Recaps »» Day One

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (May 25) -- Seattle Pacific University's crew must take the long way if they plan to reach the varsity eight grand final of the NCAA Division II Women"s Rowing Championships on Melton Hill Lake.

The outcome of the Falcons' qualifying heat Friday was a distant third to defending champion Western Washington. Now SPU must finish among the top two boats in Saturday's repechage to stay alive.

Western broke fast and was never threatened in winning the heat. The Vikings, up by two lengths on Florida's Nova Southeastern after the first 1000 meters, coasted over the line in 7 minutes 3.8 seconds.

Trailing from the outset, Seattle Pacific matched Nova stroke-for-stroke for the final 1500 meters. Nova was second in 7:23.35 and SPU was approximately two seats back in an unofficial time of 7:25.0.

"Nova apparently went out trying to stay with Western while we stuck to our plan," said SPU coach Keith Jefferson. "They looked exhausted while our girls said they felt surprisingly fresh, so we feel real good about our chances to advance."

The Falcons and Nova will be joined by UC San Diego and Florida Tech in the repechage. Dowling (N.Y.) won the other automatic berth in the grand final by a slim margin over UCSD.

"We believe there's a lot left in our tank," Jefferson said. "For a crew so young, we displayed a lot of discipline and maturity. We're really positive."

The Seattle Pacific lineup: stroke-Rachel Savage (So., Encinitas, Ca/San Dieguito), 7-Katie Wolff (Jr., Bridgewater, Vt./Mid Vermont Christian), 6-Amy Burns (So., Palm Springs, Ca./Desert Chapel), 5-Rachel Strand (Sr., Shoreline, Wa./King's), 4-Kay Chikos (Fr., Renton, Wa./Kentridge), 3-Erin Arkin (Fr., Tacoma, Wa./Academy Northwest), 2-Melissa Blevins (Fr., Walla Walla, Wa.), bow?Katie Wilner (So., Everett, Wa./Everett), coxswain-Megan Giske (Sr., Gig Harbor, Wa./Gig Harbor). Alternates­ Denise Filley (Fr., Mesa, Az./Dobson) and Heather Waggoner (Fr., Sandy, Or./Mount Si).

NCAA Div. II Varsity Eights
Heat 1 1-Dowling 7:00.92, 2-UC San Diego 7:03.64, 3-Florida Tech 7:32.17
Heat 2 1-Western Washington 7:03.80, 2-Nova Southeastern 7:23.35, 3-Seattle Pacific NT (unofficial 7:25.0)