This was a good day on the water.
Seattle Pacific University’s women’s rowing team hosted its fifth annual Falcon Regatta on Saturday, March 22, on the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
Seattle Pacific grabbed two heat wins before celebrating its graduating seniors in an alumni-featured race at the end of the morning.
Regatta recap:
The Falcons welcomed Great Northwest Athletic Conference foes Western Washington University, California Polytechnic University Humboldt and the University of Central Oklahoma.
Seattle Pacific had three Varsity 4+ boats competing on the canal.
The opening session began with SPU’s first Varsity 4+ crossing the finish line at 8:11.8 ahead of the Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks and the Western Washington Vikings, who finished at 8:19.9 and 8:43.4, respectively.
Seattle Pacific’s second V4+ boat finished at 8:12.1 after Cal Poly Humboldt (7:50.7).
The third race of the morning was between SPU’s and Cal Poly Humboldt’s Varsity 8+ boats. Seattle Pacific finished at 7:06.9, six seconds after the Lumberjacks.
In the final race before the break, Seattle Pacific’s third V4+ finished at 8:52.9 behind Cal Poly Humboldt at 8:27.8. The Vikings took the top spot at 8:14.5.
Head coach Caitlin McClain thought the races were a great opportunity for the Falcons to understand their abilities and how to move forward.
“We had great and well-executed aces all across the board,” McClain said. “We got to see a little more of the speed of the region and we’re in a good spot to grow from, to focus for the next training cycle towards races that will culminate the season and to get ourselves where we need to be.”
Seattle Pacific’a second V4+ started the second session with a second-place finish at 8:20.9 after Western Washington at 8:18.8. The Lumberjacks finished third at 8:38.1.
The first V4+ finished at 8:15.9, 14 seconds after the Central Oklahoma Broncos.
Seattle Pacific’s V8+’s last race of the morning was a head-to-head against Central Oklahoma. Seattle Pacific crossed the finish line at 7:14.2, defeating the Broncos at 7:19.7.
Seattle Pacific’s third V4+ finished at 8:42.2 behind Cal Poly Humbold (8:30.2) and ahead of Western Washington (8:56.8).
Junior rower Brittan Dahlberg, seated at the bow of the V4+, said the home-field advantage fueled the Falcons to fly as fast as they could.
“It was so much fun to be able to race on our home course,” Dahlberg said. “It’s really fun to have the home-field advantage and know your row and where your points are. Super fun to get out there with the rest of GNAC. We were lucky to have them here.”
The V8+ and V4+ races were interrupted twice by civilian ships passing through the canal. McClain. Although inconvenient, McClain clarified that the occurrences were no more serious than usual challenges.
“When I look at the times, they’re all within reason, [so] no one’s time was completely ruined by it,” McClain said. “All of our teams deal with some wakes, maybe a second or two seconds here or there, but overall, everyone understands this is a race course that we can’t close down. We’ll all have an opportunity to race on a clean race course in the future, so everyone’s rolling with the punches, and everyone got in good racing, and no one had to stop for anything.”
Varsity lineups:
The V8+ was coxed by junior Aleksia Haugen and filled by junior Amelia Pape, freshman Solanes Capps-Mace, senior Audrey Rekedal, junior Bella Lisenby, graduate student Megan Rouse, sophomore Grace Combs, junior Gem Gatmaytan, senior Addie Clark.
Freshman Sasha Kolobovnikov coxed the first V4+. Sophomore Emmerson Spencer, junior Emma Jones, junior Racquel Wesley and Dalberg filled the boat.
*Spencer and Wesley swapped seats for the second session
The second V4+ was coxed by junior Lexi Roybal. Freshman Elizabeth Chapman, senior Emma Ely, freshman Norah Bauman and freshman Mia Vittori filled the boat.
*Bauman and Chapman exchanged seats in the second session
Senior Mary Goodhew coxed the third V4+. Freshman Rachael Termure, freshman Freya Myers-Arnoult, freshman Erica Fisher and sophomore Faith Akutagawa filled the boat.
*Myers-Arnoult and Akutagawa were switched out for freshman Jasmine Crisan and freshman Karisma Magana in session two
Alumni race:
At the end of the regatta, SPU held a race between alumni and exiting seniors.
The senior Falcons filled out a four-boat with Ely, Rekedal, Clark, Rouse and Goodhew as coxswain.
Dubbed the “DiplOARmas,” the seniors finished fourth at 3:29.3 behind the alumni boats: the Ol’ Birds (3:01.6), the Fresh Falcons (3:10.0) and the All-Star Alumni (3:18.2).
Anne Philpot, a 2016 alumnus and former coach at the Lake Washington Rowing Club, was excited to get back on the water.
“It was a trip down memory lane on the ship canal here [on] a beautiful, sunny day and exciting to get back on the water with alumni that I hadn’t met before,” Philpot said. “I was last on the water in 2017, probably.”
Philpot added how fulfilling it was to see how the program has evolved from the one she knew.
“The current team is very strong. I’m impressed with how the program has evolved and its current leadership seems like it’s on a great trajectory for the future. I enjoyed meeting the current athletes, and the size of this team is really impressive.”
Dahlberg said the alumni races are a special source of pride and joy for the Falcons.
“The alumni race is always so fun to watch, and it brings unity and a lot of Falcon pride back to the house,” Dahlberg said. “[We] get to see old friends from previous years and also meet people whose names are still on the record board, people we still look up to today.”
Upcoming:
Seattle Pacific’s next competition is at the UCO Invite in Edmond, Oklahoma, on the Oklahoma River on Saturday, April 5.
