BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Seattle Pacific crews crossed the finish line first in both events Saturday morning at the Viking Regatta, outracing the Western Washington women's rowers on their home course.
 
"Today's racing was a great opportunity to sharpen our race skills and strategies, especially with the travel component," said first-year SPU coach Caitlin McClain. "We are grateful to Western for hosting us and we couldn't have asked for better conditions."
 
SPU opened the regatta by displaying its dominance in the race for four-oared crews. The Falcons, who beat Western two times on March 27 in Seattle, were victorious on Saturday by over 27 seconds with a winning time of 7-minutes, 48.20-seconds. The runner-up Vikings finished in 8:15.91.
 
"The varsity four started the day off with a commanding win," McClain said. "They are a new combination and did a nice job coming together and posting the boat's fastest time of the season."
 
The lineup for SPU's varsity four underwent revisions since last competing. Natalie Korolenko moved into the bow position and Danielle Johnson into the stroke seat of the crew directed by coxswain Roxy Ruther. They joined incumbent rowers Hannah Miller and Anna Serven.
 
 

Seattle Pacific's top eight-oared crew also twice defeated the Vikings three weeks ago at the Falcon Regatta on the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle. That varsity eight boat cruised to another convincing win Saturday.
 
"The varsity eight responded to a fast start by WWU by staying internally focused and executing the race plan well," McClain described. "After gaining an open-water lead, they finished strong with their best sprint yet."
 
The Falcons varsity eight contained eight crew members that were in the same boat on March 27 for this season's first encounter with Western Washington, including coxswain LeeAnn Arrington. Three rowers moved to different seats and Tamyra Clark-Hoogstrate switched from the varsity four into the No. 5 seat of the eight.
 
A time of 6:59.80 over the 2,000-meter Lake Samish course fashioned a nearly three boat-length margin for the Falcons top eight in the featured race. Western crossed the finish line second in 7:10.20, followed by SPU's second varsity eight in 7:37.10.
 
SPU's second varsity was steered by senior coxswain Cecilia Krause and the group of eight rowers included three freshmen and two sophomores.
 
"The second varsity held its own in the varsity eight event with a solid first half," McClain said. "This was a valuable race experience given the limited racing opportunities this year."
 
The Falcons firmed up their position as the No. 2 seed in the West Region with the convincing victories over No. 3 WWU. That is of utmost importance this season when the number of NCAA Division II Championship qualifiers has been trimmed to four teams from its usual field of six. The reduction was made only for the 2021 national regatta due to concerns with the pandemic, which caused the cancellation of the 2020 championships.
 
The top seed from each of the three regions receives an automatic berth to the 2021 NCAA Championships, set for May 28-30 in Sarasota, Florida. That trio will be joined by one at-large entry. All four nationals qualifiers will compete their varsity eight and varsity four crews.
 
Defending national champion Central Oklahoma is currently the top seed in the potent West Region that produced three of the top-four finishers at the last NCAA Championships. Western Washington placed third and SPU fourth in 2019.
 
The SPU women's rowing team returns to its home waters next Saturday (April 24) for a scrimmage versus Seattle University on the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
 
NCAA Women's Rowing
Viking Regatta
Saturday, April 17, 2021
Lake Samish / Bellingham, Wash.
(all races 2,000 meters)
 
Varsity Eights
1, Seattle Pacific, 6:59.80
2, Western Washington, 7:10.20
3, Seattle Pacific 2V, 7:37.10
 
     SPU varsity lineup: cox-LeeAnn Arrington, stroke-Jennifer Hoag, 7-Samantha Kimmel, 6-Megan Chalfant, 5-Tamyra Clark-Hoogstrate, 4-Macie Leach, 3-Kaitlin Dickinson, 2-Jacinta Grandel, bow-Suzanne Stafford.
 
     SPU second varsity lineup: cox-Cecilia Krause, stroke-Anna White, 7-Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza, 6-Nicole Svoboda, 5-Summer Frank, 4-Bella Sangston, 3-Sophie Sandahl, 2-Elise Arkills, bow-Haley Thompson.
 
 
Varsity Fours
1, Seattle Pacific, 7:48.20
2, Western Washington, 8:15.91
 
     SPU lineup: cox-Roxy Ruther, stroke-Danielle Johnson, 3-Anna Serven, 2-Hannah Miller, bow-Natalie Korolenko.