• 2010 USAG Event Results (pdf)

DENTON, Texas – The end of the season had a silver lining for the Seattle Pacific gymnastics team.

Falcons gymnasts Kaysha Heck and Anissa Madrid posted silver-medal performances Saturday during the individual event finals of the USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Championships at Pioneer Hall.

“They did a great job tonight,” exclaimed Laurel Tindall, who completed her 35th season as the Falcons head coach. “The level of gymnastics in this championship has really increased a lot. There were some very good performances. We just didn't get a national champion this year, but two seconds is exciting.”

Heck, a sophomore from Chrysalis High School in Woodinville, Wash., medaled in the national uneven bars competition for the second straight season. She received a second-place score of 9.650 and finished behind only the 9.775 tallied by champion Rashonda Cannie of host Texas Woman's University.

“Kaysha came out with a good routine,” described Tindall. “Her handstands were a bit short, which is the thing she's struggled with all along, but the rest of it was all really good. She stuck her dismount and ended up second, so that was really great.”

Heck finished third on bars at the 2009 USAG meet, an event in which then SPU senior Brianna Schwartz was the co-champion. Heck entered this year's finals with a 10th-place qualifying score, the same as last season.

“Kaysha went in pretty much as the bottom score, exactly the position that she was in last year,” Tindall said. “It definitely did help her having that experience a year ago. She knew that everybody was starting over and that she was capable of hitting a good routine and finishing higher.”

Falcons' junior Laura Willis (Temecula, Calif.) received a score of 9.525 on Saturday to tie for 10th on bars.

Madrid, a junior, was the national runner-up on the balance beam with a score of 9.750. The product of Kennedy High School in Burien, Wash., finished eighth among all-around competitors with a score of 37.875 on Thursday on the opening day of the national championships.

“Anissa had an awesome routine,” said Tindall. “It was probably the best routine she did in competition all year. She definitely rose to the challenge.”

TWU's Brittany Johnson had a first-place beam score of 9.800.

The Falcons fourth participant in the event finals was sophomore Sherah Veron (Broken Arrow, Okla.). She tied for seventh on vault with a mark of 9.675.

Cornell's Emily Santoro and TWU's Kristin Edwards each scored 9.763 to tie for top honors on the vault. Monica Mesalles of Bridgeport had a first-place score of 9.850 on the floor exercise.

Heck, Madrid, Veron and Willis each earned first-team All-America accolades. Madrid also reaped additional All-America honors as an all-around finalist.

SPU sophomore Samantha Taylor (San Carlos, Calif.) received second-team All-America recognition as a finals alternate in both the vault and beam events.

Sponsored by USA Gymnastics, the collegiate national championships include primarily NCAA Division II and III members. Some Division I schools that choose to adhere to scholarship limits also compete at the USAG meet.

On Thursday, Seattle Pacific compiled 187.925 team points to finish third in its semifinal session. The Falcons missed qualifying for Friday's team finals by one place. Bridgeport captured its second straight team championship.

SPU won an NCAA Division II title in 1986 followed by USAG crowns in 1992 and 1997.

The Falcons participated in the national championship meet for the 28th time in the last 29 years. Their lone absence during that span came last season.

SPU does not have any seniors, so the entire roster is eligible to return next season. This year's young team included 10 sophomores and two freshmen.

“It's definitely a big advantage for us next year having this experience here, just like it was a disadvantage not being here as a team last year,” Tindall said. “We have so many sophomores that missed that opportunity of being at nationals last year. Some of our errors Thursday were just because we were young.

“Now they've got it figured out a little more and they should do better in the future with a better idea what to expect.”


USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Championships
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Pioneer Hall/Denton, Texas

Vault
1t, Emily Santoro, Cornell, 9.763
1t, Kristin Edwards, Texas Woman's, 9.763
3, Amy Winczura, Texas Women's, 9.738
4, Katie Canning, Temple, 9.725
5, Amanda Holt, Centenary, 9.713
6, Teenie Beck, William & Mary, 9.688
7t, Sherah Veron, Seattle Pacific, 9.675
7t, Brittany Johnson, Texas Woman's, 9.675
9, Tiara Land, Bridgeport, 9.650
10t, Alyssa Lewandowski, Rutgers, 9.575
10t, Laura Sevarino, Rutgers, 9.575
12, Kaity Watson, Temple, 9.375

Uneven Bars
1, Rashonda Cannie, Texas Woman's, 9.775
2, Kaysha Heck, Seattle Pacific, 9.650
3t, Maddie Pearsall, Cornell, 9.625
3t, Gabriella Sanguineti, Cornell, 9.625
3t, Erica Gerlach, Rutgers, 9.625
6t, Justine Basley, Southern Connecticut, 9.600
6t, Adriana Erra, Bridgeport, 9.600
6t, Lorraine Galow, Bridgeport, 9.600
9, Chelsea Troutman, Temple, 9.575
10t, Laura Willis, Seattle Pacific, 9.525
10t, Carissa Huggins, Bridgeport, 9.525
12, Brittany Johnson, Texas Woman's, 9.350

Balance Beam
1, Brittany Johnson, Texas Woman's, 9.800
2, Anissa Madrid, Seattle Pacific, 9.750
3t, Monica Mesalles, Bridgeport, 9.725
3t, Emily Repko, Bridgeport, 9.725
5, Michelle Graves, Texas Woman's, 9.625
6, Corrine Williams, Temple, 9.575
7, Katie Canning, Temple, 9.575
8, Melanie Standridge, Cornell, 9.525
9, Lorraine Galow, Bridgeport, 9.000
10, Leigh Heinbaugh, Rutgers, 8.650

Floor Exercise
1, Monica Mesalles, Bridgeport, 9.850
2, Kristin Edwards, Texas Woman's, 9.800
3t, Nina Oteri, Temple, 9.750
3t, Amy Winczura, Texas Woman's, 9.750
5, Emily Lenk, Cornell, 9.725
6t, Corrine Williams, Temple, 9.700
6t, Beanna Collins, Bridgeport, 9.700
8, Whitney Daughtery, Centenary, 9.700
9t, Laura Sevarino, Rutgers, 9.625
9t, Jessica Watts, Bridgeport, 9.625
11, Caroine Hilpisch, Texas Woman's, 9.600
12, Jenna Dudley, Air Force, 9.550