GOLD RIVER, Calif. – All four Seattle Pacific women's entries qualified for the grand finals, including the crew that registered the fastest qualifying time in Saturday's varsity four heat racing at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships on Lake Natoma.
 
Along with the first-place varsity four performance, the Falcons got runner-up results from the varsity eight and novice four boats. Their second varsity eight crew did not have a heat and advanced directly to the three-boat grand final in that category.
 
The championship races of the WIRA regatta, which serves as an unofficial West Coast collegiate championships, will be conducted Sunday morning.
 
Varsity Four
The Falcons four-oared varsity boat was impressive in heat racing, clocking the swiftest time among all competitors. SPU covered the 2,000-meter course in 8-minutes, 9.73-seconds, nearly three seconds faster than the other heat winner, Washington State (8:12.64).
 
Seattle Pacific surged out to an early boat-length lead over regional rival Cal Poly Humboldt. That margin was sustained throughout the race before an impressive sprint over the final 500 meters stretched that lead to a wealth of open water.
 
Helming the crew for the first time this season was junior coxswain Moxie McCandless. Jennifer Hoag sat in the stroke seat alongside rowers Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza, Audrey Rekedal and Kristin Grassell in the bow.
 
Cal Poly Humboldt finished second in 8:21.69 followed by UC Santa Barbara in 8:31.78 and UC Irvine in 8:45.43.
 
SPU, Humboldt and UCSB qualified for Sunday's grand final, slated for 10:40 a.m. Filling out the field, from the first heat, were WSU, Oregon and Western Washington.

VARSITY FOUR HEAT RACE

Varsity Eight
The Falcons finished a distant second to Western Washington in the second heat of the varsity eight competition. The Vikings started fast, quickly gaining an open-water lead they would not relinquish.
 
At the finish line, Western crossed in 6-minutes, 57.53-seconds to win by one length of open water. SPU's top crew, directed by coxswain LeeAnn Arrington, finished in 7:03.10, over 13 seconds faster than third-place UC Santa Barbara which posted a time of 7:16.63.
 
Those three crews advance to the grand final, scheduled for 8:40 a.m. on Sunday. They will be joined by Cal Poly Humboldt, another NCAA Division II crew and Great Northwest Athletic Conference competitor.
 
The Lumberjacks won the first heat in 7:03.26 followed by the other two finals qualifiers, UC Irvine (7:11.25) and Pacific Lutheran (7:15.70).
 
Placing fourth in SPU's heat was Puget Sound in 7:29.19 and Oregon had a fifth-place mark of 7:58.50.
 
VARSITY EIGHT HEAT RACE

Novice Four
Completing Seattle Pacific's perfect, three-for-three qualifying day was the novice four boat with a needed runner-up result, as only the top-two in each heat earned a grand final berth.
 
UC Santa Barbara opened up a large early lead, going wire-to-wire to win the third heat by nearly 20 seconds. The Gauchos winning time was 8:29.44 and SPU finished in 8:48.92, over 16 seconds ahead of third-place St. Mary's (9:05.48). The Falcons were only up one boat length before an impressive late sprint quadrupled that margin.
 
Southern Oregon finished fourth in 9:33.83, followed by Pacific (10:06.53), UC Davis (10:35.98) and Sonoma State (11:37.56).
 
UCSB and SPU both punched tickets to Sunday's noon grand final to meet the top-two from the other heats; San Diego (8:03.37), UC San Diego (8:07.94), Oregon (8:22.52) and Seattle University (8:27.01).
 
The first-year Falcons four featured Lucy Sandahl in the coxswain position. Pulling the oars were Olivia Pederson, Summer Frank, Graysen Swanson and Madison Raines.
 
NOVICE FOUR HEAT RACE

NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING
WIRA Championships
Saturday, April 30, 2022
Lake Natoma / Gold River, Calif.
(2,000-meter races)
 
RESULTS (SPU races only)
 
Varsity Eights
(top 3 in each heat advance to grand final)
Heat I -- 1, Cal Poly Humboldt, 7:03.26; 2, UC Irvine, 7:11.25; 3, Pacific Lutheran, 7:15.70; 4, UC Davis, 7:20.19; 5, Lewis & Clark, 7:29.22.
 
Heat II -- 1, Western Washington, 6:57.53; 2, Seattle Pacific, 7:03.10; 3, UC Santa Barbara, 7:16.63; 4, Puget Sound, 7:29.19; 5, Oregon, 7:58.50.
          SPU lineup: cox-LeeAnn Arrington, stroke-Megan Popielak, 7-Macie Leach, 6-Elise Arkills, 5-Natalie Korolenko, 4-Jacinta Grandel, 3-Kalais Samuelson, 2-Danielle Johnson, bow-Hannah Miller.
 
Varsity Fours
(top 3 in each heat advance to grand final)
Heat I -- 1, Washington State, 8:12.64; 2, Oregon, 8:24.16; 3, Western Washington, 8:25.06; 4, Pacific Lutheran, 8:43.04.
 
Heat II -- 1, Seattle Pacific, 8:09.73; 2, Cal Poly Humboldt, 8:21.69; 3, UC Santa Barbara, 8:31.78; 4, UC Irvine, 8:45.43.
          SPU lineup:  cox–Moxie McCandless, stroke-Jennifer Hoag, 3-Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza, 2-Audrey Rekedal, bow-Kristin Grassell.
 
Novice Fours
(top 2 in each heat advance to grand final)
Heat I -- 1, Oregon, 8:22.52; 2, Seattle University, 8:27.01; 3, Cal Poly Humboldt, 8:28.66; 4, Orange Coast, 8:44.11; 5, Santa Clara, 9:03.28; 6, California lightweights, 9:08.54; 7, UC Davis, 9:20.83.
 
Heat II -- 1, San Diego, 8:03.37; 2, UC San Diego, 8:07.94; 3, Loyola Marymount, 8:26.27; 4, Puget Sound, 8:33.96; 5, Chico State, 8:45.68; 6, Arizona State, 9:36.70; 7, Mills, 10:09.53.
 
Heat III -- 1, UC Santa Barbara, 8:29.44; 2, Seattle Pacific, 8:48.92; 3, St. Mary's, 9:05.48; 4, Southern Oregon, 9:33.83; 5, Pacific, 10:06.53; 6, UC Davis "B", 10:35.98; 7 Sonoma State, 11:37.56.
          SPU lineup:  cox–Lucy Sandahl, stroke-Olivia Pederson, 3-Summer Frank, 2-Graysen Swanson, bow-Madison Raines.
 
 
Sunday, May 1 Schedule (SPU races only)
8:40 a.m. – Varsity eight (grand final)
     Lanes:  1-Cal Poly Humboldt, 2-Western Washington, 3-UC Irvine, 4-Seattle Pacific, 5-Pacific Lutheran, 6-UC Santa Barbara.
 
9:10 a.m. – Second varsity eight (grand final)
     Lanes:  1-Seattle Pacific, 2-Pacific Lutheran, 3-Lewis & Clark.
 
10:40 a.m. – Varsity four (grand final)
     Lanes:  1-Washington State, 2-Seattle Pacific, 3-Oregon, 4-Cal Poly Humboldt, 5-Western Washington, 6-UC Santa Barbara.
 
12:00 p.m. – Novice four (grand final)
     Lanes:  1-Oregon, 2-UC Santa Barbara, 3-San Diego, 4-Seattle University, 5-Seattle Pacific, 6-UC San Diego, 7-Loyola Marymount.