SATURDAY, MARCH 5
PLU Invite
American Lake / Lakewood, Wash. / 8:30 a.m.
 
SEATTLE – A five-boat Falcons fleet opens the 2022 spring rowing season. Seattle Pacific crews compete at the PLU Invite on Saturday, March 5. Racing begins at 8:30 a.m. on American Lake in Lakewood, Washington.
 
Those five crews will participate in seven races versus opponents from the state of Washington, including NCAA Division I Gonzaga and Division II Western Washington along with Division III crews from Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound.
 
Two SPU boats will race twice, once in each session. The varsity eight crew will switch out one rower between flights. The third varsity eight reconfigures the seating between sessions while installing a different coxswain and two new rowers.

JACINTA GRANDEL INTERVIEW

2022 PLU INVITE
Seattle Pacific officially begins its 45th season of intercollegiate women's rowing competition on Saturday, embarking on a short trip down Interstate 5 to Lakewood, Wash. for the regatta hosted by Pacific Lutheran University. A quintet of Falcons boats, including three eight-oared crews and two fours, will race over the 2,000-meter course on American Lake.
 
The racing begins at 8:30 a.m. and the first race featuring the Falcons starts at 8:40 a.m. with the SPU varsity eight racing GNAC rival Western Washington and host PLU. The Falcons final competition, at 11:20 a.m., involves its third varsity eight versus PLU's second varsity and a fourth varsity boat from Gonzaga.
 
SPU crews will participate in seven races overall, four in the early flight and three in the second session that begins at 10:40 a.m.

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, proceed to the main parking lot entrance at the break in the chain link fence.
  THE TEAM
This season's Seattle Pacific roster is comprised of 33 student-athletes. The roster features a nearly even split between 16 returning (varsity) student-athletes and 17 newcomers, who are termed "novices" in rowing vernacular. Many of them are true novices, who had no rowing experience prior to joining the SPU squad.
 
The Falcons hail from nine different states with 20 of them calling Washington home. California is represented by five members of the roster and two are from Oregon.  Six additional states produced one SPU rowing team member; Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
 
ROWERS RANKED
Seattle Pacific's rowing team is ranked No. 5 nationally in the Preseason Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) poll conducted by USRowing and presented by Pocock Racing Shells. The poll projects the quality of each team's combined varsity eight and varsity four crews as those are the two that factor into NCAA Championships qualification.
 
SPU did not receive an NCAA Championships invitation last season despite a No. 2 ranking at the time of selection.
 
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference is well represented with all four member schools listed among the nine ranked teams. Defending champion Central Oklahoma is the preseason favorite to repeat and is joined in the poll by GNAC rivals SPU (5th), Western Washington (6th) and Cal Poly Humboldt (8th).
 
CRCA Rankings (Preseason/Feb. 16)
Rank,  School,  Points (1st-place votes)
1, Central Oklahoma (4), 197
2, Mercyhurst (1), 163
3, Florida Tech, 146
4, Embry Riddle, 120
5, Seattle Pacific, 117
6, Western Washington 60
7, Barry, 53
8, Cal Poly Humboldt & Jefferson, 21
 
FALCON FAST FACTS
If the projected boatings hold up, 16 Falcons will make their competitive debut in an SPU shell on Saturday … Senior LeeAnn Arrington is the only returning coxswain steering a boat on Saturday as she will direct the varsity eight. Three newcomers will cox the other crews; Sara Mach, Savannah Meyer and Lucy Sandahl.
 
LAST YEAR - 2021 PLU INVITE
After 378 days away from competition, the Seattle Pacific women's rowing team took full advantage of its return to the racecourse on March 20, 2021. The Falcons streaked across the finish line first by convincing margins in six of their eight races during the season-opening regatta that marked the debut of first-year head coach Caitlin McClain.
 
That is the same venue and regatta as the previous competition for SPU, on March 7, 2020. A week after that event, the remainder of the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID outbreak that also eliminated fall racing.
 
SPU picked up six victories from three boats at the 2021 PLU Invite, with the varsity eight, varsity four and open four crews each winning twice.

 

MEET COACH McCLAIN
Caitlin McClain is in her second season as women's head coach after directing SPU 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 women's rowing coach at Seattle Pacific. McClain provides a wealth of rowing experience to SPU, including competitive stints at HNA and Loyola Marymount along with national coaching duties with USRowing.
 
She served as the women's lead coach for the 2021 Under-19 National Team, which competed in August at the 2021 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.
 
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.
 
As a competitor, McClain captained Holy Names her final two years, in 2000 and 2001, and helped the varsity four crew to a silver medal at the nationals her senior season.
 
Her rowing career continued at Loyola Marymount where she occupied the stroke seat of the varsity eight for every race as a freshman. The Lions thrived during her four seasons, reaping titles at the West Coast Conference, WIRA and San Diego Crew Classic regattas.
 
McClain replaced Andrew Derrick, who served four seasons from 2017 through 2020.
 
FANTASTIC FALCONS
The Falcons have flourished on the water, capped by a fourth-place team finish at the 2019 NCAA Division II championships. SPU got fourth-place finishes from both the varsity eight and varsity four crews.
 
Seattle Pacific has earned five berths to the NCAA regatta. Three appearances (2007, 2009, 2011) were made by at-large varsity eight entries that did not factor into the team standings. The Falcons' 2010 foray into the national team competition resulted in a second-place result. The finest finish by a Falcons varsity eight was a third-place performance in 2009.
 
NEXT REGATTA
The Falcons travel to Oklahoma City, Okla. on March 26 to compete against defending national champion Central Oklahoma in a dual regatta on the Oklahoma River. The teams competed last season in Seattle and some great racing ensued.
 
SPU crews were victorious in three of seven races at the Falcon Regatta on March 27, 2021 and the varsity eight boat twice finished within one second of the defending national champion Bronchos. The Falcons varsity four crew drew a split of two races versus UCO and SPU got wins in the second varsity eight and open four events.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING
PLU Invite
Saturday, March 5, 2022
American Lake/Lakewood, Wash.
(all races 2,000 meters, only events with SPU entries listed)
 
8:40 a.m. – Varsity eight (SPU vs. Pacific Lutheran & Western Washington)
9:00 a.m. – Second varsity eight (SPU vs. Pacific Lutheran)
9:10 a.m. – Varsity four (SPU vs. Gonzaga "A", Gonzaga "B" & Western Washington)
9:20 a.m. – Second varsity four (SPU vs. Puget Sound)
 
10:50 a.m. – Varsity eight (SPU vs. Gonzaga 2V, Pacific Lutheran & Seattle University)
11:00 a.m. – Second varsity eight (SPU vs. Seattle University)
11:20 a.m. – Third varsity eight (SPU vs. Gonzaga 4V & Pacific Lutheran 2V)
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC LINEUPS
 
Varsity Eight
cox – LeeAnn Arrington (Sr./Empire, OK/Empire HS)
stroke – Jacinta Grandel (Jr./Palmer, AK/Rosary HS)
7 – Macie Leach (Jr./Chico, CA/Pleasant Valley HS)
6 – Elise Arkills (So./Tacoma, WA/Curtis HS)
5 – Natalie Korolenko (So./Redmond, WA/Cedar Park Christian HS) -- 1st race
  or – Nicole Svoboda (Jr./La Quinta, CA/La Quinta HS) -- 2nd race
4 – Danielle Johnson (Sr./Mill Creek, WA/Jackson HS)
3 – Nicole Svoboda (Jr./La Quinta, CA/La Quinta HS) -- 1st race
  or – Kristin Grassell (Fr./Des Moines, WA/Evergreen Lutheran HS) -- 2nd race
2 – Jennifer Hoag (Sr./Normandy Park, WA/Seattle Christian HS)
bow – Kalais Samuelson (Jr./Beaverton, OR/Sunset HS)
 
Second Varsity Eight
cox – Lucy Sandahl (So./Coupeville, WA/Coupeville HS)
stroke – Megan Popielak (So./Petaluma, CA/Petaluma HS)
7 – Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza (Sr./Vancouver, WA/Columbia River HS)
6 – Audrey Rekedal (Fr./Pasadena, CA/Maranatha HS)
5 – Summer Frank (So./Rocklin, CA/Rocklin HS)
4 – Megan Rouse (So./Ferndale, WA/Lynden Christian HS)
3 – Emma Ely (Fr./Buckley, WA/White River HS)
2 –Ingrid Erickson (Fr./Renton, WA/Kentridge HS)
bow – Addie Clark (Fr./Olympia, WA/Olympia HS)
 
Third Varsity Eight (1st session)
cox – Savannah Meyer (Fr./Forks, WA/Forks HS)
stroke – Bella Sangston (So./Bellevue, WA/Newport HS)
7 – Summer Frank (So./Rocklin, CA/Rocklin HS)
6 – Graysen Swanson (So./Ellensburg, WA/Riverside Christian HS)
5 – Emma Ely (Fr./Buckley, WA/White River HS)
4 – Olivia Pederson (Fr./Puyallup, WA/Rosslyn Academy, Kenya)
3 –Meghan Rustemeyer (Fr./Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley HS)
2 –Mary Goodhew (Fr./Eugene, OR/homeschool)
bow – Madison Raines (Fr./Orlando, FL/Celebration HS)
 
Third Varsity Eight (2nd session)
cox – Sara Mach (Fr./Edmonds, WA/Edmonds Heights HS)
stroke – Bella Sangston (So./Bellevue, WA/Newport HS)
7 –Meghan Rustemeyer (Fr./Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley HS)
6 – Graysen Swanson (So./Ellensburg, WA/Riverside Christian HS)
5 – Madison Raines (Fr./Orlando, FL/Celebration HS)
4 – Olivia Pederson (Fr./Puyallup, WA/Rosslyn Academy, Kenya)
3 – Jaida Jones (Fr./Mill Creek, WA/Jackson HS)
2 –Mary Goodhew (Fr./Eugene, OR/homeschool)
bow – Jessica Vester (Jr./Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS)
 
Varsity Four
cox – Lucy Sandahl (So./Coupeville, WA/Coupeville HS)
stroke – Megan Popielak (So./Petaluma, CA/Petaluma HS)
3 – Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza (Sr./Vancouver, WA/Columbia River HS)
2 –Ingrid Erickson (Fr./Renton, WA/Kentridge HS)
bow – Kristin Grassell (Fr./Des Moines, WA/Evergreen Lutheran HS)
 
Second Varsity Four
cox – Sara Mach (Fr./Edmonds, WA/Edmonds Heights HS)
stroke – Audrey Rekedal (Fr./Pasadena, CA/Maranatha HS)
3 – Sophie Sandahl (Jr./Coupeville, WA/Oak Harbor HS/Skagit Valley CC)
2 – Megan Rouse (So./Ferndale, WA/Lynden Christian HS)
bow – Addie Clark (Fr./Olympia, WA/Olympia HS)