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      • VIDEO: Sherah Veron

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27 --
Seattle Pacific at UC Davis (with California), 7:00 p.m. PST
The Pavilion • Davis, Calif.
Live Scoring:
 www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/w-gym/stats/2011-2012/012712.html

The Seattle Pacific gymnasts embark on their second straight trip to California, this time visiting UC Davis for a tri-meet on Jan. 27. A 7 p.m. start is slated for Friday's meet at The Pavilion that includes NCAA Division I competitors California along with the host Aggies. The Division II Falcons, who visited San Jose State last week, return home next week to host Air Force in Brougham Pavilion on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.

Live Scoring
There is no webcast for Friday's meet, but a webpage of scores with be updated throughout the meet at: www.ucdavisaggies.com

Friday's Foes
California is ranked No. 38 nationally after registering a score of 194.050 on Friday in a dual-meet setback at Arizona State. UC Davis is a member of the same Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) as SPU. The Aggies are ranked No. 50 nationally with a high score of 191.450. Seattle Pacific ranks 56th among all college teams (190.300) in the rankings that are dominated by Division I squads. The Falcons are rated No. 4 among teams that will vie for the USA Gymnastics (USAG) collegiate championship.



Recent Recap
Sherah Veron won the floor competition and placed second on the vault Friday in a road dual meet against 19th-ranked San Jose State at Spartan Gym. At least one gymnast placed among the top-three finishers in all four events for the Falcons, who compiled a season-high team score of 190.300. The host Spartans tallied a first-place mark of 193.675. Veron's remarkable floor routine received a score of 9.875 from the judges, the highest point total for a Falcon in any event since 2010.Veron was the vault runner-up with a career-best score of 9.775 and junior teammate Jenna Dudley, a transfer from Air Force, was third at 9.750. That high-scoring duo enabled the Falcons to tally a 48.200 team score on vault. They did not surpass 48.00 on the vault in either of the last two seasons. San Jose's Thomasina Wallace won the vault (9.850), bars (9.825) and beam (9.850) events en route to a winning all-around total of 38.900. Two Falcons tied for second-place honors in their respective events. Senior Texie Gregory registered a career-high 9.700 on bars and Stephanie Wagner scored 9.725 on beam.

Notable
The last time an SPU gymnast earned a higher score than Sherah Veron's 9.875 floor mark on Friday was Mar. 27, 2010 when Veron had a first-place floor score of 9.90 at the MPSF Championships in Seattle ... Texie Gregory was SPU's top bars performer in both meets and Stephanie Wagner topped the team twice on the beam.

Bridgeport Bound?
The season starts in Seattle. The Falcons hope it ends in Bridgeport, Conn., the site of the 2012 USA Gymnastics (USAG) Collegiate Championships, April 12-14. SPU is a perennial championship contender, qualifying for 29 of the last 30 national meets for NCAA Division II schools. Since 1982, the Falcons only missed out in 2009.

Strenuous Schedule
Seattle Pacific is an NCAA Division II member that competes for the USA Gymnastics (USAG) Collegiate championship. Most of the Falcons opponents are from NCAA Division I, including three clashes with teams ranked in the top-25 nationally.

Proud History
While the dictionary entry for “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 29 of the last 30 championship meets (1982-2008, 2010). They narrowly missed a qualifying berth in 2009. SPU gymnasts have won 22 national crowns and collected 160 All-America awards.

Season Preview
The Seattle Pacific women's gymnastics team reached the four-team finals at the 2011 USAG Collegiate Championships. They seek do replicate that feat in 2012 and improve on the fourth-place finish. That is an attainable goal according to Laurel Tindall, in her 37th season as SPU's coach. “Some things are going to have to fall into place for us, injuries are always a factor in that. We again have some good kids, we have some standouts on certain events and some All-Americans returning that will really help us in that quest.” Despite the departure of six letterwinners, including All-Americans Anissa Madrid and Bri Steigauf, the Falcons have a foundation of 13 letterwinners on which to build. Heading the list of returnees are three All-Americans who competed in the event finals at the 2011 USAG championships. Corrine Wise placed third on the beam, Samantha Taylor was fifth on the bars and Sherah Veron was 13th on the floor. A talented group of seven newcomers joins the roster and Tindall expects some of them to contribute immediately. “Shannon (Escarra) and Sydney (Clark) are both coming in as experienced freshmen ready to compete. We also have transfer Jenna Dudley from the Air Force Academy who has two years of collegiate experience under her belt and will come in and help us on vault and bars particularly.” SPU will rely on a bevy of event specialists in pursuit of its 30th championship meet berth in the last 31 years. “Sam Taylor did great last year getting All-American on bars and she'll be great again on that this year. Sherah Veron on vault and floor is doing really well. Stephanie Wagner will excel on beam and floor and she's also done a great job on bars this year.”

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, 38 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 37th year as head coach, Tindall's SPU teams have won three national championships (1997, 1992, 1986). 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. She also operates the Falcon Gymnastics Center for local youths.

Home Sweet Brougham
The Falcons host three home meets at Brougham Pavilion on the Seattle Pacific campus. 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 national championship meet three times, most recently in 2007 when the Falcons finished second. SPU opened the season at home on Jan. 13 and hosts Air Force on Feb. 3 and UC Davis on Feb. 24. Those home dual meets start at 7 p.m.