SATURDAY, MAY 14
GNAC Women's Rowing Championships
Dexter Lake / Lowell, Ore. / 11:30 a.m.
 
SEATTLE – The complicated postseason picture will become clearer after Saturday's racing.
 
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships for women's rowing will be conducted May 14 beginning at 11:30 a.m. All four women's teams from the West Region congregate on Dexter Lake in Lowell, Oregon to battle for league titles and to state their case for an invitation to the NCAA Championships.
 
Three conference champions will be crowned. The GNAC team trophy will be presented while the league's top eight-oared and four-oared crews will also be determined.
 
There are no heats, nor semifinals, only a championship race in two categories. The first of three 2,000-meter races is an exhibition contest for open fours that does not factor into the team scoring. The varsity four event will be contested at 11:40 a.m. followed by the varsity eight final at 11:50 a.m.
 
Defending GNAC and national champion Central Oklahoma wears the favorite's mantle. The other schools traded victories between each other throughout the season.
 
Saturday's top team will almost certainly receive the top seed in the West Region and the automatic berth into the six-team NCAA Division II championships field. The historical strength of the region suggests that the second-place team would likely earn one of three NCAA at-large invitations and a third GNAC team could potentially gain one as well.
 
GNAC ROWING
The GNAC began sponsoring women's rowing in 2020 and the conference includes four teams, all of them ranked among the top-six nationally. Central Oklahoma is currently ranked No. 2, Seattle Pacific is No. 4, Western Washington No. 5 and Cal Poly Humboldt No. 6.
 
The 2020 GNAC Championships were canceled due to the COVID outbreak that also prevented the NCAA championships from taking place. Last year's 2021 regatta was the first in conference history.
 
2022 GNAC Championships Schedule
11:30 a.m. – Open fours (exhibition)
11:40 a.m. -- Varsity fours
11:50 a.m. -- Varsity eights
12:00 p.m. -- Awards ceremony
 
GNAC Championships Scoring System
The following point system will be used to determine the GNAC champion:
     Varsity Eights:  18 points for first place, 15 for second, 12 for third, 9 for fourth.
     Varsity Fours:  12 points for first place, 10 for second, 8 for third and 6 for fourth.
 
• Ties for team awards will be broken by the place finish in the eights.
 
• A team must compete in both the varsity four and the varsity eight to qualify to win the overall championship. If a team enters only one of the scoring races, it will be counted as a non-scoring entry in the race in which it does compete and the team scoring in the race will be allocated based on the finish of only those teams eligible for the overall team championship.
 
VIDEO: KRISTIN GRASSELL INTERVIEW

THE FALCONS FLEET
Three crews will represent Seattle Pacific on Saturday at the GNAC Championships. They will compete in the varsity eight, varsity four and open four exhibition event.
 
Varsity Eight
The Falcons eight-oared crew contains eight women who competed at the 2021 GNAC regatta. Four of them helped the varsity eight to a runner-up result, including coxswain LeeAnn Arrington along with the current stern trio of Jennifer Hoag, Macie Leach and Jacinta Grandel.
 
Three members of the eight rowed in last year's second-place varsity four boat; Natalie Korolenko, Danielle Johnson and Hannah Miller.
 
Elise Arkills competed in SPU's entry in the 2021 GNAC exhibition open fours race. Kalais Samuelson is the lone person in the Falcons eight that didn't participate at the conference regatta last season.
 
SPU has won and lost varsity eight matchups this season versus Cal Poly Humboldt, but was outraced in both encounters with Central Oklahoma.
 
On April 9 in Seattle, the Falcons finished first in the only matchup this season between three GNAC crews. They defeated Humboldt and Western Washington.
 
In their most recent outing, the Falcons eight placed third at the Windermere Cup in Seattle, losing to Washington's third varsity and also WWU. SPU crossed the finish line ahead of the Seattle University varsity.
 
Central Oklahoma is the top-ranked varsity eight crew in the NCAA West Region rankings followed by WWU, Humboldt and SPU.
 
 

Varsity Four
The Falcons top four-oared crew compiled an 8-2 record this season versus the foes they will face on Saturday. They won all four meetings versus Cal Poly Humboldt, posted a 3-1 record against Western Washington and split two matchups with Central Oklahoma.
 
The Falcons are the second-ranked varsity four among Division II competitors in the West Region. UCO is listed second, Humboldt third and Western fourth.
 
Senior coxswain Moxie McCandless directs SPU's boat from her coxswain position. Sophomore Megan Popielak occupies the stroke seat alongside rowers Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza, Audrey Rekedal and Kristin Grassell in the bow.
 
Open Four
Starting Saturday's slate is the exhibition race for open fours, which allows for a mix of varsity and novice rowers in each crew. That event begins at 11:30 a.m. and does not impact the team scoring.
 
Bow seat Sophie Sandahl is the lone veteran in SPU's open four boat. The junior joins a quartet of novices, including coxswain Jessica Vester. First-year rowers Megan Rouse, Addie Clark and Ingrid Erickson compete the crew.
 
LAST YEAR
Seattle Pacific rowed to runner-up results in both varsity races on May 15, 2021 en route to a second-place team finish at the inaugural GNAC Championships for women's rowing on Vancouver Lake.
 
Top-ranked Central Oklahoma swept both races to claim a perfect team score of 30 and capture the GNAC's first rowing trophy. The conference started sponsoring women's rowing last year, but the 2020 championship regatta was canceled due to the pandemic.
 
The Bronchos won the 2021 varsity eight race going away and claimed the varsity four crown in a much closer race. SPU compiled a second-place total of 25 points. Western Washington placed third in every category, including the team standings with 20 points. Humboldt did not race.
 
ROWERS RANKED
Seattle Pacific's rowing team climbed two spots, to fourth nationally, in this week's Pocock Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) poll. 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 ranked second and is joined in the poll by GNAC rivals SPU (4th), Western Washington (5th) and Cal Poly Humboldt (6th).
 
Pocock CRCA Coaches Poll (May 11)
Rank,  School,  Points (1st-place votes)
1, Mercyhurst (5), 172
2, Central Oklahoma, 159
3, Embry Riddle, 144
4, Seattle Pacific, 106
5, Western Washington, 100
6, Cal Poly Humboldt, 95
7, Barry, 69
8, Jefferson, 44
 
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.
 
NCAA REGATTA NEXT
The six-team NCAA Division II Championships in Sarasota, Florida are scheduled for May 27 and 28 and require an invitation from the selection committee. The top seed from each of three regions receives an automatic berth, leaving just three at-large bids for the remaining teams.
 
Central Oklahoma is currently the top seeded team in the potent West Region with Western Washington second, Cal Poly Humboldt third and Seattle Pacific fourth.
 
The NCAA field will be revealed at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5 p.m. Eastern) via a live webcast and can be viewed here -- https://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2022-03-02/2022-ncaa-spring-championships-selection-schedule
 
NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING
GNAC Championships
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Dexter Lake / Lowell, Ore.
(2,000-meter course)
 
SCHEDULE & LANE ASSIGNMENTS
11:30 a.m. -- Open Fours (exhibition)
4-Seattle Pacific
5-Central Oklahoma
6-Western Washington
7-Cal Poly Humboldt
 
11:40 a.m. -- Varsity Fours
4-Western Washington
5-Central Oklahoma
6-Seattle Pacific
7-Cal Poly Humboldt
 
11:50 a.m. -- Varsity Eights
4-Seattle Pacific
5-Central Oklahoma
6-Western Washington
7-Cal Poly Humboldt
 
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC LINEUPS
Varsity Eight
cox – LeeAnn Arrington (Sr./Empire, OK/Empire HS)
stroke – Jennifer Hoag (Sr./Normandy Park, WA/Seattle Christian 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)
6 – Elise Arkills (So./Tacoma, WA/Curtis HS)
4 – 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
cox – Moxie McCandless (Jr./Albuquerque, NM/Albuquerque Academy HS)
stroke – Megan Popielak (So./Petaluma, CA/Petaluma HS)
3 – Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza (Sr./Vancouver, WA/Columbia River HS)
2 – Audrey Rekedal (Fr./Pasadena, CA/Maranatha HS)
bow – Kristin Grassell (Fr./Des Moines, WA/Evergreen Lutheran HS)
 
Open Four
cox – Jessica Vester (Jr./Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS)
stroke – Megan Rouse (So./Ferndale, WA/Lynden Christian HS)
3 – Addie Clark (Fr./Olympia, WA/Olympia HS)
2 – Ingrid Erickson (Fr./Renton, WA/Kentridge HS)
bow – Sophie Sandahl (Jr./Coupeville, WA/Oak Harbor HS/Skagit Valley CC)