SEATTLE – Seattle Pacific's top crew led the entire race en route to an open-water victory over Washington, Saturday morning in the women's Open Eight race at the Windermere Cup Regatta on the Montlake Cut.
 
The Falcons varsity eight crew, ranked No. 2 nationally among NCAA Division II competitors, streaked off the line and completed the 2,000-meters course in 7-minutes, 2.50-seconds. That provided two boat lengths of distance from the runner-up Huskies, who finished over eight seconds back in 7:10.91. Seattle University was entered in the race, but did not compete.
 
SPU jumped in front from the start and gained a near immediate two-seat edge. That separation continued to increase, growing to seven seats at the 500-meter mark. At the midway mark there was open water between SPU's stern and the Huskies' bow.

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The start may have been swifter than planned, according to first-year Falcons coach Caitlin McClain.
 
"Goodness! It was adrenaline at the base level. They came off of a warmup that maybe had emotions a little bit heightened. They were holding that in and the start became an adrenaline rush, but they were able to manage their emotions and channel them.
 
"Whenever you line up you never really know what's going to happen. So when you get a lead you can start to calm down and get into your rhythm a little bit sooner. What was good about today was that this group really kept going with that."
 
The advantage at 1,500 meters was nearly two boat lengths, a margin that held through the final 500 meters and across the finish line.
 
 

Seattle Pacific turned the tables on the Huskies after last Saturday's scrimmage on the Lake Washington Ship Canal. UW's freshman eight posted a seven-second win over the Falcons varsity and Seattle University was a distant third.
 
The lineup for SPU's varsity eight underwent a couple revisions since last weekend, with Anna Serven pulling the No. 3 oar and Roxy Ruther occupying the coxswain's seat. They joined rowers Jennifer Hoag, Samantha Kimmel, Macie Leach, Tamyra Clark-Hoogstrate, Megan Chalfant, Jacinta Grandel and Suzanne Stafford.
 
The University of Washington-hosted event, sponsored for the 34th year by Windermere Real Estate, is one of the world's premier rowing showcases. Usually the entire course is lined by thousands of spectators, but due to the pandemic attendance was discouraged.
 
This was the Falcons' fourth straight appearance in the competition that celebrates the opening day of boating season in the Northwest. They had a five-year absence from the regatta between 2012-16 due to scheduling conflicts.
 
"Today was a great opportunity for us to be out in a high-stakes environment and high-level raceday practice in terms of being around other crews and coming into the start line where there were stake-boat holders," McClain said. "It was a new environment that we really haven't had a chance to be in, so today was huge from a race-prep standpoint. To have the crew come together and have a really solid race was great. The last couple times we raced, we tried to push our boundaries and take some risks. Each race we've tried to add onto that and the crew did that today.
 
"This puts us in a good space moving forward in the next two weeks before GNACs. Every time you have a chance to line up for a race you learn something and I'm really happy with the performance and what the athletes brought back from it."

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Seattle Pacific's varsity eight crew will be joined by the varsity four boat in the next competition. The Falcons race in the inaugural Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, May 15 on Vancouver Lake in Vancouver, Washington. The regatta, featuring three of the nation's top-five ranked programs, starts at 11 a.m.
 
Joining second-ranked SPU at the GNAC regatta are No. 1 Central Oklahoma and No. 5 Western Washington.
 
"We're excited for the GNAC Championships. There's some good work that can happen in the next two weeks to solidify speed," said McClain. "We haven't really had the opportunity, because of racing, to focus in on those final key workouts and things. I'm excited to get those and see what that brings for us."

NCAA Women's Rowing
Windermere Cup Regatta
Saturday, May 1, 2021
Montlake Cut / Seattle, Wash.
(all races 2,000 meters)
 
Open Eights
1, Seattle Pacific V8, 7:02.50
2, Washington 2N, 7:10.91
3, Seattle University, dns
 
     SPU varsity lineup: cox-Roxy Ruther, stroke-Jennifer Hoag, 7-Samantha Kimmel, 6-Macie Leach, 5-Tamyra Clark-Hoogstrate, 4- Megan Chalfant, 3-Anna Serven, 2-Jacinta Grandel, bow-Suzanne Stafford.
 
Next SPU Race
GNAC Championships
Saturday, May 15, 11:00 a.m.
Vancouver Lake / Vancouver, Wash.