photo courtesy Kristi Tamaki SPU women’s novice crew team takes a breather during a regatta in Vancouver, Washington earlier this season.

In their final heat on Sunday, with headwinds adding resistance, the SPU women's varsity eight crew team started off close to last place. It seemed that outside forces were working against them. Head coach Keith Jefferson looked on nervously.

As the finish neared, the women picked up the pace. Their intensity grew. In the last 100 meters, the team gained enough speed to garner a first-place finish in the grand final at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships in Sacramento, Calif.

The Falcons overtook the University of California San Diego (UCSD) by a mere 0.7 seconds, said junior stroke seat Rachel Savage.

A stroke seat sits in front of the coxswain and sets the pace for the other rowers, she said.

"We're pretty ecstatic," Savage said. "It's been a goal of ours since the beginning of the year to win at WIRA."

Jefferson's nerves were certainly calmed after the heat.

"We went in knowing we could do well," Jefferson said. "It was a big win."

Savage agreed but said that their starts weren't as good as the team would have liked. They had a similar start on Saturday in their first race of the regatta, Savage said.

"Something that happened both days was we started out the race pretty far back in the pack," said Savage. "Throughout the race, we slowly gained on our competition, especially in our sprints."

Sprints occur in the last 250 meters of the race when the rowers are nearing the end of the heat.

Ashley Sweeney/The Falcon Sophomore Tricia Omoto walks beside Junior Holly Allan, right, and the women’s crew team as they lift their boat from the water during this year’s annual Row and Run.

On Saturday morning in their first heat, the varsity eight placed second, and Savage said that their "amazing sprint" wasn't enough to beat Willamette University.

Willamette ended in 6:58.8, while SPU finished just behind in 7:01.6.

Jefferson said that the five to 10-mile-per-hour headwinds caused the final times of their races to be a bit slower.

"We were blessed not to have heavy heat," he said. Normally, the temperature is high in Sacramento, he said.

Savage said she felt the headwinds at the start but didn't notice anything during the heat because she was too focused on rowing.

The women's focus and intensity were enough to propel them onto the next phase of the season.

Not only is the varsity eight team moving on, but so is the women's varsity four.

They placed third in the first heat early on Saturday afternoon, and the women competed in the petite final later on Saturday, taking fourth place.

"They [the women's four] finished with a substantial lead over UC San Diego," Jefferson said.

SPU's time in the petite final was 8:21.9, while UCSD finished in 8:33.4.

"They [the women's four] still aren't rowing their fastest, in my opinion," Jefferson said. "So that's good."

Jefferson explained that the fact that the boat finished so far ahead of UCSD, and is still capable of better times, is good news.

Unlike the women's teams, the SPU men's pair ended their season at WIRA.

They placed second in their first heat on Saturday, losing to Loyola Marymount but beating other schools like Washington State University. The men's pair finished fifth in the grand final on Sunday.

Junior Justin Rowley, one half of the pair, said he was pleased with the finish.

"It was a good experience," Rowley said. "We're looking forward to next year."

Rowley said that the inexperience of the pair posed a challenge in this race, but he mentioned the rowing "wasn't bad."

Rowley and Zeke Schellberg have only been practicing consistently as a pair for about a month. Rowley said this was the first time the two have competed in a full race.

"For them to do that well on short notice was cool," Jefferson said.

Jefferson noted that, in spite of slow starts, headwinds, or inexperience, it was a fairly strong performance by everyone.

At this point in the season, the women are looking to be selected to take a trip to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships in Sacramento.

Jefferson said that the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships (PCRC), also in Sacramento, carry much of the weight in determining whether or not the women will move on.

"We can go at it [PCRC] with a good basis of confidence," Jefferson said. "We are trying to get faster in every aspect."

Savage put it simply.

"Any time you can show the selection committee you're fast, that's good," she said.