SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University women's rowing team competed in the Windermere Cup on Montlake on Saturday morning, as the fantastic setting combined with great racing served as the perfect tune-up for next weekend's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in Dexter, Ore.

The Windermere Cup is a yearly celebration of the opening day of boating season in the Pacific Northwest. Hosted by the University of Washington, the Windermere Cup served as the final race before GNAC Championships for the Falcons. SPU competed against several PNW schools and fared well, earning two second-place finishes out of the three heats they competed in.

"Windermere Cup is a special race that some rowers only experience once in a lifetime," head coach Caitlin McClain said. "Even though it's in our backyard, the course is transformed with the yachts on the logbook and the Seattle community who come out to spectate."

The women's Varsity 4+ was the first race the Falcons competed in during the day. It was a Pacific Northwest heat, as SPU lined up against Washington and Seattle U. The Falcons hustled to the 500-meter point in 1:55.3 but trailed the Huskies by a few seconds. SPU tried to chase down UW but couldn't make it happen. The Huskies won the heat with a time of 7:28.63. The Falcons took second with a time of 7:59.36. The Red Hawks brought up the rear at 8:34.42.

The PNW squads lined up again in the JV8+ heat later in the day. Washington created separation early and went on to take the race. The race for second was exciting, as the Falcons checked in at the 500-meter mark in 1:47.0. SPU was separated from SU at 4 hundredths of a second.

From there, they edged forward in the race. They secured second at the 1,000-meter mark by almost five seconds and went on to claim runner-up. The gap between SPU and SU did not change much for the remainder of the race. The Falcons came in third with a time of 7:32.98, trailing the Red Hawks who clocked in at 7:26.76.

In the final collegiate race of the day, Western Washington joined UW, SPU, and SU in the Varsity 8+. Separation was tough to come by early, as four seconds covered all four boats. The Falcons hung tough with the Huskies. SPU earned a second-place finish behind them with a time of 7:00.51.   

"We went into it wanting to feed off the energy of the crowd, especially knowing lots of SPU fans would be cheering in the Cut (last 500m of the race)," McClain added. "However, it was important that we not get too excited or distracted by all the external stimuli. I think we struck a good balance between having fun and taking care of business. All three boats had solid races with V4+ and V8+ both placing second to UW."

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

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

JV8+
C: Lexi Roybal, 8: Amelia Pape, 7: Sophie Sandahl, 6: Brittan Dalberg, 5: Emma Ely, 4: Gem Gatmaytan, 3: Emma Jones, 2: Mary Goodhew, 1: Addie Clark