This Week's Schedule
SATURDAY, April 2
FIRA Championships
Cooper Creek / Sarasota, Fla. / 4:45 a.m. PDT (7:45 a.m. EDT)
  • Live Results:  https://firarowing.org/live-results
 
SATURDAY, April 2
Husky Open
Montlake Cut / Seattle, Wash. / 8:00 a.m.
  • Live Results:  https://herenow.com/results/#/races/20983/results
 
SEATTLE – The Falcons fleet flies to Florida for what they hope is the first of two trips to the Sunshine State.
 
Seattle Pacific's top two crews embark on the 2,500-mile cross country journey to compete against the finest women's NCAA Division II rowing competition from the South. The FIRA Championships (Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association) will be conducted Saturday, April 2 over a 2,000-meter course on Cooper Creek in the Nathan Benderson Park complex in Sarasota, Fla.
 
That will be the site of this year's NCAA Rowing Championships, May 27-29. SPU seeks to be one of six Division II teams to earn berths to that national regatta and a good performances by the varsity eight and varsity four crews would go a long way to achieving that goal.
 
That is not the only competition on Saturday for the Falcons, who have a novice eight crew entered in the Husky Open, April 2 on the Montlake Cut.

JESSICA VESTER INTERVIEW

FIRA CHAMPIONSHPS
Racing begins on Saturday with the Division II varsity fours event at 4:45 a.m. Pacific Time (7:45 a.m. Eastern). That will be followed by the D-II varsity eights race at 5:30 a.m. PDT.
 
The Falcons top eight-oared crew features LeeAnn Arrington in the coxswain seat and Megan Popielak pulling the stroke oar.
 
The four primary Division II rowing teams from the South Region will compete in both of those races. Three of them are ranked. Barry (No. 3), Embry-Riddle (No. 5), Florida Tech (No. 8) and Rollins will row alongside sixth-ranked Seattle Pacific.
 
Results of Saturday's head-to-head racing could prove pivotal for the NCAA committee to decide on which three schools to issue at-large invitations to the championships in May. The top-seeded team from the West, South and East regions will receive automatic berths to the national regatta.
 
The Falcons will compete in five total races and the other three include NCAA Division I opponents.
 
SPU's varsity four, directed by coxswain Jessica Vester, will race another time, in the second varsity event at 10:20 a.m. PDT.
 
The Falcons varsity eight rowers will divide into two quartets with one, coxed by Vester, racing in the Varsity B competition at 11:40 a.m. PDT. Arrington will steer her boat into a late varsity four race that concludes the regatta, at noon PDT.
 

HUSKY OPEN
Seattle Pacific has one crew that will remain in Seattle to compete in the Husky Open. The Falcons novice eight boat will race at 8:10 a.m. on the Montlake Cut that runs along the south end of the University of Washington campus.
 
That race for eight-oared crews includes third varsity and novice entries from colleges throughout the Northwest.
 
The crew, comprised entirely of first-year Falcons, features Sara Mach as the coxswain. Megan Rouse occupies the stroke seat.
 
ROWERS RANKED
Seattle Pacific's rowing team remained sixth nationally in this week's Pocock Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) poll presented by USRowing. 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 eight ranked teams. Defending champion Central Oklahoma is atop the rankings and is joined in the poll by GNAC rivals Western Washington (4th), Seattle Pacific (6th) and Cal Poly Humboldt (7th).
 
Pocock CRCA Coaches Poll (March 30)
Rank,  School,  Points (1st-place votes)
1, Central Oklahoma (4), 181
2, Mercyhurst (1), 139
3, Barry, 130
4, Western Washington, 117
5, Embry Riddle, 111
6, Seattle Pacific, 109
7, Cal Poly Humboldt, 62
8, Florida Tech, 38
 
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.

 

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 WEEK
Seattle Pacific conducts its only home competition of the season, the Falcon Regatta. SPU entertains regional rivals Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly Humboldt State) and Western Washington for an eight-race card on Saturday, April 9 on the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The starting line is near Gas Works Park in Lake Union and the finish line is behind Brougham Pavilion on the north side of the SPU campus.
 
The regatta features two flights of racing, the first beginning at 8:00 a.m. and the second at 10:30 a.m.
 
All three teams are nationally ranked with Western Washington at No. 4, Seattle Pacific No. 6 and Humboldt No. 7.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING
FIRA Championships
Saturday, April 2, 2022
Cooper Creek/Sarasota, Fla.
(all races 2,000 meters / Pacific Times listed)
 
4:45 a.m. – Division II Varsity Fours
     Lane assignments:  2-Rollins, 3-Florida Tech, 4-Barry, 6-SPU, 7-Embry-Riddle
 
5:30 a.m. – Division II Varsity Eights
     Lane assignments:  1-Florida, 2-Florida Tech, 3-SPU, 4-Barry, 5-Embry-Riddle, 6-Rollins, 7-Florida State
 
10:20 a.m. – Second Varsity Fours (SPU 1V)
     Lane assignments:  2-SPU, 3-Embry-Riddle, 4-Florida, 5-Rollins, 6-Florida Tech
 
11:40 p.m. –Varsity "B" Fours (SPU 3V)
     Lane assignments:  1-New Crew SRQ, 2-SPU, 3-Embry-Riddle, 4-Florida
 
12:00 p.m. Varsity Fours (SPU 2V)
     Lane assignments:  0-Rollins, 1-Florida State, 2-Embry-Riddle, 3-Barry, 4-SPU, 5-FLorida Tech, 6-Florida, 7-Central Florida
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC LINEUPS
 
Varsity Eight
cox – LeeAnn Arrington (Sr./Empire, OK/Empire HS)
stroke – Megan Popielak (So./Petaluma, CA/Petaluma HS)
7 – Macie Leach (Jr./Chico, CA/Pleasant Valley HS)
6 – Jacinta Grandel (Jr./Palmer, AK/Rosary HS)
5 – Natalie Korolenko (So./Redmond, WA/Cedar Park Christian HS)
4 – Elise Arkills (So./Tacoma, WA/Curtis HS)
3 – Kalais Samuelson (Jr./Beaverton, OR/Sunset HS)
2 – Danielle Johnson (Sr./Mill Creek, WA/Jackson HS)
bow – Hannah Miller (So./East Lyme, CT/East Lyme HS)
 
Varsity Four
(same SPU crew also racing 2V4 event)
cox – Jessica Vester (Jr./Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS)
stroke – Jennifer Hoag (Sr./Normandy Park, WA/Seattle Christian HS)
3 – Nicole Svoboda (Gr./La Quinta, CA/La Quinta HS)
2 –Ingrid Erickson (Fr./Renton, WA/Kentridge HS)
bow – Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza (Sr./Vancouver, WA/Columbia River HS)
 
Varsity Fours "B" race (SPU 3V)
cox – Jessica Vester (Jr./Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS)
stroke – Danielle Johnson (Sr./Mill Creek, WA/Jackson HS)
3 – Natalie Korolenko (So./Redmond, WA/Cedar Park Christian HS)
2 – Jacinta Grandel (Jr./Palmer, AK/Rosary HS)
bow – Kalais Samuelson (Jr./Beaverton, OR/Sunset HS)
 
Varsity Fours, late race (SPU 2V)
cox – LeeAnn Arrington (Sr./Empire, OK/Empire HS)
stroke – Megan Popielak (So./Petaluma, CA/Petaluma HS)
3 – Macie Leach (Jr./Chico, CA/Pleasant Valley HS)
2 – Elise Arkills (So./Tacoma, WA/Curtis HS)
bow – Hannah Miller (So./East Lyme, CT/East Lyme HS)
 
 
Husky Open
Saturday, April 2, 2022
Montlake Cut/Seattle, Wash.
(2,000 meters)
 
8:10 a.m. – Collegiate third varsity & novice eights (SPU novice)
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC LINEUP
 
Novice Eight
cox – Sara Mach (Fr./Edmonds, WA/Edmonds Heights HS)
stroke – Megan Rouse (So./Ferndale, WA/Lynden Christian HS)
7 – Emma Ely (Fr./Buckley, WA/White River HS)
6 – Mary Goodhew (Fr./Eugene, OR/homeschool)
5 – Addie Clark (Fr./Olympia, WA/Olympia HS)
4 – Olivia Pederson (Fr./Puyallup, WA/Rosslyn Academy, Kenya)
3 – Jaida Jones (Fr./Mill Creek, WA/Jackson HS)
2 –Graysen Swanson (So./Ellensburg, WA/Riverside Christian HS)
bow – Madison Raines (Fr./Orlando, FL/Celebration HS)