Seattle, Wash.---  The seventh ranked Cal Poly Humboldt rowing team participated in the Falcon Regatta this morning at the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle, Washington and competed against No. 5 Western Washington and No. 6 Seattle Pacific.  In the first flight of the day, the Varsity 4+ placed third while the Varsity 8+ placed second.  Later in the morning in the second flight, Humboldt's Varsity 8+ captured the race while the Varsity 4+ finished in second.
 
"The racing conditions for the first race were challenging," said head coach Matt Weise.  " We had a stiff cross wind at the start and rough conditions.  The v8 was pushed out of their lane as they were aligning and had to get back to the course in the first quarter of the race.  SPU took an early lead but we closed the gap in the 2nd half of the race and ended in a photo finish with SPU edging us out by 0.3 seconds and both boats up on Western Washington."
 
In the Varsity Four+ in Flight I, the Jacks finished third with a time of 8:15.5 with Western Washington finishing in first (7:50.9) and Seattle Pacific placing second (8:04.1).
 
Humboldt finished in second in the Varsity Eight+ with a time of 6:51.9 just three-tenths of a second behind first place Seattle Pacific (6:51.6). Western Washington finished in third with a time of 6:55.9.
 
"The second set of racing including only SPU and Humboldt," noted Weise. " The conditions were much calmer and we established a six-seat lead in the first half of the race. SPU did a good job of reeling us back in third quarter of the race with both boats even with 250m to go.  We out sprinted SPU to win by 0.3 seconds."
 
"The v4 struggled with the water in first race and quickly fell behind SPU and Western Washington," added the Humboldt head coach.   They pulled a season best time but it was not enough for the victory.  They had a better first half of the race in the 2nd round and rowed well but also came up short in this event."
 
Later in the morning in Flight II, Cal Poly Humboldt captured the Varsity Eight+ with a time of 6:53.2 just ahead of Seattle Pacific who was second with a time of 6:53.5.  Finishing in third was Seattle Pacific 2V with a time of 7:39.8.  The Jacks placed second in the Varsity 4+ with a time of 8:14.8 while Seattle captured the race with a time of 8:02.8.
 
Varsity 4+:  cox–Sarah Lorenzini, 4–Marjorie Johnson,  3–Chloe Pieper-Wasem,  2–Marie-Claire Desplancke, 1-Amanda Roosma.
 
Varsity 8+:  cox–Sophie Reich, 8–Kealey Scott, 7–Cassidy Hollenbeck, 6–Dana Foley, 5–Katie Schwan, 4–Emily Marsolais, 3–Kierstyn Hughes, 2–Asher Kolden, 1–Malia Seeley.
 
"I am happy with both crews," stated Weise.  "The starting line was quite chaotic with difficult conditions.  We had great composure and focus and moved the boat well.  Each boat made progressions from one race to the next and raced better today than we did in our races in March.   It was nice to race our GNAC rivals and the close finishes will provide great motivation for when we meet later in the season. " 
 
The Jacks will return to the water on Saturday, April 16 at the Covered Bridge Regatta in Eugene, Oregon.