PHILADELPHIA (May 10) -- Each of Seattle Pacific University's three women's crews advanced by virtue of wins to the next round of the 64th annual Dad Vail Regatta during preliminary heats Friday on the Schuykill River.

The Falcons extended their novice four unbeaten streak to 10 races to earn a spot in Saturday's semifinal. They will need to finish among the top two boats to move onto the grand final later in the afternoon. Seattle Pacific finished with open water on runner-up Carnegie Mellon.

Moving directly into grand finals were the SPU varsity pair, also undefeated this season, and the lightweight four. The pair was pushed hard by Penn State but prevailed by about a boat-length while the light four finished 5.5 seconds ahead of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

Preliminary Heat Results

Frosh/Novice 4
1-Seattle Pacific 8:22.6; 2-Carnegie Mellon 8:31.7; 3-Fordham 8:32.1; 4-North Carolina State 8:35.2

Lightweight 4
1-Seattle Pacific 8:17.3; 2-Tennessee-Chattanooga 8:22.7; 3-Central Florida 8:24.8; 4-Duquesne 8:34.1; 5-New York U. 8:35.9; 6-Amherst 8:37.4

Varsity Pair
1-Seattle Pacific 8:51.6; 2-Penn State 8:54.0; 3-Washington U. 9:39.4; 4-Mary Washington 9:50.6; 5-Central Florida 10:02.3