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FRIDAY, JANUARY 29 --
Seattle Pacific at Oregon State Tri Meet ( with Stanford)
Gill Coliseum • Corvallis, Ore. • 7:00 p.m. PDT
LiveStats: http://www.osubeavers.com/livestats/w-gym/20100129.htm

The Seattle Pacific gymnastics team continues its eight-meet road stretch with a tough tri-meet test in Corvallis, Ore. on Friday, Jan. 29. The NCAA Division II Falcons will compete against top-10 ranked Division I opponents Oregon State and Stanford at Gill Coliseum. That is the second of eight consecutive away meets for SPU, which does not compete at home in Brougham Pavilion until a March 19 dual meet with Washington. Next week the Falcons travel to California for a dual meet at UC Davis on Friday, Feb. 5.

Follow the Action
Falcons fans can follow Friday's action as is happens via internet LiveStats at: www.osubeavers.com/livestats/w-gym/20100129.htm

Tri-Meet Field
Host Oregon State and Stanford are NCAA Division I competitors. Stanford is ranked No. 5 nationally with a high score of 196.425 while the No. 6 Beavers' have a best mark of 196.125. Stanford features the nation's second-ranked all-arounder in Carly Janiga (39.55) and OSU has No. 7 Makayla Stambaugh (39.50). Division II SPU ranks 58th among all collegiate competitors and No. 6 among teams that will vie for the USA Gymnastics collegiate title. Anissa Madrid has the Falcons top all-around mark of 37.40

Recent Results
Texie Gregory set a career-high 9.55 score with a sixth-place beam performance Friday (Jan. 22) and SPU finished third (186.450) in a women's gymnastics tri-meet at the Hornets Nest. UC Davis gymnasts registered the top three all-around marks en route to a first-place team score of 191.525. Host Sacramento State was second at 190.700. SPU junior Anissa Madrid finished fifth in the all-around (37.125), including an eighth-place bars score of 9.575.For the second straight week, the floor exercise was the Falcons best event (47.25). The Falcons were edged 188.825 to 188.400 in the Jan. 15 season opener in Seattle. SPU's vault score (47.975) was higher than in any 2009 meet.

Gym Shorts
Three returning Falcons were at-large competitors at the 2009 USAG meet. Kaysha Heck placed third on bars, Laura Willis was 17th in the all-around and Bri Steigauf was 54th on floor ... SPU returns its top scorer in three events from 2009. Sherah Veron, Lari Wilson, Laura Willis and Anissa Madrid each posted a 9.65 on vault, Kaysha Heck had a 9.775 on bars and Bri Steigauf's 9.825 was the team's best floor performance.

Targeting Texas
The season started in Seattle. The Falcons hope it ends in Denton, Texas. That's the site of the 2010 USGA Collegiate Championships, April 15-17. The SPU gymnastics squad competed in 27 consecutive national championship meets before falling just short of a team-qualifying berth in 2009. They would like to start the streak up again.

Strenuous Schedule
Seattle Pacific is an NCAA Division II member that competes alongside some Division I and II foes for the USA Gymnastics (USAG) Collegiate championship. The Falcons entire regular-season schedule is comprised of NCAA Division I opposition.

Proud History
While the dictionary definition of “consistency” makes no mention of gymnastics or Seattle Pacific University, the Falcons certainly have defined the word. From the very first meet way back in 1974 to a run of 20 consecutive top-four finishes at nationals, including championships in 1986, 1992 and 1997, SPU has made the kind of lasting impression that few programs anywhere can match. The Falcons earned invitations to 27 consecutive championship meets (1982-2008) before narrowly missing a qualifying berth last season. Debbie Halle, then a freshman in the fledgling Falcon program, set the tone in 1974 by winning the uneven bars championship at the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) nationals. From that moment, Seattle Pacific gymnasts have captured 22 national crowns and collected 147 All-America awards.

Coach Tindall
Laurel Tindall (Anderson) was there the very first time a group of Seattle Pacific gymnasts marched onto the competition floor in 1974. Now, 36 years later, she still is an integral part of a program that she helped nurture and lead to a prominent spot on the national scene since taking the coaching reigns in 1976. Whether as an athlete, coach or international-level judge, Tindall has spent a lot of time at the top of the gymnastics world. As she enters her 35th year as head coach, Tindall's SPU teams have won three national championships. Falcon athletes garnered 22 national crowns, one of which she earned on the vault in 1975. Tindall has been named the national Coach of the Year four times, most recently in 2003. And, in a tribute to all of her accomplishments in the Seattle Pacific gym, Tindall is a charter member of the Falcon Legends Hall of Fame. Tindall also operates the Falcon Gymnastics Center for local youths.

Season Preview
Youth still dominates the roster, but experience is in greater supply for the 2010 edition of Seattle Pacific gymnastics. The team is built around a 10-gymnast sophomore class that saw a great deal of competition last year in their collegiate debuts. The Falcons have just five juniors and no seniors. Laurel Tindall, in her 35th season as SPU's coach, is optimistic. “We've got some great talent. Our top three are reasonably strong on each event, it's just numbers four, five and six that we need to solidify.” The biggest task will be replacing uneven bars national champion Brianna Schwartz, SPU's top all-arounder in 2009. Helping fill that void is the full-time return of junior Anissa Madrid, who missed all but the final meet last year. Madrid posted the team's best all-around score (38.825) in 2008. “She's easily capable of winning nationals. She has all of the ingredients,” says Tindall. Also expected to compete as an all-arounder is incoming freshman Stephanie Wagner a talented gymnast from Estacada, Ore. The Falcons' only other newcomer is freshman Ami Khauv, a vault and beam specialist from Monticello, Minn. SPU will rely on a bevy of event specialists in its pursuit of its 28th championship meet berth in the last 29 years. A trio of standouts highlights the vault corps in Sherah Veron, Lari Wilson and Madrid. The bars lineup features sophomore Kaysha Heck, the bronze medalist at the 2009 USAG meet. Madrid and Wagner project as the best beam and floor performers. Bri Steigauf could again top the floor field when she returns from an ankle injury.

Home Sweet Home
The Falcons host three home meets at Brougham Pavilion on the Seattle Pacific campus, including the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championship on March 27 at 6 p.m. The arena is located at the corner of Third Avenue West and Nickerson Street (3414 Third Ave. W, Seattle, WA, 98119). Brougham has hosted the USAG national championship meet three times, most recently in 2007 when the Falcons finished second.