WORCESTER, Mass. (May 8) ­ First came delays, followed by postponements and finally came the cancellation of all races involving Seattle Pacific University's bid to repeat as women's varsity four winners of the ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships Sunday on the rough waters of Lake Quinsigamond.

Strong winds produced rolling whitecaps on the course and after one eight-oared shell was swamped all but a couple categories were scrubbed by regatta organizers.

"The weather was ugly and getting uglier,"said SPU coach Keith Jefferson. "There was a 25 mile-per-hour wind with gusts to 30 and a wind chill of around 30 degrees. After they fished that one crew out of the water people were pretty worried. They made the correct decision in canceling."

Saturday's preliminary heats had been postponed and squeezed along with grand finals into Sunday's program. After a 3-hour delay, all racing was suspended. The winds did not subside until early evening, just as the last of the teams were departing.

"There are a lot of disappointed people back here," said Jefferson. who had driven over 3000 miles with a trailer filled with the shells of several West Coast crews.

"Our ladies are good troopers but it's going to take awhile to get over this," he said.

Maintaining tradition, Seattle Pacific crew members Andi Martineau (Sr., Superior, Mt.), Carly Bollen (Jr., Missoula, Mt./Valley Christian), Alicia Apple (Jr., Sequim, Wa.), Megan Sweeney (Jr., Wilsonville, Or.) and coxswain Megan Giske (Jr., Gig Harbor, Wa./Gig Harbor) swapped shirts with their counterparts from Bowdoin (Me.). The two teams were the top two seeds in the varsity fours. The Falcons have won the national championship the past two years.

"We feel we could've won this again," Jefferson said. "Still, we're bringing the trophy back home with us. We're not giving it up."