• Team Semifinal Results (Session 1)
     • Team Semifinal Results (Session 2)   
     • Session 1 scoresheet (pdf)
     • Session 2 scoresheet (pdf)

DENTON, Texas – Junior Anissa Madrid placed eighth in the all-around competition, but her Seattle Pacific gymnastics team faltered on the floor Thursday to narrowly miss qualifying for the finals with a third-place result in their semifinal session of the USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Championships at Pioneer Hall.

Bridgeport topped the session 1 field with a score of 192.575 followed by Rutgers at 189.400. Those two will be joined in Friday's team finals by host Texas Woman's University (193.500) and Cornell (191.675), the top-two finishers from the second session.

The Falcons registered a third-place score of 187.925 and Air Force was fourth at 185.925 in the opening session. Temple was third in the evening session (191.375) and William & Mary was fourth (190.800).

The collegiate national championships include primarily NCAA Division II and III members. Some Division I schools that choose to adhere to the limit of 7 1/2 scholarships also compete at the USAG meet.

SPU participated in the championship meet for the 28th time in the last 29 years. The Falcons have won three national titles, in 1986, 1992 and 1997.

Rashonda Cannie of TWU successfully defended her all-around title with a first-place score of 38.725. Cannie finished in a three-way tie for the 2009 national championship.

Teenie Beck of William & Mary was second in the all-around (38.700) and Centenary's Marisa Schneider was third (38.425).

Madrid, a product of Kennedy High School in Burien, Wash., placed second in the first session with an all-around score of 37.875 that put her one-tenth point behind overall seventh-place finisher Melissa Cream of William & Mary (37.975).

“Anissa hit four-for-four on her routines,” said Laurel Tindall, who is in her 35th year as the SPU head coach. “She didn't hit every event as strong as she is capable of hitting, but she was good, especially her beam. She fought to stay on everything and really showed some mental toughness there.”

Falcons sophomore Samantha Taylor (San Carlos, Calif.) compiled 36.850 all-around points to tie for 16th in the final standings.

The team semifinals were used to determine the 10 finalists on each apparatus for Saturday's individual event championships.

Four Falcons earned berths into the event finals, including sophomore Kaysha Heck (Edmonds, Wash./Chrysalis HS) and Willis, who tied for fourth in the first session with matching uneven bars scores of 9.600. Heck was the bronze medalist at last year's USAG championships.

Madrid will challenge for the balance beam title on Saturday after receiving a score of 9.700, the fourth-best among session 1 competitors.

Sophomore Sherah Veron (Broken Arrow, Okla.) will compete in the vault finals after recording a preliminary mark of 9.600.

The gymnasts start from scratch in the event finals, with the champions being decided by Saturday's results alone.

“Anyone can have a good routine on Saturday and win,” Tindall said. “Look at the fact that Kaysha (Heck) came into finals last year ranked last in bars and came out third. So, she knows that she can get better.”

Brianna Schwartz, a senior last season, tied for top honors on the bars at the 2009 USAG meet to become the 22nd national champion in SPU gymnastics history.

SPU will not have a gymnast in the floor finals. The Falcons' top floor performer was sophomore Aditi Kulkarni (Lakewood, Colo.), who score of 9.550 tied for 14th in the first session.

The Falcons opened Thursday's meet on the bars and amassed a team score of 46.950, the third best in that event. The beam was next and SPU's score of 47.475 was the first session's second-best.

Three falls during the third rotation led to a season-low floor score of 46.250 that was 1.3 points behind the third-place team in that event.

The event that spoiled SPU's finals hopes on Thursday was the apparatus that secured their second-place finish at the conference meet during their last outing.

SPU climbed from last place to second on March 27 at Brougham Pavilion with a 48.950 score on floor that was their highest of the season. Had they matched that effort on Thursday, the Falcons would have easily qualified for Saturday's team finals.

“A lot of them missed their last passes,” Tindall said of the Falcons' floor routines. “They didn't rely on doing what they know they can do. They didn't rely on good technique and things they needed to do to land their pass on their feet. It was real disappointing.”

The Falcons closed out the meet with a score of 47.250 on vault, the third-best team mark in their session.

“Team-wise we didn't do the job very well. We had lots of misses,” explained Tindall, who faulted inexperience for the subpar team performance.

“The three kids who had been to nationals before all hit their events. The kids that had no experience coming to nationals, hopefully this experience will give them a better idea what to expect next year.”

SPU does not have any seniors. The entire roster is eligible to return next season, including 10 sophomores and two freshmen.


USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Championships
Pioneer Hall/Denton, Texas
Thursday, April 15, 2010

ALL-AROUND CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

1, Rashonda Cannie, Texas Woman's, 38.725
2t, Lorraine Galow, Bridgeport, 38.700
2t, Teenie Beck, William & Mary, 38.700
4, Marisa Schneider, Centenary, 38.425
5, Brittany Johnson, Texas Woman's, 38.400
6, Kristin Milardo, William & Mary, 38.275
7, Melissa Cream, William & Mary, 37.975
8, Anissa Madrid, SPU, 37.875
9, Corrine Williams, Temple, 37.850
10, Miranda Der, Bridgeport, 37.825


TEAM SEMIFINAL RESULTS
(top 2 in each session advance to Friday's final)

Session 1
1, Bridgeport, 192.575
2, Rutgers, 189.400
3, Seattle Pacific, 187.925
4, Air Force, 185.925

Session 2
1, Texas Woman's University, 193.500
2, Cornell, 191.675
3, Temple, 191.375
4, William & Mary, 190.800


SPU QUALIFIERS FOR SATURDAY'S EVENT FINALS
 
Vault
Sherah Veron

Uneven Bars
Kaysha Heck
Laura Willis

Balance Beam
Anissa Madrid