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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5 --
Seattle Pacific at UC Davis (No webcast or LiveStats available)
The Pavilion • Davis, Calif. • 7:00 p.m. PDT
Just four weeks into the season and the Seattle Pacific gymnastics team already has its third meeting with Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rival UC Davis. The Falcons travel to Davis, Calif. for a Friday, Feb. 5 competition at 7 p.m. in The Pavilion. The dual meet is part of a unique “Beauty & the Beast” promotion during which UC Davis will host gymnastics concurrently with a wrestling match against San Francisco State. Friday marks the third of eight consecutive away meets for SPU, which does not compete at home again until a March 19 dual meet with Washington in Brougham Pavilion. Next week the Falcons travel to Idaho for a tri meet at Boise State on Friday, Feb. 12 along with Sacramento State.
Rivalry Renewed
NCAA Division I competitor UC Davis is a member of the same Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) as Seattle Pacific. The Falcons were the 2009 MPSF runners-up to Alaska Anchorage, while UC Davis was third. The Aggies outpointed SPU in both previous meetings this year, 188.825 to 188.400 on Jan. 15 in Seattle and 191.525 to 186.450 on Jan. 22 in Sacramento. UC Davis ranks No. 45 among all collegiate teams. SPU is 59th in the predominantly Division I ratings and No. 7 among USAG teams.
Recent Results
Sophomore Samantha Taylor finished fifth in her inaugural outing as an all-arounder Friday (Jan. 29) and Seattle Pacific placed third in a gymnastics tri meet won by sixth-ranked Oregon State at Gill Coliseum. The Beavers claimed the top-two all-around places and won the team competition with a season-high score of 196.225. Fifth-ranked Stanford posted a second-place point total of 195.775 and the Falcons were third at 188.100. SPU registered season-high composite scores in the uneven bars (47.375) and balance beam (45.950). Taylor compiled an all-around score of 37.50, including a 9.475 on vault, 9.65 on bars, 9.075 on beam and 9.30 on floor. She placed 11th in the bars competition, tying for the best finish by a Falcon in any event. Sophomore Sherah Veron was SPU’s top performer on the floor (9.575) and vault (9.55), finishing 11th and 13th, respectively. Falcons junior Anissa Madrid had a sixth-place all-around total of 37.275.
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.
Gym Shorts
Three Falcons recorded career-high marks at Oregon State (Jan. 29). Freshman Stephanie Wagner was the Falcons’ top beam performer with a 12th-place score of 9.475. Junior Betsy Snook received 9.575 points on the bars, the same apparatus on which sophomore Stephanie Cabrera scored a 9.525.
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.