DEXTER, Ore. – The Seattle Pacific University women's rowing team competed in Saturday's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships which featured extremely close racing between each of the teams, as the Falcons finished the day with a fourth-place finish.

Central Oklahoma added to its rowing pedigree with its second conference title as a part of the GNAC. They needed every bit of their 27 points, as they edged past Cal Poly Humboldt who took second with 26 points. Similarly, it was a one-point difference between third and fourth place. Western Washington took third with 19 points, while the Falcons ended the day in fourth place.

"We knew the GNAC races were going to be close, and it played out how we predicted with margins separating placements," head coach Caitlin McClain said. "We ended up 1.4 seconds out of 2nd in Varsity 4+ with 2nd (WWU) and 3rd (CPH) only .02 apart. The Varsity 8+ race was similarly close with our Falcons only .13 seconds out of 2nd. It takes a lot of grit and composure to race that close." 

The deciding race of the day was the Varsity 4+ final. It was the first-scored race and maybe the most unpredictable. The Falcons entered the weekend with accolades and hype for their V4+ shell. The group was named GNAC Crew of the Week last Monday and ranked first in the NCAA West Regional Rankings. Things were shaken up drastically as the race played out.

UCO put together a blistering pass on the 2,000-meter course. They took the race with a time of 7:51.92. The race for second was a three-way battle between WWU, CPH, and SPU. The Vikings dug deep and took second place by inches over the Lumberjacks. The Falcons missed out on the spot by a little more than a second, taking fourth in the V4+ with a 7:57.46.

The day concluded with the Varsity 8+ final. The Lumberjacks, Bronchos, and Falcons broke away from the Vikings during the race. In the waning moments of the race, the Lumberjacks got out in front and took the race. The Bronchos and Falcons battled, mirroring each other all the way to the finish. Unfortunately, for the Falcons, the Bronchos earned the second-place finish. SPU finished third with a time of 7:05.66.

The Falcons opened the day with an excellent performance in the Exhibition 4+ heat. The shell ripped down the course in 8:03.54 and took the win. SPU gapped second-place CPH by 6.3 seconds.

The Falcons wait to see if they've qualified for the NCAA Nationals in Cherry Hill, N.J. that run May 26-28. The NCAA Selection show happens on Tuesday, May 16 at 2:30 p.m.

"Being on the other side of either one of those would have significantly improved our team points standing," McClain said. "It's tough to be the fourth-place team, but we have a lot to be proud of this season and the championship races today, especially with the commanding Exhibition/Open 4+ win. We are hopeful that our body of work and strength of the GNAC conference will result in an at large bid."

LINEUPS
Exhibition 4+
C: Lexi Roybal, 4: Brittan Dalberg, 3: Addie Clark, 2: Bella Lisenby, 1: Gem Gatmaytan

Varsity 4+ 
C: Lucy Sandahl, 4: Megan Popielak, 3: Anna Boatman, 2: Sophie Sandahl, 1: Megan Rouse

Varsity 8+
C: Moxie McCandless, 8: Jacinta Grandel, 7: Natalie Korolenko, 6: Audrey Rekedal, 5: Kalais Samuelson, 4: Elise Cornwell, 3: Ixchel Watson, 2: Macie Leach 1: Hannah Miller