LOWELL, Ore. – Several second-place performances Saturday improved Seattle Pacific's chances at a trip to the NCAA Division II Championships next month.
 
Fueled by impressive comebacks in both scoring races, the Falcons finished second in the team standings and fell just one point shy of the winning total compiled by Western Washington at the GNAC Women's Rowing Championships on Dexter Lake.
 
The Vikings' team title came by virtue of a 26-point total and SPU was second with 25. Defending champion Central Oklahoma placed third with 24 points and Cal Poly Humboldt was fourth with 15.
 
"We're so pleased with having three boats have their best races of the year," exclaimed SPU coach Caitlin McClain. "Obviously to be behind by one point is not easy, but it's hard to feel any other way except ecstatic about the race results.
 
Sparking SPU's second-place overall position was an impressive showing by the varsity eight crew that was just one seat back of winning Western at the finish line. Less than a second separated the top-two crews as they crossed.
 
Central Oklahoma was a convincing victor in the varsity four race, finishing 11 seconds ahead of the second-place Falcons.
 
Saturday's GNAC regatta opened with an exhibition race between open four boats that did not factor into the team totals. UCO was a near 12-second winner in that competition followed by the Falcons.
 

SPU repeated last year's GNAC results as runner-up in the scoring categories to finish behind eventual national champion Central Oklahoma. The Falcons were not extended an NCAA invitation to last season's scaled-down championship regatta that featured only four teams. The reduction was made only for the 2021 national regatta due to concerns with the pandemic, which caused the cancelation of the 2020 championships. due to the pandemic.
 
This year's NCAA field has returned back to its traditional size of six teams.
 
"One of our athletes said it best, 'Let's enjoy this moment now.'" That is what we're doing is enjoying the end of the regular season and not letting anything take away from that," McClain said. "Last year, as hard and traumatic as it was to not get an NCAA invitation, we learned that you don't control everything and things don't always make sense.
 
"It's about resilience, a word that our athletes have used a lot this year in response to last year. We laid out the different scenarios before we left and looked at the point totals. The reality is that this team just surpassed even those. We ended up in an even stronger position than we initially thought was the most realistic one."
 
The Falcons rowers must now trust that Saturday's performance was enough to earn their right to pull another oar this season.
 
NCAA Regatta Up Next
Seattle Pacific entered the GNAC Championships ranked fourth in the West Region, but certainly improved upon that position. They should move into the No. 3 spot and perhaps climb up to No. 2.
 
The NCAA Division II Rowing Championships field that will be announced 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time and can be viewed live at NCAA.com
 
The top seed from each of the three regions receives an automatic berth to the 2022 NCAA Championships, set for May 27 and 28 in Sarasota, Florida. That trio will be joined by three at-large entries. All six nationals qualifiers will compete their varsity eight and varsity four crews.
 
The West Region produced three of the top-four finishers at the last full-field NCAA Championship. Central Oklahoma won the national title, Western Washington placed third and SPU fourth in 2019.
 
UCO was the lone West Region participant in 2021 and the Bronchos captured their third consecutive NCAA championship. The West Region has produced the national team titlist in 15 of the 19 years the Division II conducted a championship.
 
Varsity Eight
The quartet of eight-oared crews produced the most surprising result of the day. Top-seeded and defending conference champion Central Oklahoma finished back in third place and No. 3 seed Humboldt was last.
 
Instead, the varsity eight race produced a thrilling battle between long-time rivals Western Washington and Seattle Pacific.

 

The Falcons were slow off the start, still in the process of aligning their boat when a quick start command was issued. They trailed the field for the opening half of the 2,000-meter race before overtaking Humboldt, and then UCO by the 1,500-meter mark.
 
SPU nearly drew even with front-running Western, but the Vikings held off the impressive surge to win by a 0.89-seconds with a mark of 7:03.43. The Falcons clocked a time of 7:04.32 to finish six seats ahead of Central Oklahoma, which crossed in 7:06.00. Cal Poly Humboldt was a distant fourth in 7:18.44.
 
"They had a bad start and were down at the beginning. They were in the middle of adjusting their point at the start line," McClain described. "The officials and referees didn't do the usual warning about a quick start before saying "Attention, Go."
 
"Our crew was actually adjusting their point when the race started, so they ended up having to correct that. They were in fourth at the beginning of the race and passed two crews before coming really close to Western. It was tremendous."
 
Senior LeeAnn Arrington helmed the SPU eight with Jennifer Hoag occupying the stroke seat. The lineup included Macie Leach, Elise Arkills, Natalie Korolenko, Jacinta Grandel, Kalais Samuelson, Danielle Johnson and Hannah Miller.
 
Varsity Four
The varsity four race stayed closer to form with the top-two ranked crews finishing one-two as projected. UCO won handily, registering an 11-second margin of victory with a time of 7:54.95. SPU was second in 8:05.96, nearly two boat lengths in front of third-place Western Washington.
 
The Vikings entered as the No. 4 seed, but did that one better with a time of 8:11.23 to have open water ahead of Cal Poly Humboldt's fourth-place mark of 8:15.33.
 
 

Like their varsity eight counterpart, SPU's four-oared boat got off to a sluggish start. That forced the Falcons to battle from fourth place to eventually settle into the second-place position at the finish.
 
"The four started down and ended up walking through the other boats, except UCO," said McClain. "They could have gone a different way with UCO getting out ahead, and maybe fallen behind even the other boats. But they kept fighting and didn't let a UCO crew, who they have been closer to in the past, stop them from continuing to put their best performance together.
 
"That is a testament to the consistency, emotion management and maturity that crew has brought all year long, even with having two youngsters in there."
 
The Falcons four was directed by coxswain Moxie McCandless with Megan Popielak in the stroke seat. The other rowers were Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza, Audrey Rekedal and Kristin Grassell in the bow.
 
Open Four
The Falcons were unable to defend their unofficial open fours crown in the exhibition event that started the regatta. They were open-water winners in 2021 over UCO, but the Bronchos reversed that result on Saturday.
 
 

Central Oklahoma went wire-to-wire to win in 8:08.39. Runner-up SPU was nearly 12 seconds back, crossing the finish lie in 8:20.08. That provided a three-seat advantage over third-place Cal Poly Humboldt (8:22.94) and open water in front of fourth-place Western (8:28.31).
 
Novice coxswain Jessica Vester steered the Falcons boat that was propelled by rowers Megan Rouse, Addie Clark, Ingrid Erickson and Sophie Sandahl.
 
"I appreciate the youthful heart and joy of rowing that they bring," McClain said of the Falcons open four crew. "In preparation this week, Coach Matt (Oclander) didn't want to emphasize the fact they are not a scoring crew.
 
"He did a great job getting their minds in the right place and making sure they knew this was ultimately about the future, but also the present and representing who we are as a program and a school."
 
NCAA Women's Rowing
GNAC Championships
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Dexter Lake / Lowell, Ore.
(all races 2,000 meters)
 
Final Team Standings
1, Western Washington, 26
2, Seattle Pacific, 25
3, Central Oklahoma, 24
4, Cal Poly Humboldt, 15
 
Varsity Eights
1, Western Washington, 7:03.43
2, Seattle Pacific, 7:04.32
3, Central Oklahoma, 7:06.00
4, Cal Poly Humboldt, 7:18.44
          SPU lineup: cox-LeeAnn Arrington, stroke-Jennifer Hoag, 7-Macie Leach, 6-Elise Arkills, 5-Natalie Korolenko, 4-Jacinta Grandel, 3-Kalais Samuelson, 2-Danielle Johnson, bow-Hannah Miller.
 
Varsity Fours
1, Central Okahoma, 7:54.95
2, Seattle Pacific, 8:05.96
3, Western Washington, 8:11.23
4, Cal Poly Humboldt, 8:15.33
          SPU lineup:  cox–Moxie McCandless, stroke-Megan Popielak, 3-Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza, 2-Audrey Rekedal, bow-Kristin Grassell.
 
Open Fours (exhibition)
1, Central Oklahoma, 8:08.39
2, Seattle Pacific, 8:20.08
3, Cal Poly Humboldt, 8:22.94
4, Western Washington, 8:28.31
          SPU lineup:  cox–Jessica Vester, stroke-Megan Rouse, 3-Addie Clark, 2-Ingrid Erickson, bow-Sophie Sandahl.