SATURDAY & SUNDAY, APRIL 27 & 28
WIRA Championships
Lake Natoma • Gold River, Calif. • 8:00 a.m.
 
A quartet of Seattle Pacific four-oared crews travel to Gold River, Calif. this weekend to compete at the two-day Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships. The regatta takes place Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28 on Lake Natoma, where the Falcons collected the men's novice four silver medal last spring.
 
Racing begins at 8 a.m. both days on the 2,000-meter course the finishes at the Sacramento State Aquatics Center.
 
The lone women's entry for the Falcons is a varsity four crew that rows in the second of two heats on Saturday at 8:10 a.m. They hope to earn a berth into Sunday's grand final at 8 a.m.
 
Three crews of SPU men will compete, headlined by the prolific varsity four group. The Falcons top four rows in the second of three heats on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. The grand final is set for Sunday at 9:50 a.m.
 
SPU's first-year rowers take part in the race for novice fours at 8:50 a.m. on Saturday. There are two heats that determine the field for Sunday's six-boat grand final at 8:40 a.m.
 
The Falcons have an entry in the men's lightweight four competition that races just once, at 9:40 a.m. Sunday in a five-boat grand final.
 
WHAT'S 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-12 Conference.
 
2012 WIRA RECAP
Seattle Pacific rowed to a silver-medal performance in the men's novice four event and the eighth-ranked varsity eight women finished fourth in their grand final race on April 29, 2012 at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships on Lake Natoma. For the second straight day, the first-year Falcons men eclipsed their season-best time. They posted a mark of 7:00.5 in Saturday's novice four semifinal to improve their previous best by 16 seconds. During the grand final Sunday SPU shaved off another 11 seconds, completing the 2,000-meter course in 6-minutes, 48.8-seconds. Orange Coast won in 6:44.1.
 
The women's varsity eight grand final race featured four of the nation's top-eight ranked crews in the NCAA Division II coaches poll. Defending national champion Western Washington raced to an impressive winning time of 6:45.9. The second-ranked Vikings beat No. 1 Humboldt State (6:48.6) by a length. UC Santa Barbara was third (6:58.9) followed by SPU (7:06.8), Puget Sound (7:10.6) and No. 7 UC San Diego (7:12.6).
 
SPU had a third crew competing at the WIRA Championships. On Saturday, the Falcons rowed in the petite final of the women's varsity four event and clocked a second-place time of 8:12.0. UC Santa Barbara won that race in 8:14.3.
 
FORMIDABLE FOUR
Seattle Pacific's men's varsity four crew was victorious in all five regattas this season, including dual-race wins over Pacific Lutheran (Mar. 16) and Seattle University (Mar. 23) on the Lake Washington Ship Canal home course.
 
On March 30 at the Cascade Sprints in Lakewood, Wash., the Falcons four finished fourth in its heat race with a time of 7:15.9. Two hours later they shaved over 20 seconds off that time to win the grand final race in 6:55.0.
 
At the NCRC Invitational (April 6), SPU's top four-oared crew raced to a wire-to-wire victory over the weather-shortened 1,000-meter course.
 
On April 13 in Lowell, Ore., the Falcons four overcame terrible weather and a mid-race “crab” to win by three seconds in the Covered Bridge Regatta on Dexter Lake.
 
COACH JEFFERSON
Keith Jefferson is in his 23rd year as head coach of the Falcons crews. 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 men's novice four crew to a silver-medal performance at the WIRA Championships. In 2011 he coached the SPU women's varsity eight crew to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships with the Falcons eight winning the petite final. The men's varsity four boat raced to victory in the 2011 WIRA event and the second varsity four won at the NCRC Championships.
 
In 2010 SPU placed second in the team standings at the NCAA Regatta as the varsity eight and varsity four each placed fourth in their respective events. At the 2009 NCAA Championships, the Falcons rowed to a third-place performance in the women's varsity eight grand final.
 
RETURNING ROWERS
Three oarsmen are back from the men's novice four crew that collected the silver medal at last year's WIRA Championships and finished sixth at the 2012 Dad Vail Regatta. That trio of returnees, now rowing in varsity events, includes Thomas Taylor, Matt Edel and Daniel Mudge.
 
On the women's side, four rowers return from the SPU women's varsity eight crew that won the petite final at the 2012 Dad Vail Regatta, placing seventh overall. The returning rowers are: Baylee O'Camb, Rachel Murphy, Samantha Storz and Katarina Krueger.
 
NEXT REGATTA
The Seattle Pacific crews return to the Northwest to take part in the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference (NCRC) Championships on Saturday, May 4 at Lake Stevens, Wash.
 
 
WIRA CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
(2,000-meter races with SPU entries only)
April 27-28, 2013
Lake Natoma/Gold River, Calif.
 
Saturday, April 27
8:00 a.m. –- Women's varsity four (2 heats)
8:20 a.m. -- Men's varsity four (3 heats)
8:50 a.m. -- Men's novice four (2 heats)
3:10 p.m. – Men's novice four (petite final)
4:00 p.m. –- Men's varsity four (petite final)
4:10 p.m. –- Women's varsity four (petite final)
 
Sunday, April 28
8:00 a.m. –- Women's varsity four (grand final)
8:40 a.m. -- Men's novice four (grand final)
9:40 a.m. – Men's lightweight four (grand final)
9:50 a.m. – Men's varsity four (grand final)
 
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC LINEUPS
 
Women's Varsity Four
cox – Dani Ferrigno (Sr./Kirkland, Wash.)
stroke – Sarah Grace (Fr./Kent, Wash.)
3 – Samantha Storz (Sr./Bellevue, Wash.)
2 – Katarina Krueger (So./Bainbridge Island, Wash.)
bow – Baylee O'Camb (Jr./Rescue, Calif.)
 
Men's Varsity Four
cox – Madelyn Hogue (So./Edmonds, Wash.)
stroke – Daniel Mudge (So./Vancouver, Wash.)
3 – Matt Edel (Jr./Portland, Ore.)
2 – David Sowers (Jr./Olympia, Wash.)
bow – Phillip Mach (Sr./Seattle, Wash.)
 
Men's Novice Four
cox – Heather Dunmoyer (Fr./Sacramento, Calif.)
stroke – Ben Pierson (Fr./Brier, Wash.)
3 – Matthew Oclander (Fr./Springfield, Va.)
2 – Soren Stevenson (Fr./Grants Pass, Ore.)
bow – Ethan Freed (Fr./Sammamish, Wash.)
 
Men's Lightweight Four
cox – Marlise Banks (Fr./San Clemente, Calif.)
stroke – Daniel Woodward (So./Nehalem, Ore.)
3 – Thomas Taylor (Sr./Oak Harbor, Wash.)
2 – Cale Waress (Fr./Highlands Ranch, Colo.)
bow – Ben Purcell (Fr./Bay City, Ore.)