• 2010 WIRA Regatta schedule (pdf)

A strong field of West Coast crews will compete in Rancho Cordova, Calif. this weekend. But Seattle Pacific's biggest opposition could come from the clock.

A trio of Seattle Pacific crews compete at the two-day Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships at Lake Natoma on Saturday, May 1 and Sunday, May 2. The Falcons will face some formidable foes, but they hope to utilize the regatta as an opportunity to show that their speed is NCAA Championship-worthy.

SPU is entering a women's varsity eight and varsity four crew while the lone men's boat will row in the lightweight four event.

Racing begins at 8 a.m. both days on the 2,000-meter Lake Natoma course the finishes at the Sacramento State Aquatics Center. The first event involving a Falcons crew is the women's varsity four heat at 8 a.m. on Saturday. The Falcons varsity eight has a heat scheduled for 10 a.m.

The women's varsity four final is Sunday at 8 a.m. and the varsity eight grand final is set for 11:30 a.m.

The men's lightweight four does not have a heat race Saturday, just a championship final on Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

SHOWING OFF
Depending on their results this weekend, all three SPU crews could be headed to Philadelphia, Pa. next week for the Dad Vail Regatta.

The SPU women's crews hope to impress the NCAA selection committee sufficiently to receive an at-large bid to the championships Regatta. Finish times are a vital part of the process of comparing crews from across the country. The Falcons varsity eight seeks to row under seven minutes while the varsity four aims for the eight-minute mark.

The NCAA Division II field consists of four teams and two additional varsity eight crews. Teams are comprised of a varsity eight and varsity four boat. The top team in each of the three regions earns an automatic championships berth, along with one at-large team.

Defending national champion and top-ranked Western Washington is almost certainly the West Region representative. If SPU does not receive the one at-large berth, the Falcons still have an opportunity to receive one of two at-large invitations for varsity eight crews like they did last season.

The NCAA Championships are scheduled for May 28-30 on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif. SPU won the varsity eight petite final in 2007 and finished third in the 2009 grand final.

A good showing this weekend by the SPU men's lightweight four could merit a trip to the Dad Vail Regatta. The Falcons seek to approach the seven-minute mark as they vie for the WIRA title.

QUOTING COACH KEITH JEFFERSON
“The WIRA is a biggie. It is important that we not only place well, but that we put up a good time. From the perspective of the women's eight, it's critical that we get a good time mark around 7:00 or better. It almost doesn't matter how you finish unless the selection committee sees something on a par with 7:00 over a legitimate 2,000-meter course.

“This week we made a big push on the women's four to try to get it faster. This year we are bringing the four to Philly and hope to get the one at-large NCAA team bid. My hope for them is to make the grand final and to get as close to eight minutes as they can possibly muster. If we can be in that 8:10 to 8:20 range and our eight is strong in Philly then we stand a good chance of getting a team bid.

“The WIRA is a decider for the men as far as continuing to compete. They have to do well. They have a final only, which is not ideal with an inexperienced crew like ours. They need to have more races, not less. They are already in range. You have to be around seven minutes and have to be around the top two or three. I'm pretty hopeful this weekend for them.”

ABOUT THE WIRA
The Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) is a western regional organization with membership comprised of approximately 28 rowing programs at all division levels, and representing colleges and universities in five western states. WIRA includes nearly every rowing program in the West outside of the Pac-10 Conference.

LAST YEAR -- Women's WIRA Recap
Both Seattle Pacific women's crews raced to bronze-medal performances, including the fifth-ranked varsity eight boat that was third in the featured race at the 2009 WIRA Championships on Lake Natoma. The women's varsity eight competition saw Puget Sound streak out to a lead out of the blocks and maintain that advantage for most of the race. Defending NCAA Division II national champion Western Washington overtook the Loggers during the final 250 meters to claim the victory. The Vikings covered the 2,000-meter course in 6-minutes, 56.2-seconds, followed by UPS in 6:57.2. Seattle Pacific narrowed the gap on the leaders at the end and crossed the finish line in 7:01.9 to defeat fourth-place Willamette (7:06.3), Orange Coast (7:12.2) and Humboldt State (7:21.1). In the women's varsity four grand final, Western Washington (7:42.9) and Colorado (7:45.3) finished one-two. A similar two-boat battle occurred for third and fourth place as SPU and Sonoma State challenged each other. The Falcons closed on the top-two crews with a strong finishing sprint and held off Sonoma to win the varsity four bronze, clocking a time of 7:47.9. Sonoma posted a fourth-place time of 7:48.9, followed by Pacific Lutheran (7:58.8) and UC San Diego (8:03.7).

LAST YEAR -- Men's WIRA Recap
The Seattle Pacific men's rowing team ended its season with an extraordinarily busy day of racing at the 2009 WIRA Championships on Lake Natoma. The Falcons pair of four-oared men's crews both covered the 2,000-meter course twice, in heat races and petite finals. Compounding the hectic schedule was the fact that three individuals were members of both SPU crews. The varsity four clocked a time of 7-minutes, 3.9-seconds to finish fourth in its heat and then finished sixth in the petite final in 7:15.2. The Falcons narrowly missed advancing to the novice four grand final, placing third in their heat with a time of 7:21.0. The petite final started just over 30 minutes after the varsity four heat, giving the Falcons three doubling rowers no time to rest. SPU gave a game effort but finished last in the six-boat field with a time of 7:31.7.

LAST REGATTA -- 2010 NCRC Championships
The Seattle Pacific men won the novice four title and had a trio of second-place finishes April 17 while the Falcons women were varsity four runners-up at the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference (NCRC) Championships on Vancouver Lake. The Falcons, who had boats entered in just nine of the 17 races, finished fourth in both teams competitions. They had a total of 40 points in the men's standings that were topped by the 62 points of Lewis & Clark. SPU scored 40 points to tie for fourth place in the women's standings. Western Washington defended its women's championship with 106 points. The Falcons raced to an open-water triumph in the men's novice four competition. Their time of 7-minutes, 2.85-seconds was over 13 seconds faster than the 7:16.32 turned in by runner-up Lewis & Clark. Puget Sound was third in 7:19.80. That victorious novice four boat, coxed by Jarvin Garcia, also competed in the varsity four race, clocking a second-place time of 7:08.91.
The Falcons second varsity four men's crew completed the 2,000-meter course in 7:51.71 to finish just over one second ahead of third-place WWU (7:53.05). The men's varsity lightweight four turned in SPU's third, second-place result. Lewis & Clark finished first in 6:58.22 followed by the Falcons in 7:09.28 and Pacific Lutheran in 7:11.69. The featured women's race was the varsity eight competition that included three national finishers from last season. Western Washington, the defending NCAA Division II champion, clocked a winning time of 6:46.82. The Vikings won by open water over Puget Sound (6:53.16) and third-place SPU (7:04.44). Humboldt State was fourth (7:10.65). The SPU women recorded a second-place time of 8:09.41 in the varsity four race and finished fourth (8:28.65) in the women's second varsity four event that was won by WWU in 8:17.62. They were sixth (8:34.04) among novice fours, a race also won by Western (8:00.00).

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.

NEXT WEEK
The WIRA Championship is the sixth 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.

Next week, the SPU women's varsity eight and varsity four crews travel to Philadelphia, Pa. for the Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill River, May 7-8. They may be joined by the men's lightweight four, depending on this weekend's result.


2010 WIRA CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE (races with SPU entries only)
Lake Natoma/Rancho Cordova, Calif.
May 1-2, 2010
(all races 2,000 meters)

Saturday, May 1
8:00 a.m. – Women's Varsity Four heat
10:00 a.m. – Women's Varsity Eight heat

Sunday, May 2
8:00 a.m. – Women's Varsity Four final
9:30 a.m. – Men's Lightweight Four final
11:30 a.m. – Women's Varsity Eight final