The finish line. Three boats, two championships, 45 minutes apart. It promises to be busy but rewarding final weekend for the rowing season as Seattle Pacific University sends its women's varsity four, lightweight four and men's varsity pair to the East Coast for national competitions. The light four and pair will participate in the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia Friday and Saturday (May 9-10). The varsity four goes into action Sunday (May 11) at the ECAC National Invitational Championships in nearby Camden, New Jersey. All qualifying and championship races will be held that day.

Four plus what? Seattle Pacific seeks to extend its string of success at the national level. In the past three years, the Falcons have claimed national titles in four events, including both the women's varsity pair and novice four last season. Sarah Zorn (So., Mercer Island, Wa./Lahser), Shannon Buehler (So., Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower), Heidi Visser (So., Wenatchee, Wa./Wenatchee) and Andi Martineau (Jr., Superior, Mt./Superior) comprised that novice crew and, along with coxswain Lindsay Dilschneider (Sr., Yakima, Wa./West Valley), they will go after the varsity prize. This season they have won six of eight races, including the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference and the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association titles the past two weeks. SPU won back-to-back varsity four crowns in 2000 and 2001. Interim head coach Jessie Pennington was a member of the '01 crew. Her assistant, Trisha Sawatzky, rowed in the champion pair last season.

Just made it. It required a late sprint in the final 250 meters for the pair of Tyler Van Stright (Jr., Grand Rapids, Mi./GR Christian) and Reid Shipley (Sr., Escondido, Ca./San Pasqual) to earn their plane tickets back east. Fourth for the first three-quarters of the race, they rowed through Sacramento State and UC Irvine to finish second behind Cal. Van Stright and Shipley had won their other three races this season. The women's light four crew of Andrea Reichert (Jr., Bloomington, Mn./Jefferson), Julie Vieselmeyer (Sr., Coeur d'Alene, Id./Lake City), Elyse Cansler (Jr., Longview, Wa./R.A. Long), Kristina Richards (Jr., Boise, Id./Timberline) and cox Joanna Hodgkiss (Jr., Tacoma, Wa./Puyallup) is 5-2 after taking third in the regional.

Weekend at WIRA. Rowers in the women's varsity four sprinted from fourth to first in the final 800 meters to claim the WIRA championship on Lake Natoma. It was that crew's fifth championship in as many tries over two seasons and their 18th victory in 20 races overall. Seattle Pacific sat fourth, a boat-length out of first, through 1200 meters, then went into a sprint to overtake Puget Sound, San Diego State and finally Pacific Lutheran, finishing with a 2.7-second margin over the Lutes. In all, SPU collected four medals in five grand finals. Thanks to late sprints, the men's light four took second place and the women's light four was third. The women's novice four finished fifth and the men's novice four was third in the petite final.

NCRC Championship Results

SPU Coaches. Keith Jefferson has steered Seattle Pacific University into uncharted waters in national prominence during his 12-year tenure as head coach. In the past four years alone, Jefferson's Falcons have claimed national titles in four events, medaled in four others and won regional crowns in seven. A past oarsman, alumnus and assistant coach, Jefferson became the fifth head coach at Seattle Pacific University in the fall of 1990. This spring he has taken a leave of absence after being called up to active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. An active member of the Marines from 1983-87, Jefferson, a major in the reserves, will retire from the reserves upon his return in June. Jessica Pennington, assistant to Jefferson for the past year, will serve as interim head coach. She will be assisted by Trisha Sawatzky. Pennington was oarsman of the year and an all-region selection as a senior in 2001 when she rowed in the national title varsity four. Sawatzky was a member of last year's national championship pair, all-region pick and SPU co-athlete of the year. Under Jefferson, the Falcons have emerged 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. Sawatzky and Kimberly Tschetter won the varsity pair title in 2002 along with the novice four. The men's four finished fifth in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association in 1995, the lightweight four was second at Dad Vail in 2000 and the novice four third in 2001. Regionally, Jefferson's fleet has medaled 18 times at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association and Pacific Coast Rowing Championships, including seven golds. SPU has totaled 36 Northwest Collegiate Rowing titles since 1994, punctuated by the school's first overall conference women's crown in 2001.

Missing links. For the latest and best information on Seattle Pacific University athletics, stay where you're at -- on The Falcons Online. For updated standings and statistics, see the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web site.