GOLD RIVER, Calif. – Can't get much closer than that.
Locked in a three-way battle in the women's varsity 8+ grand final, the Seattle Pacific Falcons finished fourth on Sunday's last day of competition at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships.
While Western Washington won that 2000-meter race on Lake Natoma in 6 minutes 53.422 seconds, SPU went bow-to-bow-to-bow with Cal Poly Humboldt and Puget Sound for second place.
In what was officially listed as a photo finish, the final difference between the three shells was just less than two-tenths of a second (0.192, to be precise). Humboldt wound up No. 2 in 6:57.781, UPS was third in 6:57.825, and the Falcons placed fourth in 6:57.973.
Western Washington took the lead, but SPU and the other boats stayed in contact for a good portion of the race before the Vikings sprinted away.
That was one of four Seattle Pacific shells racing on Sunday, three of which (including the V8+) were in their respective grand finals.
The second varsity 4+ finished fifth in its race, stopping the watch in 8:49.786. The novice 4+ was sixth in its event, completing its 2000 meters in 8:43.279.
The varsity 4+ bounced back from a less-than-stellar Saturday and claimed third place in the petite finals, going 22 seconds faster. Those Falcons crossed the finish line in 8:09.22 and edged fourth-pace UC Santa Barbara by half a second.
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS: COACH KENZIE WALTAR
"You can't plan on tight racing like that, but it's such a good experience," Waltar said. "That's the difference of maybe one crew's blades were in the water and one crew's blades were out. Essentially, it's a tie, but there's no such thing. I was telling them that we were on the wrong side of the coin this time, but it was really fierce racing, so what else can you ask for?"
Walter said after Saturday's heats that she felt the crew had more to give – and then they went out and did that.
"It's a bummer that we came up short, but they raced really brave and courageously," she said. "The times were faster, but also, they felt a lot more connected. They sprinted longer and harder and gave it their all today. It was just in the sprint, and we got out-sprinted."
Waltar clearly liked the improved race she saw from the varsity 4+, which made some changes to the lineup this week.
"They had a really good start. They said it was soaring and they were feeling really good. They put in a really good effort."
Walter likewise saw some pleasing performances from the other two shells.
"The second varsity four had a good race, especially considering how new they are," she said. "They overcame some things and came together. The novice four looked good. They had to overcome some typical novicey things. They had a solid race, and to get back into it and still beat some boats was really awesome to see."
BEYOND THE RESULTS
--All three of the SPU boats that raced on Saturday dropped time on Sunday. The varsity 8+ was about nine-tenths of a second faster; the varsity 4+ improved by 22 seconds, and the novice 4+ was 23 seconds better. The second varsity 4+ did not have any Saturday heats, as only six boats were entered, so all automatically made the grand final.
--The regatta featured three of the four teams (SPU, Western Washington, and Humboldt) that will be back on Lake Natoma in three weeks for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. Those races are set for Saturday, May16. The only one of the four GNAC squads not here this weekend (but will be on the 16th) was affiliate member Central Oklahoma.
--At last year's WIRAs, the varsity 8+ was third in the grand final in 6:58.807 and the novice 4+ was second in the petite final in 8:23.15.
--SPU is No. 3 In the most recent (April 21) Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association rankings.
QUOTABLE: BELLA LISENBY, VARSITY 8+
"Our cox was calling us, 'This is a dogfight – this is it.' She called the last five strokes and we gave it our all," said Lisenby, who rows in the No. 4 seat. "That's one of the most exhausted (feelings) I've had after the race. We emptied the tank completely. When the engine light is on, you've got 15 more miles to go. We hit the engine light with 500 meters left and just emptied the tank."
She agreed with her coach that the Falcons took it up a notch on Sunday.
"On Saturday, we had a check-the-boxes race – we did well and we were proud. But the next race, we were going to hit it hard and not just check the boxes. We were going to scribble over that page. We went off at the start and went to it immediately. I'm sad we didn't end up with medals, but sometimes, winning comes from your performance in the boats. To be point-one-nine seconds away is a win in my book. I'm really proud of our attitude and the energy we had going into this weekend."
QUOTABLE: BRITTAN DALBERG, VARSITY 4+
"This lineup has only been together for a couple of practices before the race. (Saturday) was the first race under our belt and we were feeling each other out a little bit," said Dalberg, who sits in the stroke seat. "Today, it clicked and got better – I kind of felt it right away. We hit the water, had a really great warm-up, had the best start ever and hit some really great splits off of that
Dalberg is already anticipating the season's biggest races coming up during May.
"We're just excited to keep building and taking down seconds and closing the gap between us and Humboldt and Western," she said.
UP NEXT
The regular season concludes next Saturday with a quick trip across town to the Montlake Cut for the
Windermere Cup. The Falcons will row a pair of eight-oared shell, one in the Open race and one in the Cascade Cup against Washington and Seattle University. The full day of racing starts at 8:00 a.m. SPU also has been invited to Friday's Windermere Cup Twilight Sprints for the first time. Those races on the Cut begin at 8:00 p.m..
NCAA WOMEN'S ROWING
WESTERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ROWING ASSOCIATION (WIRA) CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sunday, April 26, 2026
Sacramento State Aquatic Center / Gold River, Calif.
DIVISION 2 / 3 / CLUB RESULTS
Varsity 8+
Grand Final – 1, Western Washington 6:53.422; 2, Cal Poly Humboldt 6:57.781; 3, Puget Sound 6:57.825; 4, Seattle Pacific 6:57.973; 5, UC Santa Barbara 7:06.079; 6, Pacific Lutheran 7:08.048.
Varsity 4+
Petite Final – 1, UC Irvine 8:02.760; 2,Cal Lightweight 8:07.714; 3, Seattle Pacific 8:09.208; 4, UC Santa Barbara 'B' 8:09.904; 5, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 8:15.599; 6, Lewis & Clark College 8:29.214.
2nd Varsity 4+
Grand Final – 1, Western Washington 8:16.132; 2, Humboldt 8:25.986; 3, Oregon 8:43.528; 4, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 8:47.425; 5, Seattle Pacific 8:49.786; 6, UC Santa Barbara 9:17.002; 7, Cal Lightweight 10:10.95.
Novice 4+
Grand Final – 1, Puget Sound 7:07.203; 2, Santa Clara 7:59.575; 3, Lewis & Clark College 8:13.083; 4, Orange Coast College 8:18.318; 5, San Diego State 8:37.076; 6, Seattle Pacific 8:43.279; 7, Long Beach State 8:59.149.
SPU LINEUPS
Varsity 8+ - c:
Lexi Roybal, 8:
Solanes Capps-Mace, 7:
Amelia Pape, 6:
Emma Jones, 5:
Miriam Dykstra, 4:
Bella Lisenby, 3:
Emmerson Spencer, 2:
Grace Combs, 1:
Gem Gatmaytan.
Varsity 4+ - c:
Aleksia Haugen, 4:
Kaitlin Hollebeek, 3:
Elizabeth Chapman, 2: Rocky Wesley, 1:
Brittan Dalberg.
2nd Varsity 4+ - c:
Sasha Kolobovnikov, 4: Rachael Turmure, 3:
Mia Vittori, 2:
Erica Fisher, 1: Faith Akutugawa.
Novice 4+ - c: Freya Meyers-Arnoult, 4:
Kaitlin Hollebeek, 3:
Joy Hill, 2:
Lexi Shrock, 1:
Angelina Termure.
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