• Day 3, May 30 Final Results (pdf)
  • Day 2, May 29 Recap
  • Day 1, May 28 Recap
  • May 30 PHOTO GALLERY
  • May 29 PHOTO GALLERY
  • May 28 PHOTO GALLERY
  • May 27 PHOTO GALLERY
  • SPU Rowing Release (pdf)
  • Rowing Report #1 -- Katy Stine
  • Rowing Report #2 -- Eleni Johnson
  • Rowing Report #3 -- Lauren Anderson
  • NCAA Rowing homepage



RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. –  Thirteen rowers and two coxswains stood atop the awards platform Sunday in Seattle Pacific uniforms. They clutched the second-place trophy that they would not have been eligible to compete for just three months earlier.

The Falcons earned the first NCAA crew trophy in school history with a second-place showing in the Division II team standings at the Women's Rowing Championships on Lake Natoma.

"It's exciting that our first time here as a team we get to be up on the awards platform,” exclaimed Lacey Sheridan, a native of nearby Sacramento who rows in the No. 2 seat for the varsity eight crew. “It was definitely a goal and we thought it was attainable … hard to get, but obviously not impossible.”

SPU tallied 11 points to finish second to the 20-point total of Western Washington, which claimed its sixth consecutive team title. Philadelphia University was third with 10 points and Florida Tech scored nine to finish fourth.

“I'm tickled that we were able to achieve an objective that we had, to meet a goal,” said SPU coach Keith Jefferson, who admitted to another, surprising emotion.

"None of the numbers add up, so it's very humbling to be here and take second place. You wouldn't look at the sum of our parts and say that this is where we would end up.”

SPU SUCCEEDS DESPITE SMALL SQUAD

This was a remarkable result for a small squad that made its inaugural appearance as a team at the NCAA Regatta. The Falcons almost didn't have enough athletes to qualify.

Each school needs a minimum of 12 rowers to field the eight- and four-oared crews required to receive a Division II team berth. SPU had just 11 rowers on its roster until Mackenzie Oscar and Sarah Lanter walked on to the squad in February.

Despite missing over five months of training, Oscar immediately occupied the bow seat in the varsity four boat. She helped the varsity four crew drastically improve its race times, enabling SPU to receive one of the scarce NCAA invitations.

"There is that providence factor, having two people show up midseason to row. I have thanked them profusely multiple times,” Jefferson said. “We were very blessed to have Mackenzie and Sarah join us mid-stream. The conditioning component is so important in rowing and they only had half a year to train.”

The Falcons have the smallest roster of any team at nationals as Lanter is their only spare rower. Every other team has several additional athletes to select from to complete their crews.

FALCONS FINISH FOURTH AMONG VARSITY EIGHTS

SPU's varsity eight boat competed for the second straight season in the grand final and finished fourth. Mercyhurst (Pa.) clocked a time of 6-minutes, 42.53-seconds to upset WWU. The Vikings, who won the last five varsity eight titles, finished in 6:44.92.

Barry (Fla.) crossed the finish line third in 6:51.76, five seats ahead of the Falcons who completed the 2,000-meter course in 6:53.04.

The team winners were determined by a point system that combined the results of the two events, giving greater preference to the varsity eight results.

On Saturday, SPU guaranteed itself the second-highest points in the eights with a remarkable rally that erased a six-seat deficit. The Falcons won the repechage and, more importantly, dropped Philadelphia into the petite final.

Western and SPU were the only team contenders to qualify a crew to the grand final. Mercyhurst and Barry were at-large entries. Last year, the Falcons finished third in the NCAA grand final as an at-large varsity eight.

Seattle Pacific's varsity four completed racing Saturday and placed fourth in that event.

The Falcons were not even on the water when they secured the second-place trophy. Either Florida Tech or Philadelphia could have claimed the team runner-up position by sweeping their two races Sunday.

WWU won the varsity four grand final in 7:25.35 and FIT (7:43.84) was second, well ahead of third-place Philadelphia (7:56.92).

In the two-boat varsity eight petite final, those two schools reversed that finish order to give SPU the team silver medal. Philadelphia won the petite final (6:55.06) and FIT was second (7:02.52).

“As we were heading to the start line I saw from the shore that some of the girls were yelling that we got second place as a team.” Sheridan described. “It's totally awesome. Last year that wasn't even an option for us.”

Sheridan is one of four rowers from the varsity eight for whom Sunday was their final collegiate race, joining Lauren Anderson, Katie Degner and Eleni Johnson.

Sophomore coxswain Annie Mulder is expected back next season, along with rowers Alli Agnew, Katja Ibsen, Emily Pitts and Katy Stine.

The Falcons varsity four, coxed by junior Kristi Tamaki, is comprised entirely of underclassmen rowers. Sophomores Kristin Lorenzen and Oscar along with freshmen Dani Ferrigno and Belle Fritsch form the crew.

“What we do with the resources we have is nothing short of phenomenal, with God filling in the gaps,” Jefferson concluded. “What we had to do when we were on the awards platform was to appreciate what God's done for this program and for these gals.”


NCAA Women's Rowing Championships
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Lake Natoma/Rancho Cordova, Calif.
All races were 2,000 meters

DIVISION II RESULTS

Final Team Standings
1, Western Washington, 20
2, Seattle Pacific 11
3, Philadelphia University, 10
4, Florida Tech, 9

Varsity Eight Grand Final
1, Mercyhurst, 6:42.53
2, Western Washington, 6:44.92
3, Barry, 6:51.76
4, Seattle Pacific, 6:53.04

    SPU lineup: cox- Annie Mulder, stroke-Katie Degner, 7-Emily Pitts, 6-Eleni Johnsen, 5- Lauren Anderson, 4- Katy Stine, 3- Katja Ibsen, 2- Lacey Sheridan, bow-Alli Agnew.


Varsity Four Grand Final
1, Western Washington, 7:25.35
3, Florida Tech, 7:43.84
4, Philadelphia, 7:56.92