• Practice Day Photo Gallery (May 26)
• Heats & Reps Photo Gallery (May 27)
• Finals Day Photo Gallery (May 28)

SARASOTA, Fla. – A rowing season that Seattle Pacific wanted to last longer than the previous two, did. In fact, threats of a storm Saturday morning elongated the ending even two hours further.
 
The Falcons were not allowed the opportunity to participate in the postseason the last two years despite lofty national rankings. In 2000, fourth-ranked SPU's promising campaign was cut short after just one competition. The Covid outbreak halted all NCAA spring sports on March 11.
 
Last year the Falcons boasted a No. 2 national ranking, but didn't receive an invitation to join the NCAA field that was reduced to just four teams due to pandemic precautions.
 
This year's goal of late-May racing was achieved after a second-place performance in every category at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on May 14. That clinched the team's first NCAA Division II Women's Rowing Championships appearance since 2019.
 
A fourth-place finish in Saturday's varsity four grand final and runner-up result in the petite final for varsity eights put Seattle Pacific sixth in the team standings with nine points.
 
 

"They came full circle from the disappointment of last year, coming here and racing really well, really hard," said second-year SPU coach Caitlin McClain. "That will be the building blocks for future years."
 
The Falcons were forced to wait for their finals. Thunderstorms in south and east Florida threatened to move into the Sarasota area. Despite clear, sunny skies, the course was cleared and the regatta suspended for two hours.
 
The inclement weather never materialized, but remarkable racing ensued once the collective crews from the NCAA Division I, II and III schools returned to the water.
 
Mercyhurst won both boat championships for a perfect first-place team total of 30 points in the Division II team competition. A pair of ties followed in the standings, each of them broken by the superior performance in the varsity eight competition.
 
Western Washington grabbed the team silver medal with the same 19-point total as third-place Embry-Riddle. Three-time defending champion Central Oklahoma was dethroned, placing fifth with 14 points, behind fourth-place Jefferson with the identical figure.
 
Seattle Pacific took part in the overall team competition for just the third time in school history, following a second-place effort in 2010 and fourth in 2019.

VIDEO: COACH CAITLIN McCLAIN INTERVIEW

 
Varsity Four
Sunday marked only the second time an SPU four-oared boat had advanced into the grand final at an NCAA regatta. This year's group matched the fourth-place performance of the 2019 squad.
 
This 2022 crew expended a great deal of energy to reach the grand final.
 
After a second-place finish in Friday morning's heat, the Falcons were forced to return in the afternoon with a top-two result necessary to get a grand berth. They rallied from an open-water deficit to overtake Western Washington for second place in the repechage.
 
"It was so powerful for them to have the tenacity and the discipline to do the race they had yesterday in the rep," McClain described. "Yesterday was incredible to see. They went out there, stuck to their plan and it paid off. They were able to walk through Western.
 
"Coming into today they wanted to continue to push. It was great to have them in the grand final. Part of being here is seeing what 'fast' is. Now we know and we have a better sense of it."
 
SPU's four didn't have too much left in the tank after Friday's hectic day of racing. The Falcons kept contact early with a tightly packed field. They fell off the pace by the 500-meter mark, enabling Embry-Riddle to front the three leaders.
 
Mercyhurst remained in second, trailing by five seats before making a move that gained the first-place position with 400 meters left to row. The Lakers, from Erie, Pennsylvania, held on to win the varsity four event with a time of 7-minutes, 47.46-seconds.
 
Embry-Riddle crossed second in 7:49.64 followed by Central Oklahoma in 7:55.40. SPU was a few lengths back, clocking a time of 8:10.22 over the 2,000-meter course at Nathan Benderson Park.
 
The Falcons four, coxed by Moxie McCandless, featured rowers Megan Popielak, Kristin Grassell, Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza and Audrey Rekedal.
 
Western Washington won the petite final in 8:21.10 to clinch fifth place among fours. Jefferson was sixth in 8:39.66.
 
VIDEO: VARSITY FOUR GRAND FINAL RACE

Varsity Eight
The petite final for varsity eights featured a match race between GNAC rivals Seattle Pacific and Central Oklahoma. The defending NCAA champion Bronchos came out on top, but not without a battle.
 
"It was their last race here, their last race as a boat," McClain said. "We have three seniors in the boat so their focus was on having a great race, having their best race and not necessarily being focused on the outcome.
 
"They were able to put that race together today and be less than two seconds off of UCO. They had a great end to their NCAA run."
 
Central Oklahoma grabbed an early one-seat edge, a margin that expanded to four seats by the midway mark.
 
The Falcons challenged during the second thousand, but UCO responded. At the finish, the Bronchos registered a six-seat victory with a time of 7:00.38. SPU secured sixth place overall with a runner-up time of 7:02.32.
 
The grand final followed and none of the four crews from the championship race were faster than the petite finalists.
 
Mercyhurst crossed the finish line first in 7:03.70, repelling a late challenge by Western Washington to win by a bow ball. The Vikings were just 0.03 seconds back with a second-place time of 7:03.73.
 
Jefferson placed third in 7:08.85 and Embry-Riddle was a distant third in 7:16.69.
 
Senior coxswain LeeAnn Arrington directed the Falcons varsity eight boat that was propelled by rowers Jennifer Hoag, Macie Leach, Jacinta Grandel, Natalie Korolenko, Elise Arkills, Kalais Samuelson, Danielle Johnson and Hannah Miller.

VIDEO: VARSITY EIGHT PETITE FINAL RACE

By the Book
McClain hinted that this year's novel season deserves a sequel in 2023.
 
"They went through so much and could have been down discouraged, could have been down-trodden, and they just came back ready to do it again and say 'that's not going to be the end of our story.
 
"Really this year has been about re-writing the story, re-writing the script with plot twists. They just put a really wonderful chapter at the end of this year's book."

NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday, May 28, 2022
Nathan Benderson Park / Sarasota, Fla.
(2,000-meter races)
 
DIVISION II WOMEN'S RESULTS
 
Final Team Standings
1, Mercyhurst, 30
2, Western Washington, 19
3, Embry-Riddle, 19
4, Jefferson, 14
5, Central Oklahoma, 14
6, Seattle Pacific, 9
 
VARSITY EIGHTS
Grand Final
1, Mercyhurst, 7:03.70
2, Western Washington, 7:03.73
3, Jefferson, 7:08.85
4, Embry-Riddle, 7:16.69
 
Petite Final
1, Central Oklahoma, 7:00.38
2, Seattle Pacific, 7:02.32
 
          SPU lineup: cox-LeeAnn Arrington, stroke-Jennifer Hoag, 7-Macie Leach, 6-Jacinta Grandel, 5-Natalie Korolenko, 4- Elise Arkills, 3-Kalais Samuelson, 2-Danielle Johnson, bow-Hannah Miller.
 
 
VARSITY FOURS
Grand Final
1, Mercyhurst, 7:47.46
2, Embry-Riddle, 7:49.64
3, Central Oklahoma, 7:55.40
4, Seattle Pacific, 8:10.22
 
Petite Final
1, Western Washington, 8:21.10
2, Jefferson, 8:39.66
 
          SPU lineup:  cox–Moxie McCandless, stroke-Megan Popielak, 3-Kristin Grassell, 2-Avalon Tarbet-Mendoza, bow-Audrey Rekedal.