• 2010 NCRC Championships Schedule (pdf)
     • Directions to Vancouver Lake (pdf)

SEATTLE – Championship season for the Seattle Pacific rowers begins on Saturday, April 17 when a 10-boat fleet travels south to Vancouver, Wash. for the annual Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference (NCRC) Championships.

Racing begins at 8:15 a.m. at Vancouver Lake on a 2,000-meter course that runs parallel to the NW Erwin O. Reiger Memorial Highway. The first event involving a Falcons crew is the women's varsity eight race at 8:45 a.m. The last SPU race, the men's varsity four, starts at 1:45 p.m.

There is one additional event on the docket, at 3:15 p.m. SPU coxswains Kristi Tamaki, Jarvin Garcia, Missy Spoelstra and Annie Mulder will row a four-oared shell with men's rower Wes Plinke coxing the crew.

The Falcons have boats entered in four women's events; the varsity eight, varsity four, second varsity four and novice four competitions.

The SPU men have five, four-oared entries, including the varsity, second varsity, lightweight, novice and second novice crews.

The NCRC regatta is the first of four championship events for the Falcons, who still look forward to competing at the WIRA Championships, Dad Vail Regatta and NCAA Women's Rowing Championships.

ABOUT THE NCRC
The NCRC is comprised of seven NCAA Division II and Division III member institutions within the northwest region. Joining SPU are Humboldt State, Lewis & Clark, Pacific Lutheran, Puget Sound, Western Washington, and Willamette. The conference championship venue alternates between Lake Stevens and Vancouver Lake and is the precursor for advancement to the WIRA Championships.

LAST YEAR
All three SPU women's entries medaled, including the second varsity four crew that won its title at the 2009 NCRC Championships on Lake Stevens. The Falcons rallied to stage a near boat-length victory in the women's second varsity four race, while the SPU women's varsity eight and varsity four each placed third.

The Falcons men registered two fourth-place performances and one fifth. SPU was fourth among varsity fours and novice fours and fifth in the second varsity four race.

Despite having boats entered in just six of the 18 races, the Falcons still finished sixth in the overall team standings. They were fifth in the women's standings and sixth in the men's. Western Washington finished atop the team standings in all three categories.

LAST WEEK
Two Seattle Pacific men's crews won races Saturday (April 10) and the Falcons women were runners-up in the varsity eight race at the Covered Bridge Regatta on Dexter Lake. SPU's first-year rowers clocked an impressive time of 7-minutes, 21.60-seconds to win the men's novice four event by nearly 18 seconds. The Falcons were also convincing victors in the men's second varsity four race. SPU was fifth in the men's varsity eight event and sixth among varsity fours.

The women's varsity eight race featured a fantastic finish between two ranked crews. The Falcons, ranked No. 5 among NCAA Division II crews, were edged by three seats against Willamette. The Bearcats, listed No. 9 in the Division III coaches poll, registered a winning time of 7:37.19 and SPU crossed the finish line in 7:38.54. The Falcons finished seventh in the women's varsity four event.

COACH JEFFERSON
SPU is in its 33rd season of intercollegiate crew competition, the 20th with Keith Jefferson at the helm. He took over the head coaching post prior to the 1990-91 season after serving as an assistant on the staff since 1987. Jefferson was an SPU oarsman from 1980 to 1983.

Last season, Jefferson directed the SPU women's eight to a bronze-medal performance at the NCAA Division II Championships.

Six rowers and sophomore coxswain Annie Mulder return from last year's bronze-medal varsity eight boat. The returning rowers are: Katie Degner, Katja Ibsen, Eleni Johnsen, Emily Pitts, Lacey Sheridan and Katy Stine.

On the men's side, SPU returns the bow pair from its varsity four crew that placed fourth at the 2009 Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference (NCRC) championships. Carter Swanson, now a senior, occupied the bow last season while sophomore David Peterson rowed in the No. 2 seat. Peterson will assume the stroke seat in the Falcons varsity eight boat and Swanson rows in the No. 7 position.

REMAINING REGATTAS
The NCRC Championship is the fifth of eight regattas on the 2010 schedule for the Seattle Pacific crews.

The final competition on the women's slate is the NCAA Championships, May 28-30, also on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova. The Falcons seek to make consecutive appearances in the NCAA Regatta for the first time in school history.

After taking next weekend off, the SPU rowers visit Rancho Cordova, Calif. for the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships, May 1-2.


NCRC CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE (races with SPU entries only)
(all races 2,000 meters)

8:45 a.m. –- Women's varsity eight
9:15 a.m. -- Men's second novice four
9:45 a.m. –- Men's second varsity four
10:00 a.m. –- Women's second varsity four
11:00 a.m. -– Women's novice four
11:15 a.m. -- Men's novice four
12:45 p.m. -- Men's lightweight four
1:30 p.m. -– Women's varsity four
1:45 p.m. -– Men's varsity four
3:15 p.m. -- Coxswain four


SEATTLE PACIFIC LINEUPS

Women's Varsity Eight
cox – Annie Mulder (So./Grand Rapids, Mich.)
stroke – Katie Degner (Sr./Hillsboro, Ore.)
7 – Lauren Anderson (Jr./Fort Collins, Colo.)
6 – Eleni Johnsen (Jr./University Place, Wash.)
5 – Emily Pitts (Jr./Normandy Park, Wash.)
4 – Katy Stine (So./South Berwick, Maine)
3 – Katja Ibsen (So./Livermore, Calif.)
2 – Lacey Sheridan (Jr./Sacramento, Calif.)
bow – Alli Agnew (Fr./Issaquah, Wash.)

Women's Varsity Four
cox – Annie Mulder (So./Grand Rapids, Mich.)
stroke – Katy Stine (So./South Berwick, Maine)
3 – Emily Pitts (Jr./Normandy Park, Wash.)
2 – Eleni Johnsen (Jr./University Place, Wash.)
bow – Katja Ibsen (So./Livermore, Calif.)

Women's Second Varsity Four
cox – Kristi Tamaki (Jr./Santa Barbara, Calif.)
stroke – Dani Ferrigno (Fr./Kirkland, Wash.)
3 – Kristin Lorenzen (So./Beaverton, Ore.)
2 – Belle Fritsch (Fr./Geneva, Ill.)
bow – Mackenzie Oscar (So./Bellevue, Wash.)

Women's Novice Four
cox – Missy Spoelstra (So./Highland, Calif.)
stroke – Dani Ferrigno (Fr./Kirkland, Wash.)
3 – Sarah Lanter (Fr./Woodinville, Wash.)
2 – Belle Fritsch (Fr./Geneva, Ill.)
bow – Mackenzie Oscar (So./Bellevue, Wash.)

Men's Varsity Four
cox – Jarvin Garcia (Fr./North Plains, Ore.)
stroke – Dain Carley (So./Maple Valley, Wash.)
3 – Matt Norgren (So./Eden Prairie, Minn.)
2 – Phillip Mach (So./Seattle, Wash.)
bow – Wes Plinke (So./Hillsboro, Ore.)

Men's Second Varsity Four
cox – Jarvin Garcia (Fr./North Plains, Ore.)
stroke – David Peterson (So./Spokane, Wash.)
3 – Carter Swanson (Sr./Littleton, Colo.)
2 – Will Kolb (So./Herperus, Colo.)
bow – Donovan Fisk (Fr./Santa Barbara, Calif.)

Men's Lightweight Four
cox – Kristi Tamaki (Jr./Santa Barbara, Calif.)
stroke – David Peterson (So./Spokane, Wash.)
3 – Carter Swanson (Sr./Littleton, Colo.)
2 – Greg Ballard (Jr./Wenatchee, Wash.)
bow – Donovan Fisk (Fr./Santa Barbara, Calif.)

Men's Novice Four
cox – Jarvin Garcia (Fr./North Plains, Ore.)
stroke – Dain Carley (So./Maple Valley, Wash.)
3 – Matt Norgren (So./Eden Prairie, Minn.)
2 – Phillip Mach (So./Seattle, Wash.)
bow – Wes Plinke (So./Hillsboro, Ore.)

Men's Second Novice Four
cox – Missy Spoelstra (So./Highland, Calif.)
stroke – Dain Carley (So./Maple Valley, Wash.)
3 – Wes Plinke (So./Hillsboro, Ore.)
2 – Greg Ballard (Jr./Wenatchee, Wash.)
bow – Donovan Fisk (Fr./Santa Barbara, Calif.)

Coed Coxswain Four
cox – Wes Plinke (So./Hillsboro, Ore.)
stroke – Kristi Tamaki (Jr./Santa Barbara, Calif.)
3 – Jarvin Garcia (Fr./North Plains, Ore.)
2 – Missy Spoelstra (So./Highland, Calif.)
bow – Annie Mulder (So./Grand Rapids, Mich.)