• Directions to Vancouver Lake Park (pdf)

SEATTLE –- Seattle Pacific rowers will race against many of the best West Coast collegiate crews when they visit Vancouver Lake Park in Vancouver, Wash. for the Northwest College Rowing Conference (NCRC) Invitational on Saturday, April 3.

The Falcons six-boat fleet will compete at Vancouver Lake on a 2,000-meter course that runs parallel to the NW Erwin O. Reiger Memorial Highway.

The NCRC regatta features 17 events and draws collegiate competitors from California, Oregon and Washington.

The Falcons have four women's boats entered. They will compete in the NCAA Division II varsity eight and varsity four events along with the varsity and second varsity four races for crews of all levels.

SPU's top boat, ranked No. 4 nationally among women's varsity eight crews, will row in the Division II eight-oared race alongside top-ranked Western Washington and Humboldt State. The Falcons finished third among varsity eights at the 2009 NCAA Championships, a race won by WWU.

The SPU men are entered in the lightweight four and novice four events on Saturday.

The first race on the docket Saturday begins at 8:30 a.m. The first Falcons crew to settle into the starting line is the women's varsity eight for 9:30 a.m. start. The last scheduled race for Falcons is the men's novice four final at 2 p.m.

Two SPU crews, the women's varsity four and men's novice four boats, will need to advance through heat races to qualify for the afternoon finals.

Last year's NCRC Invitational was delayed by morning fog and then afternoon racing was plagued by rough water conditions.

The SPU women won the second varsity four race and placed third in the Division II varsity eight competition at the 2009 NCRC Invite.

On the men's side, the Falcons posted a pair of top-three finishes, taking third in the varsity four and second in the novice four races.

SPU is in its 33rd season of intercollegiate crew competition, the 20th with Keith Jefferson at the helm. 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 SPU women's eight to a bronze-medal performance at the NCAA Division II Championships.

Six rowers and sophomore coxswain Annie Mulder return from last year's bronze-medal varsity eight boat. The returning rowers are: Katie Degner, Katja Ibsen, Eleni Johnsen, Emily Pitts, Lacey Sheridan and Katy Stine.

On the men's side, SPU returns the bow pair from its varsity four crew that placed fourth at the 2009 Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference (NCRC) championships. Carter Swanson, now a senior, occupied the bow last season while sophomore David Peterson rowed in the No. 2 seat. Peterson will assume the stroke seat in the Falcons varsity eight boat and Swanson rows in the No. 7 position.

The NCRC Invitational is the third of eight regattas on the 2010 schedule for the Seattle Pacific crews. The season concludes for the men at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships, May 1-2 in Rancho Cordova, Calif.

The final regatta on the women's slate is the NCAA Championships, May 28-30, also on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova. The Falcons seek to make consecutive appearances in the NCAA Regatta for the first time in school history.

The SPU crews travel even farther south next weekend to compete at the Covered Bridge Regatta. That event will be conducted, Saturday, April 10 on Dexter Lake in Lowell, Oregon, near Eugene.


2010 NCRC INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Vancouver Lake/Vancouver, Wash.
(all races 2,000 meters)

8:30 am: Women's 2nd novice eight -- Final
8:45 am: Men's varsity four -- Heat A
9:00 am: Men's varsity four -- Heat B
9:15 am: Division III Women's varsity eight -- Final
9:30 am: Division II Women's varsity eight -- Final
9:45 am: Division II Women's varsity four -- Final
10:00 am: Men's varsity eight -- Heat A
10:15 am: Men's varsity eight -- Heat B
10:30 am: Division III Women's 2nd varsity eight -- Final
10:45 am: Men's novice eight -- Final
11:15 am: Men's lightweight four -- Final
11:30 am: Women's lightweight four -- Final
11:45 am: Women's varsity four -- Heat A
12:00 pm: Women's varsity four -- Heat B
12:15 pm: Men's novice four -- Heat A
12:30 pm: Men's novice four -- Heat B
1:00 pm: Men's varsity four -- Final
1:15 pm: Women's novice eight -- Final
1:30 pm: Women's varsity four -- Final
1:45 pm: Women's 2nd varsity four -- Final
2:00 pm: Men's novice four -- Final
2:15 pm: Women's novice four -- Final
2:45 pm: Women's 2nd varsity eight -- Final
3:00 pm: Men's varsity eight -- Final
3:15 pm: Women's varsity eight (open) -- Final


SEATTLE PACIFIC LINEUPS

9:30 a.m. -- Division II Women's Varsity Eight
Shell: J & P
cox – Annie Mulder (So./Grand Rapids, Mich.)
stroke – Katie Degner (Sr./Hillsboro, Ore.)
7 – Lauren Anderson (Jr./Fort Collins, Colo.)
6 – Eleni Johnsen (Jr./University Place, Wash.)
5 – Katja Ibsen (So./Livermore, Calif.)
4 – Katy Stine (So./South Berwick, Maine)
3 – Alli Agnew (Fr./Issaquah, Wash.)
2 – Lacey Sheridan (Jr./Sacramento, Calif.)
bow – Kristin Lorenzen (So./Beaverton, Ore.)

9:45 a.m. -- Division II Women's Varsity Four
Shell: Cherubim
cox – Missy Spoelstra (So./Highland, Calif.)
stroke – Dani Ferrigno (Fr./Kirkland, Wash.)
3 – Sarah Lanter (Fr./Woodinville, Wash.)
2 – Belle Fritsch (Fr./Geneva, Ill.)
bow – Mackenzie Oscar (So./Bellevue, Wash.)

11:15 a.m. -- Men's Lightweight Four
Shell: Seraphim
cox – Kristi Tamaki (Jr./Santa Barbara, Calif.)
stroke – David Peterson (So./Spokane, Wash.)
3 – Carter Swanson (Sr./Littleton, Colo.)
2 – Greg Ballard (Jr./Wenatchee, Wash.)
bow – Donovan Fisk (Fr./Santa Barbara, Calif.)

11:45 a.m. -- Women's Varsity Four
Shell: Cathy B
cox – Annie Mulder (So./Grand Rapids, Mich.)
stroke – Katy Stine (So./South Berwick, Maine)
3 – Katja Ibsen (So./Livermore, Calif.)
2 – Eleni Johnsen (Jr./University Place, Wash.)
bow – Lacey Sheridan (Jr./Sacramento, Calif.)

12:30 p.m. -- Men's Novice Four
Shell: Steadfast
cox – Missy Spoelstra (So./Highland, Calif.)
stroke – Dain Carley (So./Maple Valley, Wash.)
3 – Matt Norgren (So./Eden Prairie, Minn.)
2 – Phillip Mach (So./Seattle, Wash.)
bow – Donovan Fisk (Fr./Santa Barbara, Calif.)

1:45 p.m. -- Women's Second Varsity Four
Shell: Cherubim
cox – Kristi Tamaki (Jr./Santa Barbara, Calif.)
stroke – Dani Ferrigno (Fr./Kirkland, Wash.)
3 – Kristin Lorenzen (So./Beaverton, Ore.)
2 – Belle Fritsch (Fr./Geneva, Ill.)
bow – Mackenzie Oscar (So./Bellevue, Wash.)