• VIDEO: Baylee O'Camb     |     • VIDEO: Daniel Mudge

LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- Rowing is designated as a "spring" season sport by the NCAA. Seattle Pacific crews started their competition schedule Saturday morning despite the absence of spring-like weather.

Falcons crews crossed the finish line first in four of five races, led by a come-from-behind victory from the women's varsity eight, in their season-opening dual regatta against Pacific Lutheran on American Lake.

SPU boats were victorious in the women's varsity eight and varsity four events. They won the men's varsity and second varsity four races while the Lutes finished first in the men's varsity eight competition.



"It was miserably cold. It rained on us first, freezing rain. Then big flakes of snow fell with a little bit of rain in it. Then it went back to rain again, which is just the worst," described SPU coach Keith Jefferson. "The flat water keeps tempting you to go out and keep racing. Then you just get so soaked and it's so cold. If you don't keep moving right up until your race time, you're going to get tight and be sluggish off the line.

"It's par for the course in mid-March," added Jefferson, who said it replicated the conditions the last time the Falcons opened the season at PLU, in 2010.

"As far as I can tell we were in a time warp and it was like the next day after the last time we were there. It was exactly the same with pretty flat water, but miserable weather."

Despite the inclement conditions, SPU crews registered some solid performances.

The varsity eight women covered the 2,000-meter course in 7-minutes, 33.4-seconds. They finished three seconds ahead of the Lutes' runner-up time of 7:36.5.

The final times don't detail the drama of the race. PLU led for much of the time before being overtaken by the Falcons during the final 200 meters.

"Our women's eight was an unknown commodity," Jefferson said. "They were behind the whole race, but they were in there. That's what you want to see, is them staying in the game because you know the sprint is probably going to be all right from our perspective."

Three new rowers have joined the crew that placed fifth among Division II varsity eights at the 2011 NCAA Championships.

"We had a couple youngsters in there, so you never know what you're going to get," Jefferson said. "They really rose to the occasion."

The race of women's fours featured a battle between SPU crews. The regular varsity four, coxed by Ana Munshell, was overtaken by the Annie Mulder-directed group that usually competes in an eight-oared shell. The winning time was 8:46.0, the second SPU boat finished in 8:49.0 and the PLU crew crossed in 9:26.0.

"Our two women's fours were a ton of fun to watch. They traded places several times," Jefferson recalled. "The four from the eight finally nipped them. Both of them rowed well and they were quite a ways ahead of PLU, so it was more of a race between ourselves."

On the men's side, shuffling of lineups in the four-oared boats prevented much practice time for the Falcons in their current alignment. It didn't keep them from crossing the finish like first.

SPU recorded a near 12-second victory in the varsity four event, completing the race in 7:28.8. The Lutes' second-place time was 7:40.6.

"The men's four didn't get much practice time, so I was pleased that they felt positive about it," said Jefferson.

"The jayvee men didn't get to ever practice in that category, in that lineup. They nipped PLU by a few seconds. It looked pretty even when they went into the sprint."

The Falcons second varsity four surged at the finish to clock a winning time of 8:00.3. PLU turned in a time of 8:03.9.

The Lutes lone victory came in the men's varsity eight race with a time of 6:43.7. SPU was a distant second in 7:07.1. The Falcons rarely field a men's eight-oared crew, choosing to concentrate primarily on the fours.

"Their men's eight handled us pretty good, though we don't spend very much time in our eight," said Jefferson.

The dual against the Lutes has been SPU's traditional season-opener. Jefferson appreciates the tune-up before the racing season starts in earnest.

"Working out the jitters, working out your race plan is huge for such an experience. It's quite valuable," he said.

"It's nice to get on a different body of water that's going to be our water next weekend. So there's a huge advantage to doing this. All those aspects combined make it really ideal for everybody to do kind of an informal thing like this up front."

Next Saturday (Mar. 24), the SPU crews return to American Lake for the Cascade Sprints. That regatta starts at 9 a.m. and features numerous collegiate crews from throughout the Northwest, including PLU, Puget Sound, Western Washington and Washington State.



Seattle Pacific-Pacific Lutheran Dual Regatta
Saturday, March 17, 2012
American Lake/Lakewood, Wash.
 (all races 2,000 meters)

Women's Varsity Eight
1, SPU 7:33.4; 2, PLU 7:36.5
     SPU lineup: cox-Annie Mulder, stroke-Katy Stine, 7-Baylee O'Camb, 6-Rachel Murphy, 5-Emily Scrabeck, 4-Jacky Neumiller, 3-Madelyn Hogue, 2-Katarina Krueger, bow- Kindra Fish.

Women's Varsity Four
1, SPU JV 8:46.0; 2, SPU 8:49.0; 3, PLU 9:26.0.
      SPU varsity four lineup: cox-Ana Munshell, stroke-Dani Ferrigno, 3-Belle Fritsch, 2-Sarah Lanter, bow-Samantha Storz.
     SPU 2nd varsity four lineup: cox-Annie Mulder, stroke-Katy Stine, 3-Baylee O'Camb, 2-Katraina Krueger, bow-Madelyn Hogue.

Men's Varsity Four
1, SPU 7:28.8; 2, PLU 7:40.6.
      SPU lineup: cox-Jacqueline Reyes, stroke-Phillip Mach, 3-Matt Edel, 2-Will Kolb, bow-Daniel Mudge.

Men's Second Varsity Four
1, SPU 8:00.3; 2, PLU 8:03.9.
      SPU lineup: cox-Annie Mulder, stroke-Thomas Taylor, 3-Bill Douthit, 2-Emerson Morris, bow-Daniel Woodward.

Men's Varsity Eight
1, PLU 6:43.7; 2, SPU 7:07.1.
      SPU lineup: cox-Ana Munshell, stroke-Phillip Mach, 7-Matt Edel, 6-Brandon Wagoner, 5-Bill Douthit, 4-Thomas Taylor, 3-Daniel Mudge, 2-Emerson Morris, bow- Daniel Woodward.