courtesy of Kristi Tamaki The SPU women’s novice eight crew team takes a breather during last weekend’s regatta in Vancouver, Wash.

A first-place finish in the women's junior varsity (JV) four race highlighted a Saturday trip to Vancouver Lake for the SPU crew team.

Led by the JV four boat, the Falcons finished third as a team at the National Collegiate Rowing Conference Invitational Regatta.

In the small world of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II rowing, success is determined by earning the right to compete in the national tournament. Saturday's regatta provided the first glimpse of the teams in the West against whom SPU will be grappling to qualify for one of four spots in the event.

"This meet was our first race against all our competitors that we'll compete against to get to nationals," sophomore rower Kay Chikos said. "It gave us a good feel for where we stand right now in our training and with our competitors."

As a general sense, Falcon rowers left the regatta satisfied with their performance, junior Holly Allan said.

"I think we did really well," Allan said. "Not quite as well as we were hoping but still very good."

Allan rowed with the victorious JV four team, alongside sophomore Tricia Omoto, juniors Rachel Savage and Amy Burns, and freshman Kaitlin Whitt.

The team won with a time of 8:49.60, which bested second-place University of California San Diego (UCSD) by eight seconds.

"We weren't really sure because we were just kind of a random boat thrown together," Allan said. "We had a good group, but we hadn't really practiced together."

Allan said the water grew rougher as the day wore on but that it played a minimal role in the race. More significant to the race, she said, was trying to coordinate the team's rowing movements.

"Rachel Savage got a pretty bad cramp," Allan said. "We had to recover from that, but from that point forward, we were all rowing pretty well together."

Despite the first-place finish by the JV women's four, Western Washington University (WWU) swept most of the events for day, living up to their No. 1 national ranking. The Vikings have not lost in a women's varsity eight or four race since the 2004 national championships, according to CBS College Sports. The Falcons are hopeful that they can qualify to compete alongside WWU at nationals in late May.

"[Qualifying for nationals] is definitely one of our goals," Chikos said. "We're trying to qualify for the team, which is qualifying your eight and your four. Last year we just qualified our eight, which was an at-large bid."

To help in that process, SPU finished third in both the women's varsity four and eight races. WWU trumped the competition in the varsity eight, finishing at 7:16.08. The remaining three teams came across the line in a cluster, with Humboldt State University (HSU) at 7:39.08, SPU just over a second behind, and UCSD fourth at 7:41.23.

"I felt like we really stepped it up," Chikos said of her varsity eight team, which placed third. "We beat a team we weren't necessarily expecting to beat. It's exciting to see our improvement."

The Falcons rowed 12 seconds off the winning pace in the women's four, with Western smoothly taking first place at a time of 8:24.90.

In the novice eight, SPU's women placed fifth in the first heat, which left them out of the final race for that event.

Earlier in the day in the men's varsity four, SPU overcame a growing wind to take second in their heat and third in the final. HSU won both races, with the Falcons finishing 18 seconds back in their heat and 39 seconds behind Humboldt in the final.

"We managed to keep ourselves together enough to make third place despite wind and choppy water," junior captain Zeke Schellberg said. "It was certainly a difficult row, but I am pleased with how we did."

The result continued to leave SPU a bit short against the Lumberjacks, who also beat the Falcons in last week's regatta. The week-to-week match-ups with rival teams like HSU provide the men's team with their source of competition.

"The racing season is a bit shorter this year than it has been in previous years, and as such, all of our regattas carry significance as opportunities for us to compete against other schools," Schellberg said. "The men's team is also a lot smaller than it has been in previous years so we don't have as many races to participate in as we normally do."

In addition to providing Schellberg and his teammates a gauge for the rest of their season, Saturday's regatta also offered a preview for the league championship, which will take place at the same southern Washington venue in the coming weeks.

"It's nice to have a familiarity with the course so we know what it's like," Allan said. "Certain ones are going to be more flat, more wavy. Coxswains have to get used to steering on different courses so they know landmarks to see how far we've gone."

After seeing the competition and future venue in Vancouver, the Falcons left looking to continue their strong training schedule.

"I remembered how much your hard work throughout the week will pay off on race day on Saturday," Chikos said, "and how important it is to reach your goals for that race so you can reach your end goals for nationals."

Test Your Crew IQ

What do crew teams call their boats?

Shells

At what time do crew members train on weekdays?

5 a.m. (6 a.m. on Saturdays)

What type of weather is ideal for rowing?

No wind and glassy water to help the boat glide easier, which is why crew teams practice and compete starting early in the morning.

What do crew team members enjoy doing together while eating breakfast in Gwinn?

Crossword puzzles (Super Quiz and Jumble are favorites)

What is the name of the only person who faces forward in a boat?

Coxswain (pronounced: kawk-sen)

Who is the most valuable member of a rowing team?

According to junior co-captain Zeke Schellberg, "There is no 'most valuable player' in a boat because the boat relies on everyone working hard and rowing together. Remove any one of the rowers from the boat, and it is instantly slower."

Other than there being two people, what is different about a rowing team in a pair's race?

There is no coxswain, so one of the team members has to turn around periodically to direct the boat.