South, then east. The entire fleet of Seattle Pacific University boats is bound for the Sacramento area this weekend and the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships, but following that only a couple fours will remain racing and take a trip back east. After contending for regional titles on Lake Natoma Saturday and Sunday (May 4-5), the women's varsity lightweight and novice four crews will return to Seattle only to then fly to Philadelphia for the Dad Vail Regatta May 10-11.

California racing. Beginning Thursday, Coach Keith Jefferson will tow a trailer-load of shells down Interstate 5 to Lake Natoma. There, Seattle Pacific seeks to defend its titles in the women's novice four and men's light four. In fact, the novices will be trying to keep their perfect record intact; they have won their first seven races of the spring, including a conference crown last week. That crew, along with the women's light four, which absorbed its first defeat at the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Championships, are assured of a trip to Dad Vail. Jefferson indicated there's an outside chance of taking a women's pair or men's light four. He said injuries to his top open weight rowers have eliminated the possibility of entering a women's varsity four at either Dad Vail or the Avaya Championships in Windsor, New Jersey.

Four more years. SPU won its fourth straight NCRC title in both the women's varsity four and novice four last week on Lake Stevens. The Falcons also picked up a victory in the women's varsity pairs and junior varsity four while the men's lightweight four finished runner-up to Pacific Lutheran. By capturing the conference crown, the varsity four has won six of seven races, including three in a row. Their sole loss was to Washington at the Husky Invitational. The Falcons were bow and bow with Pacific Lutheran however; with the final margin of victory only 0.7 seconds. The novice four crossed the line with plenty of open water on second-place Puget Sound. In the men's light four race, the Lutes and SPU went back forth as they have all season before Pacific Lutheran pulled away to win for the third time in four meetings. The men's varsity four was a close third behind UPS and PLU. The women's light four, which had entered the NCRC regatta unbeaten, finished third but only 0.9 seconds behind victorious Humboldt State. That proved to be a pivotal race for the team's repeat titles hopes. Puget Sound edged SPU 45.25-41.50 for the overall conference crown. The Loggers also prevailed in the men's standings with the Falcons fifth.

Last week's results:

Women's Results
Varsity 4 - 1. Seattle Pacific 7:47.3, 2. Pacific Lutheran 7:47.6, 3. Seattle 7:52.9, 4. Evergreen 8:05.6, 5. Humboldt State 8:16.6, 6. Puget Sound 8:24.0, 7. Lewis & Clark 9:27.1, Western Washington DQ.
Lightweight 4 ­ 1. Humboldt State 7:54.2, 2. Puget Sound 7:54.6, 3. Seattle Pacific 7:55.1.
Varsity 2 ­ 1. Seattle Pacific 8:15.8, 2. Willamette 8:38.0, 3. Puget Sound 8:42.1, 4. Pacific Lutheran 8:55.7, 5. Humboldt State 9:12.5.
Novice 4 ­ 1. Seattle Pacific 7:50.0, 2. Puget Sound 8:14.5, 3. Seattle Univ. 8:33.0, 4. Humboldt State 8:36.6, 5. Portland 8:42.0, 6. Pacific Lutheran 9:01.5.
2nd Novice 4 - 1. Western Washington 8:15.6, 2. Humboldt State 8:22.2, 3. Seattle Pacific 8:27.9, 4. Willamette 8:30.4, 5. Puget Sound 8:32.0, 6. Pacific Lutheran 8:39.6, 7. Seattle 8:52.3, 8. Portland 9:08.8.
Junior Varsity 4 - 1. Seattle Pacific 7:50.8, 2. Portland 8:02.4, 3. Puget Sound 8:03.2, 4. Pacific Lutheran 8:05.6, 5. Seattle 8:11.2, 6. Willamette 8:17.6, 7. Western Washington 8:18.4, 8. Humboldt State 8:26.1.

Men's Results
Varsity 4 - 1. Puget Sound 6:51.1, 2. Pacific Lutheran 6:56.2, 3. Seattle Pacific 6:57.1, 4. Willamette 7:02.8, 5. Western Washington 7:03.5, 6. Lewis & Clark 7:13.5, 7. Seattle 7:41.8, 8. Evergreen 8:04.0.
Lightweight 4 - 1. Western Washington 7:16.3, 2. Pacific Lutheran 7:17.6, 3. Portland 7:25.0, 4. Puget Sound 8:05.6.
Varsity 2 - 1. Puget Sound 7:34.6, 2. Pacific Lutheran 7:41.8, 3. Seattle Pacific 7:53.0, 4. Willamette 8:02.2, 5. Pacific Lutheran B 8:04.0, 6. Seattle Univ. 8:06.5, 7. Humboldt State 8:16.2.
Novice 4 - 1. Puget Sound 7:08.3, 2. Pacific Lutheran 7:14.9, 3. Willamette 7:17.0, 4. Seattle Pacific 7:17.8, 5. Lewis and Clark 7:22.0, 6. Western Washington 7:28.6, 7. Everett CC 7:58.9, 8. Humboldt State 8:27.5.
Lightweight 4 - 1. Pacific Lutheran 6:48.2, 2. Seattle Pacific 6:58.0, 3. Western Washington 7:16.2, 4. Puget Sound 7:25.1, 5. Portland 7:30.7.
Junior Varsity 4 - 1. Western Washington 6:57.0, 2. Pacific Lutheran 7:00.0, 3. Willamette 7:06.6, 4. Puget Sound 7:08.2, 5. Seattle Pacific 7:16.4, 6. Portland 7:39.1.

Women's lineups.

• Varsity 4: Stroke­Kimberly Tschetter; 3­Trisha Sawatzky; 2­Sarah Zorn; Bow­Erin Cox/Trisha Weber; Cox­Lindsay Dilschneider.
• Varsity Light 4: Stroke­Andrea Reichert; 3­Julie Vieselmeyer; 2­Elyse Cansler; Bow­Erin Cox/Trisha Weber; Cox­Joanna Hodgkiss
• Novice 4: Stroke­Sarah Zorn; 3­Shannon Buehler; 2­Heidi Visser; Bow­Andi Martineau; Cox­Emily Thomas.
• Junior Varsity 4: Stroke­Andrea Reichert; 3­Julie Vieselmeyer; 2­Elyse Cansler; Bow­Erin Cox/Trisha Weber; Cox­Lindsay Dilschneider.
• Varsity Pair: Stroke­Kimberly Tschetter; Bow­Trisha Sawatzky.

Men's lineups.

• Varsity 4: Stroke­Mike Lucero; 3­Reid Shipley; 2­Tyler Van Stright; Bow­Trevor Winters; Cox­Jennifer Helseth.
• Varsity Light 4: Stroke­Mike Lucero; 3­Trevor Winters; 2­Kyle Glines; Bow­Joel Braman; Cox­Jennifer Helseth.
• Novice 4: Stroke­Phil Walter; 3­Peter Small; 2­David Johns; Bow­Brandon Cooper; Cox­Kristina Richards.
• Varsity Pair: Stroke­Tyler Van Stright; Bow­Reid Shipley.

SPU Coaches. A past oarsman, alumnus and assistant coach, Keith Jefferson has steered Seattle Pacific University into uncharted waters in national prominence during his 11-year tenure as head coach. Jefferson, 40, became the fifth head coach at Seattle Pacific University in the fall of 1990, and has overseen the rise of the Falcons as a regional force in small college rowing. Both men's and women's boats have proved competitive at the national level in recent years. The women's varsity four won back-to-back Avaya Collegiate Championships in 2000 and 2001 after placing third in 1999.