LAKEWOOD, Wash. – Seattle Pacific women's crews crossed the finish line first in two of the seven races they contested Saturday, including a thrilling ending to the second varsity eight race at the season-opening PLU Invite on American Lake.
 
The Falcons clocked a time of 8-minutes, 15.3-seconds over the 2,000-meter course, out-dueling the Seattle University second varsity eight by exactly two seconds. First-year coxswain Lucy Sandahl coaxed the rowers to a strong sprint at the end to secure the win.
 
 

SPU's second varsity four also registered a victory, an open-water triumph over Seattle U and Puget Sound. That crew, directed by freshman Sara Mach, finished in 8:34.1, nearly 13 seconds in front of the Redhawks time of 8:46.8 and the third-place UPS mark of 9:31.1.
 
A trio of rowers competed in both of those winning races for SPU; Audrey Rekedal, Megan Rouse and Addie Clark. They were able to row twice because the fours result came in the early-morning session and the race for eight-oared second varsities started 90 minutes later, in the late-morning flight.
 
"It was great to get out there and to just see where we are right now in the season," said Caitlin McClain, in her second season as the SPU head coach.
 
"We definitely had some really exciting finishes with our middle of the team and that was great because we have a lot of new rowers and that was the very first race for many of them. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how the team handled themselves and executed races."
 
 

The Varsity Eight
Seattle Pacific's top boat competed twice in varsity eight events, picking up a second- and third-place finish. The fifth-ranked Falcons were runners-up in the early session, posting a time of 7:17.4 that trailed No. 6 Western Washington's 7:01.4 by four boat lengths. Host PLU was third in 7:21.8.
 
NCAA Division II SPU raced against a pair of Division I entries in their other varsity eight outing. Gonzaga's second varsity won in 7:14.1, followed by Seattle U in 7:30.7. The Falcons crossed third in 7:14.6, well ahead of host PLU's mark of 7:58.7.
 
"We learned a lot on the varsity eight side in terms of where we need to focus," said McClain. "It fits within the progression of our season so far. They executed their race plan well. It's always hard to not be at the top, but that's part of hard work and we're going to keep doing that."

The Varsity Four
While placing behind two Gonzaga crews, the Falcons varsity four registered an impressive margin of over 22 seconds ahead of WWU. The Bulldogs finished one-two, in 7:44.1 and 8:00.0. SPU's third-place time was 8:11.7 followed by Western in 8:24.1.
 
"Both of our fours raced really well in the early flight today," McClain said. "The two fours were then combined, more-or-less, into the second varsity eight in the late flight. They handled themselves well.
 
"We did a lot of preparation in fours recently and that paid off. Those athletes really seemed to put together some good races across the board in their separate fours, and then coming together as an eight."
 
MEGAN POPIELAK INTERVIEW

SPU's third varsity eight crew raced against the same two opponents twice. Gonzaga's fourth varsity won the first encounter in 7:14.8 followed by the Falcons in 7:59.2 and PLU's second varsity in 8:20.8. Freshman Savannah Meyer directed the SPU boat.
 
A pre-planned reconfiguration of the third eight installed Sandahl in the coxswain seat along with two different rowers. In that second matchup, Gonzaga's winning time was 7:35.6, the Lutes were runners-up in 8:30.7 followed by the Falcons in 8:34.2.
 
 

Numerous Novices
Sixteen Falcons made their racing debut in an SPU shell on Saturday. Many of them are true novices, who had no rowing experience prior to joining the team.
 
"It's hugely important to have that first race. You can't replicate this in practice," McClain said of the inaugural regatta for more than half of Saturday's participants on her team. "It's not just the rowing, but we were able to travel and go through the process of putting boats on trailers, which we took time this week learning how to do with them.
 
"We've put in so much work for those novices and they haven't been able to do any real racing until now. Racing today helps them see that there is a point to the things that we focus on in practice, and then to have it come about in a race creates that buy-in and commitment to the process."
 
Next Regatta
The Falcons travel to Oklahoma City, Okla. on March 26 to race 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 Invitational
Saturday, March 5, 2022
American Lake / Lakewood, Wash.
(all races 2,000 meters, only SPU events listed)
 
Varsity Eights
First session – 1, Western Washington, 7:01.4; 2, Seattle Pacific, 7:17.4; 3, Pacific Lutheran, 7:21.8.
 
     SPU lineup: cox-LeeAnn Arrington, stroke-Jacinta Grandel, 7-Macie Leach, 6-Elise Arkills, 5-Natalie Korolenko, 4-Danielle Johnson, 3-Nicole Svoboda, 2- Jennifer Hoag, bow-Kalais Samuelson.
 
Second session – 1, Gonzaga 2V, 7:14.1; 2, Seattle University, 7:30.7; 3, Seattle Pacific, 7:41.6; 4, Pacific Lutheran, 7:58.7.
 
     SPU lineup: cox-LeeAnn Arrington, stroke-Jacinta Grandel, 7-Macie Leach, 6-Elise Arkills, 5- Nicole Svoboda, 4-Danielle Johnson, 3-Kristin Grassell, 2- Jennifer Hoag, bow-Kalais Samuelson.
 
 
Varsity Fours
First session – 1, Gonzaga, 7:44.1; 2, Gonzaga "B", 8:00.0; 3, Seattle Pacific, 8:11.7; 4, Western Washington, 8:24.1.
 
     SPU lineup: cox-Lucy Sandahl, stroke-Megan Popielak, 3-Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza, 2-Ingrid Erickson, bow-Kristin Grassell.
 
 
Second Varsity Eights
First session – 1, Seattle Pacific, 8:15.3; 2, Seattle University, 8:17.3.
 
     SPU lineup: cox-Lucy Sandahl, stroke-Megan Popielak, 7-Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza, 6-Audrey Rekedal, 5-Summer Frank, 4-Megan Rouse, 3-Emma Ely, 2-Ingrid Erickson, bow-Addie Clark.
 
 
Third Varsity Eights
First session – 1, Gonzaga 4V, 7:14.8; 2, Seattle Pacific 3V, 7:59.2; 3, Pacific Lutheran 2V, 8:20.8.
 
     SPU lineup: cox-Savannah Meyer, stroke-Bella Sangston, 7-Summer Frank, 6-Graysen Swanson, 5-Emma Ely, 4-Olivia Pederson, 3-Meghan Rustemeyer, 2-Mary Goodhew, bow-Madison Raines.
 
Second session – 1, Gonzaga 4V, 7:35.6; 2, Pacific Lutheran 2V, 8:30.7; 3, Seattle Pacific, 8:34.2.
 
     SPU lineup: cox-Sara Mach, stroke-Bella Sangston, 7-Meghan Rustemeyer, 6-Graysen Swanson, 5-Madison Raines, 4-Olivia Pederson, 3-Jaida Jones, 2-Mary Goodhew, bow-Jessica Vester.
 
 
Second Varsity Fours
First session – 1, Seattle Pacific, 8:34.1; 2, Seattle University, 8:46.8; 3, Puget Sound, 9:31.1.
 
     SPU lineup: cox-Sara Mach, stroke-Audrey Rekedal, 3-Sophie Sandahl, 2-Megan Rouse, bow-Addie Clark.