LOWELL, Ore. -- Saturday's race typified the season for the Seattle Pacific novice four men's crew ... they started slow and finished fast.

The Falcons crossed the finish line first in the race for men's first-year, four-oared crews and the SPU women collected the bronze medal in the varsity eight event at the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference Championships on Dexter Lake.
 
SPU's novice men won by nearly 10 seconds, continuing their streak of top-two finishes in every race this season. They completed the 2,000-meter course in 7-minutes, 27.50-seconds to finish with plenty of open water in front of second-place Humboldt State (7:37.09).

"The men's novice four struggled a little bit at the start where it was rough because of the wind," described SPU coach Keith Jefferson. "They had some little hiccups in the form of a couple of crabs, so that lead could have been greater. But, they were a length out and moving fine at 750 (meters)."

SPU's first-year foursome has registered three wins and a pair of second-place performances this season.

Jefferson was frank in recalling his early assessment of the novice crew.

"They were so bad in January and I was really concerned. It was one of those scenarios were they stayed motivated even though they were not necessarily doing very well. If you can just keep yourself motivated and keep taking more strokes, eventually things kind of blend.

"That's the magic that happened over the season. They've really started getting their timing on, primarily with their catches. Once you can get some blade work going, you can apply more pressure and next thing you know -- there you go."

Lewis & Clark won the men's varsity four race in 7:44.90. Western Washington posted a second-place time of 7:46.32 and SPU was third in 7:53.54. Humboldt was a distant fourth in 8:29.98.

The Pioneers also won the race for men's second varsity fours with a time of 7:27.70. WWU was second (7:31.05), Puget Sound third (7:37.89), SPU fourth (7:59.45) and Willamette fifth (7:59.94).

A trio of women's boats also represented Seattle Pacific on Saturday led by the varsity eight group that is ranked eighth nationally among NCAA Division II crews.

Third-ranked Humboldt State registered a boat-length victory over No. 1 Western Washington, the defending national champion. The Lumberjacks' winning time was 7:01.07. Western crossed the finish line next in 7:04.26 and third-place SPU clocked a time of 7:22.03.

The Falcons moved into third with 250 meters to go, overtaking Puget Sound. The Loggers, ranked No. 10 among Division III crews, were one seat back at the finish with a time of 7:22.36.

Jefferson was thrilled with the performance of his women's eight-oared crew.

"The eight came from behind to take third. That was, in everybody's opinion, their first really good race of the year," he said. "It was a hard, hard-fought race and they felt like they pulled just as hard as they could have pulled the whole way through.

"I congratulated them after the race. Their average height isn't very big and they are almost all second-year or novice rowers. Given that they could keep it together so well with such a young group is a real testament."

SPU's other two women's crews came in fifth; in the varsity four (9:18.79) and second varsity four (8:34.26) races.

WWU (8:34.10) handily defeated second-place Humboldt State (8:47.18) in the varsity four event. They swapped finishing places in the second varsity four race with HSU claiming the gold (8:03.29) and Western the silver (8:10.54).

The Seattle Pacific rowers travel farther south next weekend for the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships. The two-day regatta is set for April 28-29 on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif.

NCAA ROWING
Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference Championships
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Dexter Lake/Lowell, Ore.
 (only 2,000-meter races involving SPU crews)

Men's Team Standings
1, Western Washington 78; 2, Lewis & Clark 50; 3, Humboldt State 46; 4, Seattle Pacific 30; 5, Pacific Lutheran 25; 6, Puget Sound 18; 7, Willamette 14.

Men's Varsity Four
1, Lewis & Clark 7:44.90; 2, Western Washington 7:46.32, 3, Seattle Pacific 7:53.54; 4, Humboldt State 8:29.98; 5, Puget Sound 8:38.52; 6, Willamette 8:38.76.
      SPU lineup: cox-Ana Munshell, stroke-Brandon Wagoner, 3-Mett Edel, 2-Phillip Mach, bow-Daniel Mudge.

Men's Second Varsity Four
1, Lewis & Clark 7:27.70; 2, Western Washington 7:31.05; 3, Puget Sound 7:37.89; 4, Seattle Pacific 7:59.45; 5, Willamette 7:59.94; 6, Humboldt State 8:13.95.
      SPU lineup: cox-Mackenzie Oscar, stroke-Thomas Taylor, 3-Bill Douthit, 2-Will Kolb, bow-Daniel Woodward.

Men's Novice Four
1, Seattle Pacific 7:27.50; 2, Humboldt State 7:37.09; 3, Willamette 7:40.29; 4, Pacific Lutheran 7:52.52; 5, Western Washington 8:15.33.
      SPU lineup: cox-Mackenzie Oscar, stroke-Thomas Taylor, 3-Matt Edel, 2-Emerson Morris, bow-Daniel Woodward.


Women's Team Standings
1, Humboldt State 102; 2, Western Washington 102; 3, Puget Sound 38; 4, Lewis & Clark 26; 5, Willamette 24; 6, Seattle Pacific 22; 7, Pacific Lutheran 13.

Women's Varsity Eight
1, Humboldt State 7:01.07; 2, Western Washington 7:04.26; 3, Seattle Pacific 7:22.03; 4, Puget Sound 7:22.36; 5, Lewis & Clark 7:25.07; 6, Willamette 7:25.89; 7, Pacific Lutheran 7:31.46.
     SPU lineup: cox-Annie Mulder, stroke-Katy Stine, 7-Baylee O'Camb, 6-Rachel Murphy, 5-Samantha Storz, 4-Jacky Neumiller, 3-Emily Scrabeck, 2-Katarina Krueger, bow- Kindra Fish.

Women's Varsity Four
1, Western Washington 8:34.10; 2, Humboldt State 8:47.18; 3, Willamette 8:54.07; 4, Puget Sound 8:55.60; 5, Seattle Pacific 9:18.79; 6, Pacific Lutheran 9:22.78; 7, Lewis & Clark 9:26.59.
       SPU lineup: cox-Annie Mulder, stroke-Katy Stine, 3-Kendra Fish, 2-Madelyn Hogue, bow-Emily Scrabeck.

Women's Second Varsity Four
1, Humboldt State 8:03.39; 2, Western Washington 8:10.54; 3, Puget Sound 8:23.21; 4, Willamette 8:24.04; 5, Seattle Pacific 8:34.26; 6, Lewis & Clark 8:42.64.
     SPU lineup: cox-Ana Munshell, stroke-Dani Ferrigno, 3-Allison Langholff, 2-Belle Fritsch, bow-Sarah Lanter.