• PLU INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE (pdf)    |    • VIDEO: NATALIE  BEALL
        • 2018 SPU SEASON SCHEDULE              |    • 2018 SPU ROSTER

SEATTLE – Seattle Pacific begins its 41st season of intercollegiate women's rowing competition on Saturday, embarking on a short trip down Interstate 5 to Lakewood, Wash. for the PLU Invitational. A trio of SPU crews will take to the waters of American Lake on March 10, each racing twice.
 
The regatta starts at 8:40 a.m. and the first race involving SPU is the varsity eight event at 9:10 a.m. The Falcons final race is for varsity fours, at 11:50 a.m. There are 21 races overall with the final event slated for 12:10 p.m.
 
Five Northwest colleges will participate. Joining Seattle Pacific are host Pacific Lutheran, Puget Sound, Seattle University and Western Washington.
 
FALCONS FLEET
Three women's boats will represent SPU at the PLU Invitational, a varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four.
 
SPU's top eight-oared boat will race at 9:10 a.m. against Puget Sound and again at 10:50 a.m. versus Pacific Lutheran. The Falcons NCAA Division II rival, Western Washington, will race against those Division III opponents in the opposite order.
 
The SPU varsity eight crew features four returning members from last season's top boat, including sophomore coxswain Jacqueline Kemp. The three veteran rowers are Chloe Remley, Kaitlin Dickinson and Natalie Beall.
 
The Falcons second varsity eight is comprised of freshman coxswain Cecilia Krause along with five novice rowers. Returning sophomore Hannah Hutchison strokes SPU's second boat.
 
The second varsity races at 9:30 a.m. against Puget Sound and a PLU novice crew before returning to the starting line for an 11:10 a.m. clash with Pacific Lutheran.
 
The lone four-oared entry is directed by senior coxswain Simone Herzberg, who joined the team after a stellar four-year career on the SPU soccer squad. Senior returnee Laura Su is in the No. 2 seat alongside three novice rowers.
 
The Falcons varsity four competes against a pair of Puget Sound crews at 9:50 a.m. and then races two PLU boats at 11:50 a.m.


 
DIRECTIONS TO AMERICAN LAKE
The PLU Invitational venue at American Lake can be accessed from Harry Todd Park. Here are the directions:
• From I-5 either direction take exit 123 Thorne Lane.
• Turn west and proceed on Thorne until it curves to the left (south).
• Immediately turn right (which is still Thorne).
• It will begin to curve left (south) again and will become Woodlawn.
• The park is on your right, proceed to the main parking lot entrance at the break in the chain link fence.
 
FALCON FAST FACTS
If the projected boatings hold up, 14 Falcons will make their olympic-style competitive debut in an SPU shell on Saturday. Six of those 14 participated in a head race for the Falcons on Nov. 5 … The roster includes 28 student-athletes, forming the largest women's rowing team at SPU since 1998 … Eleven of those 28 are returnees and 17 are novices. Most of those are true novices who had no prior rowing experience before joining the SPU squad … The Falcons hail from eight different states with 16 of them calling Washington their home. Oregon is next with four and three are from California. One student-athlete comes from each of Connecticut, Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico and Virginia.
 
LAST YEAR
The Seattle Pacific women's varsity eight won its inaugural race under the first-year coach Andrew Derrick, rowing to an open-water result against host Pacific Lutheran's second crew on March 11, 2017 in the PLU Invitational on American Lake. The Falcons top crew completed the 2,000-meter course in 7-minutes, 43.8-seconds to cross the line over 10 seconds ahead of the Lutes second-varsity boat, which finished in 7:53.9.
 
The Falcons eight returned to the course two hours later to square off with the Puget Sound second varsity. The Loggers finished first in 7:19.1. SPU was a distance second despite clocking a time of 7:34.2 that was nine seconds faster than their initial outing.
 
SPU's novice eight competed twice as well, in races won both times by a second varsity entry from Seattle University. The Redhawks had a first-place time of 7:50.2 in the morning race, followed by PLU in 8:27.3 and SPU in 8:37.2.
 
In the afternoon novice race, SU won in 7:40.3, Puget Sound was second in 7:53.1 and the Falcons third in 8:54.1.
 
The four-oared varsity competition featured a pair of head-to-head races between Seattle University and the Falcons. The Redhawks won the morning meeting with a time of 8:57.1 to 9:03.9 for SPU. In the afternoon SU's winning time was 8:36.6. The Falcons crossed the finish line in 8:57.4.

 

COACH DERRICK
Former University of Washington standout Andrew Derrick is in his second year as the women's rowing coach at Seattle Pacific. He assumed the helm of the program in October 2016, returning to Seattle where he was a four-year UW letterman and helped the freshman crew to the 2001 national championship. Derrick rowed in the bow seat for the Huskies' national runner-up varsity eight boats in 2003 and 2004.
 
A 2004 graduate with a bachelor's degree in history, Derrick remained at UW to earn his master's in intercollegiate athletic leadership in 2008. He was named a to the All-Pac-10 Team as well as earning all-conference academic honors three years in a row.
 
Derrick, 35, came to SPU after a five-year stint as the head coach at Central Oklahoma. The former UCO assistant was promoted to head coach in 2011 and directed the team to the NCAA Championship Regatta in each of his five seasons. The Bronchos were national team runners-up in 2016 after placing third in 2015. Their varsity eight and varsity four crews each won silver medals at the 2016 NCAA championships.
 
THE SCHEDULE
SPU has eight regattas on its 2018 spring schedule with a ninth requiring qualification, the NCAA Championships in Sarasota, Florida May 25-27.
 
Highlighting the schedule is a return trip to the San Diego Crew Classic on March 24-25 and a high-level home event, the Falcon Regatta. SPU hosts national powers Central Oklahoma and Western Washington on April 14 at 8 a.m. on the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
 
The WIRA Championships are set for April 28-29 in Gold River, Calif. and the Falcons will again row across town at the Windermere Cup, May 5 on the Montlake Cut.
 
SPU is scheduled to compete May 11-12 at the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia for the first time since 2012.
 
QUOTING COACH ANDREW DERRICK
"This is a great schedule. I am very excited and think our student-athletes will be very excited about some opportunities this spring. We are set up to test ourselves in the early season, and then make those needed improvements by late spring. This is going to give some much needed race experience for a very green team, and will hopefully help put us in a nationally competitive position by May.
 
"We also very much look forward to hosting both the reigning national champion and runner-up from 2017 in Western Washington and Central Oklahoma, respectively. If we are going to continue to improve we need to see what the best teams in our division are doing, and keep chipping away at closing the gap."
 
NEXT REGATTA
The varsity eight crew travels to southern California for the two-day San Diego Crew Classic on Mission Bay, March 24-25.
 
PLU INVITATIONAL
Saturday, March 10
American Lake/Lakewood, Wash.
(all races 2,000 meters, only events with SPU entries listed)
 
9:10 a.m. – Women's varsity eight (SPU vs. UPS)
9:30 a.m. – Women's second varsity eight (SPU vs. UPS & PLU)
9:50 a.m. – Women's varsity four (SPU vs. UPS)
10:50 a.m. – Women's varsity eight (SPU vs. PLU)
11:10 a.m. – Women's second varsity eight (SPU vs. PLU)
11:50 a.m. – Women's varsity four (SPU vs. PLU)
 
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC LINEUPS
 
Women's Varsity Eight
cox – Jacqueline Kemp (So./Burien, WA/homeschool)
stroke – Chloe Remley (So./San Diego, CA/High Tech HS)
7 – Gillian Edgar (So./Seattle, WA/King's HS)
6 – Kaitlin Dickinson (So./Monroe, WA/Monroe HS)
5 – Suzanne Stafford (Fr./Clackamas, OR/Clackamas HS)
4 – Natalie Beall (Sr./Wenatchee, WA/Wenatchee HS)
3 – Megan Chalfant (Fr./Roseville, CA/Woodcreek HS)
2 – Samantha Kimmel (Fr./Woodinville, WA/Bellevue Christian HS)
bow – Gracie Hoidal (Jr./Everett, WA/Cascade HS)
 
 
Women's Second Varsity Eight
cox – Cecilia Krause (Fr./Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury HS)
stroke – Hannah Hutchinson (So./Minneapolis, MN/Great River HS)
7 – Lakyn Coppedge (So./Las Cruces, NM/Mesilla Valley Christian HS)
6 – Hannah Todd (So./Bonney Lake, WA/Douglas County HS, Colo.)
5 – Haley Thompson (Fr./Tacoma, WA/Science & Math Institute)
4 – Alex Archambault (Fr./Marion, VA/Grimsley HS)
3 – Kali Barlow (Fr./North Bend, WA/Mount Si HS)
2 – Brooklyn Liberato (Fr./Mount Vernon, WA/Mount Vernon HS)
bow – Katy Graham (So./Seattle, WA/Ballard HS)
 
 
Women's Varsity Four
cox – Simone Herzberg (Sr./Portland, OR/Jesuit HS)
stroke – Madison Simmons (Fr./Corona, CA/Santiago HS)
3 – Jenafer Johanson (Fr./Renton, WA/Liberty HS)
2 – Laura Su (Sr./Bellevue, WA/Bellevue College)
bow – Talia Ferguson (Fr./Coeur d'Alene, ID/Charter Academy HS)