PORTLAND, Ore. – The Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced its first edition of Crew of the Week on Monday morning, with Seattle Pacific's Varsity 8+ boat picking up the honor after a spectacular performance of the PLU Invite last Saturday.

SPU was dominant in its season-opening meet last Saturday. The Falcons took on Gonzaga, Seattle U, fellow GNAC member Western Washington, host Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound. The Falcons left American Lake after winning six of the seven races.

"While all of our boats performed well, the V8+ had the most competitive match-up with Western in the first flight and executed a mature race in coming from behind early in the race to a solid lead by the end," Head Coach Caitlin McClain said. 

The varsity 8+ boat consisted of Moxie McCandless, Jacinta Grandel, Kalais Samuelson, Macie Leach, and Anna Boatman. It continued with Audrey Rekedal, Emma Ely, Megan Popielak, and Hannah Miller. The group did not disappoint in their first weekend of competition. 

SPU opened the day with a win over the Vikings and the Loggers. They posted a time of 7:06.73, besting the second-place Vikings by more than six seconds. 

The V8+ group hit the water later in the day for a second race. They took on Seattle U and Puget Sound, besting the Red Hawks and the Loggers. They improved their time from earlier in the day, covering the 2,000-meter course in 7:02.81. The time was more than 18 seconds quicker than that of DI Seattle U. 

After a strong showing on Saturday, the Falcons won't race again until March 25. It'll be close to home, as they compete in the Husky Open in Seattle on the Montlake Cut.