Warming up from the cold winter, Seattle Pacific University Athletics hits the ground running for spring quarter sports.
After debuting in the fall, the women’s golf team got an early start to its spring season at the LA Spring Invite in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 3. Seattle Pacific placed 16th at the end of the two-day tournament, a position head coach Tyler Copp hopes the team can improve from.
“We discussed as a team that our success this year isn’t going to be measured where we place but more so just our improvement from day one to the end of April when it comes to GNACs,” Copp said. “I think they’ve already experienced that success.”
Women’s rowing returns on the water on Saturday, March 8, at the PLU Invitational on American Lake in Lakewood, Washington.
Head coach Caitlin McClain is excited to see the team’s success this year after taking the podium in the Varsity 4+ boat race at the 2024 NCAA Division II Championships.
“We have a strong roster this year, and I think we reached a point where we were rowing pretty well, so now let’s just work on rowing harder and longer and getting more time under tension,” McClain said. “That’s been our focus through the fall and beginning of winter.”
McClain is forward-thinking, hoping the team’s performance at the PLU Invitational will inform how to best improve in time for the Falcon Regatta, the team’s home race, on March 22.
“We’re excited to race, figure out where we are and continue to work towards getting faster,” McClain said. “The first race is about shaking off the cobwebs and the dust and tuning up on our race routine. Once we shove off, it’s an opportunity for us to make mistakes [and] to reflect on them, so that we [are] primed and ready for the next race.”
Aside from the NCAA Indoor Championships on Thursday, March 13, and Friday, March 14, Seattle Pacific’s track and field team is transitioning to its outdoor season. Head coach Karl Lerum looks forward to the expanded palette of events for his team to compete in.
“We’ve been training for good results [this] season,” Lerum said. “Outdoor is fun because we get more opportunities than we do indoor, [where] the tracks are minimal and scarce.”
Lerum has already seen promising results from the team when three individuals and one relay team posted new personal bests at their first outdoor meet of the season.
“We got very fortunate, and I was very pleased with the attitude and the effort that our athletes brought,” Lerum said. “Hopefully, everybody learned something about where they are and what they need to do to keep moving as the year goes.”
