Hello, good-bye. In a whirlwind week, Seattle Pacific University's top crews will return from California only to board an eastbound flight Wednesday morning for Philadelphia and the 64th annual Dad Vail Championships this weekend. The Falcons will send each of their three regional championship boats: the women's varsity pair, lightweight four and novice four. Racing begins Friday (May 10) on the Schuykill River with grand finals Saturday.

No, not your father. The Dad Vail is billed as the largest collegiate regatta in the United States and an unofficial small college championship. Last year, the men's novice four made the grand final stage and finished third. Crews are involved in a two- or three-round knockout competition (top two boats advance from each prelim and semifinal heat), with semifinals and the grand final on Saturday.

Season to date. Coach Keith Jefferson has three of the most dominant crews in program history. His women's novice four has won each of its nine races in eight regattas while the varsity pair is 5-0. Both are believed to be the first SPU boats to complete the regular season unbeaten. And the light four isn't too shabby, having won five of six regattas. Jefferson's program has won national titles in the women's varsity four the past two years.

Show 'em the medals. Last week in Rancho Cordova, Calif., the women's novice four claimed its second straight Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship with a convincing victory in the grand final on Lake Natoma. They finished nearly two boat-lengths ahead of runner-up Gonzaga. The Falcons also won WIRA titles in the women's varsity pair and lightweight four, plus a silver medal in the women's varsity four. The men's pair and light four each placed fourth. Also finishing the season undefeated was the varsity pair of Kimberly Tschetter (Sr., Sioux Falls, SD/Lincoln) and Trisha Sawatzky (Sr., Federal Way, Wa./Decatur). They crossed the line with a 23-second cushion on Puget Sound. In the light four, Seattle Pacific atoned for a loss to Humboldt State and UPS at the conference championships a week earlier by edging the Lumberjacks by a bow. The varsity four's second-place finish marked only the second time the Falcons failed to win in eight regattas. Pacific Lutheran, a close second to SPU at the NCRC last week, won with open water.

Short strokes. Tschetter and Dilschneider were members of last year's national championship varsity four. Dilschneider was also the cox of the novice four at Dad Vail in 2000...Sawatzky was named to the all-WIRA second team.

Last week's results:

Women's Grand Finals
Varsity 4: 1-Pacific Lutheran 7:42; 2-Seattle Pacific 7:51; 3-UC Santa Barbara 7:54; 4-Seattle University 7:55; 5-Portland 8:05; 6-Sacramento State 8:09
Lightweight 4: 1-Seattle Pacific 7:55; 2-Humboldt State 7:56; 3-Puget Sound 8:00; 4-Colorado 8:13; 5-UC Santa Barbara 8:16; 6-California 8:22
Pair: 1-Seattle Pacific 8:22; 2-Puget Sound 8:45; 3-Willamette 8:45; 4-Colorado 8:57; 5-San Diego State 8:57
Novice 4: 1-Seattle Pacific 7:33; 2-Gonzaga 7:42; 3-Loyola Marymount 7:56; 5-UC Santa Barbara 8:06; 6-Pacific Lutheran 8:22

Men's Grand Finals
Lightweight 4: 1-California 6:47; 2-Pacific Lutheran 6:49; 3-San Diego 6;53; 4-Seattle Pacific 6:59; 5-Santa Clara 7:03; 6-Puget Sound 7:20
Pair: 1-Saint Mary's 7:28; 2-Loyola Marymount 7:30; 3-Sacramento State 7:33; 4-Seattle Pacific 7:35; 5-Willamette 7:46; 6-UC Irvine 7:48
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 Petite Finals
Novice 4: 1-Pacific Lutheran 7:21; 2-Chapman 7:28; 3-Seattle Pacific 7:29; 4-Loyola Marymount 7:30; 5-Colorado 7:42; 6-Sacramento State 7:43; 7-Humboldt State 8:35

Women's lineups.

• Varsity 4: Stroke­Kimberly Tschetter; 3­Trisha Sawatzky; 2­Andi Martineau; Bow­Trisha Weber; Cox­Lindsay Dilschneider.
• Varsity Light 4: Stroke­Andrea Reichert; 3­Julie Vieselmeyer; 2­Elyse Cansler; Bow­Erin Cox; 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.