• VIDEO: Samuel  Taylor

SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific men's novice four-oared crew rowed to a second-place finish and the varsity four was third on Saturday morning in a three-team regatta on the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
 
The Falcons started strong in the novice race, for first-year rowers, and trailed by a boat length after 250 meters. That deficit increased to a generous amount of open water at the midway mark before they closed within three lengths by the finish of the 2,000-meter race.
 
"This was really good. They performed well and finished strong to take a chunk of time off," Coach Keith Jefferson said of his novice crew that shaved over one minute off last week's time of 8:47.2.
 
"It was really important for them to have something positive. It wasn't a win, but it was the next step and you need that for a young developing crew. They're hungry."
 
Western Washington won in 7-minutes, 16.1-seconds. SPU was second in 7:37.5, well ahead of the third-place time of 7:51.8 turned in by Seattle University.


 
Saturday's experience was completely different than the crew's maiden voyage last Saturday on American Lake in Lakewood, Wash. They hit some marker buoys and got an oar blade briefly stuck in the water, know as "catching a crab."
 
"Last week every possible thing that could have happened, happened. It was like Friday the 13th," Jefferson described. "It was good to get that out of the way though, every bit as much as it was good to have a smooth one here today."
 
After the opening race, the Falcons made a quick trip to the dock to exchange Zach Johnston for veteran Logan Bryan in the No. 2 seat and switch coxswains from Samuel Taylor to Jasmine Pitzler.
 
That newly configured crew returned to the course for the men's varsity four race that started 30 minutes after the first event. They rowed against fresh rowers from the other two schools.
 
Seattle University edged Western Washington by a deck in the varsity fours, posting a winning time of 7:04.0. The Vikings' second-place time was 7:05.5 and SPU trailed the entire race before finishing in 7:58.1.
 
"The varsity four, of course, with three tired novices and a lightweight, that result was not unexpected," Jefferson said.
 
The Falcons did not have an entry in the men's varsity eight race, which was won in 6:55.9 by Western Washington. The Redhawks were second in 7:00.3.
 
The SPU men return to action next week and will be joined by their women's crews at the Blue Heron Sprints on Saturday, Mar. 26 on Humboldt Bay in Eureka, Calif.
 
 
NCAA Rowing
SPU Three-Way Regatta
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Lake Washington Ship Canal / Seattle, Wash.
(all races 2,000 meters)
 
Men's Novice Four
1, Western Washington, 7:16.1
2, Seattle Pacific, 7:37.5
3, Seattle University, 7:51.8
 
    SPU lineup: cox–Samuel Taylor, stroke–Cody Riggs, 3–Arthur Emmons, 2–Zach Johnston, bow–Jake Shelton.
 
Men's Varsity Four
1, Seattle University, 7:04.0
2, Western Washington, 7:05.5
3, Seattle Pacific, 7:58.1
 
    SPU lineup: cox–Jasmine Pitzler, stroke–Cody Riggs, 3–Arthur Emmons, 2–Logan Bryan, bow–Jake Shelton.
 
Men's Varsity Eight
1, Western Washington "A", 6:55.9; 2, Seattle University, 7:00.3; 3, Western Washington "B", 7:19.0.