Arrington, stroke-Jacinta Grandel, 7-Macie Leach, 6-Elise Arkills, 5-Hannah Miller, 4-Danielle Johnson, 3-Kalais Samuelson, 2-Jennifer Hoag, bow-Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza.
 
Collegiate Open Fours
1, Oregon, 14:26.46
2, Seattle Pacific, 14:55.30
3, Seattle University, 15:11.23
4, Washington State, 15:12.20
 
       SPU lineup:  cox–Moxie McCandless, stroke-Megan Popielak, 3-Victoria Brohard, 2-Nicole Svoboda, bow-Sophie Sandahl.