• VIDEO: Jacob Hazel
 
SEATTLE – Seattle Pacific men's crews crossed the finish line first in both races Saturday morning during their season-opening dual regatta against Pacific Lutheran on the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
 
"I'm pretty pleased. It's always nice to get a win, of course," said Keith Jefferson, who is in his 25th season as the SPU head coach.
 
"What was nice about today is that the teams are very matched up. PLU had two novices in the first boat and we had two novices. Their average weight is about the same as ours as was the amount of training time. It was a good matchup so I was pretty pleased with that first race in particular."
 


In that inaugural race, the Falcons opened an early lead before getting out of sync at the 750-meter mark when Samuel Taylor in the bow seat got his oar caught in the water. That "crab" didn't deter the Falcons, who quickly recovered to reclaim the lead and finish ahead of PLU by a few lengths of open water.
 
The SPU varsity, directed by coxswain Jasmine Pitzler, completed the 2,000-meter course in 7-minutes, 37.89-seconds while PLU finished in 7:52.21.
 
"We had a good learning experience. We had a bow man catch a crab, and it was a big one," Jefferson described. "I told them before, 'it does not have to end your day. You can get back into it quick enough.'
 
"They were already a little ahead so it evened them up and then they got right back into it and didn't lose too much ground. Then they slowly started getting it back on PLU."
 
An oddity occurred with the results as both teams tallied times that were nearly identical in both races. The SPU varsity clocked in at 7:37.89 and the novice boat at 7:37.94. The Lutes varsity time was 7:52.21 and the novice was 7:52.79.
 
For the novice event, which took place about 30 minutes after the first race, the Falcons replaced its bow pair of rowers and Nataliya Mokhnach took over the coxswain duties while PLU kept its same crew intact.
 
The SPU men went wire-to-wire to win the novice competition. They opened an early lead and gradually increased it to cross the line a few lengths ahead of the Lutes.
 
"With the novice four group I wasn't sure how they were going to do," said Jefferson. "Granted PLU didn't make any switches in the second race and we had two fresh people. Nevertheless, it was a good result."
 
The men return to action next week and will be joined by the SPU women's crews on Saturday, March 28 at the Daffodil Sprints on American Lake in Lakewood, Wash.
 
"Today was a good, productive day in respect to getting those key experiences out there in a less critical environment," Jefferson said. "Obviously next weekend we have a big event with many lanes and many crews side-by-side, so it will be step-up time."
 
 
Seattle Pacific-Pacific Lutheran Dual Regatta
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Lake Washington Ship Canal/Seattle, Wash.
(all races 2,000 meters)
 
Men's Varsity Four
1, SPU, 7:37.89
2, PLU, 7:52.21
 
    SPU lineup: cox–Jasmine Pitzler, stroke–Logan Bryan, 3–Anders Barber, 2–Jacob Hazel, bow–Samuel Taylor.
 
 
Men's Novice Four
1, SPU, 7:37.94
2, PLU, 7:52.79
 
    SPU lineup: cox-Nataliya Mokhnach, stroke–Logan Bryan, 3–Anders Barber, 2–Sean Larson, bow–Alden Wyland.