• Complete results (pdf) | •
Final scores (html)
• VIDEO: Kristi Hayashida
SEATTLE – The calendar still says January. But the scores posted by Seattle Pacific's gymnasts on Friday night said March – loud and clear.
Senior
Kai Tindall and freshman
Lauren Glover set two career highs apiece – Tindall on the balance beam and floor exercise, Glover on the vault and the floor –
Maria Hundley tied for first on the vault, and the Falcons blew through the 193-point barrier, finishing with 193.425 and coming within half a point of crosstown rival Washington in a dual meet at Brougham Pavilion. The Huskies totaled 193.925.
The narrow final point differential behind the NCAA Division I Huskies stunned Coach
Laurel Tindall, whose Division II SPU squad trailed 146.475 to 144.550 entering the final event.
"I was surprised how close it ended up because I knew we were a couple points behind them after three events. They had a couple falls on beam and I thought we might have made up a little on floor. But I didn't think we would get within five-tenths, exactly."
The team total was the seventh-best score in SPU history, exceeding the 193.200 posted in last year's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship meet. The Falcons hit 193 points three times last season – twice in March and the last time on April 12 when they scored a school-record 193.900 at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships.
Friday marked the first time in the 41-year history of the program that SPU had hit 193 in January. Its earliest 193 before that was at the end of February in 2001.
"That's a really good score for this time of the year," exclaimed Tindall, who has been talking about posting a lofty early-season team tally since the first meet of the 2014 campaign.
"I said we were a 192 or 193 team and it was going to happen soon. I predicted that we would get there by the end of January and that's really where we are."
Kai Tindall (Brier, Wash. / Mountlake Terrace HS) capped Seattle Pacific's evening with a 9.825 on the floor, beating her old high of 9.800. She finished in a three-way tie for second place.
Just a few minutes prior to that, Tindall's no-fall beam routine merited a 9.75, gaining a share of third place. It exceeded her previous best of 9.70.
Glover (Fort Collins, Colo.) notched career-best marks of 9.70 on the vault and 9.775 on the floor. The vault score bettered the 9.675 she had last week in a four-way meet at Lindenwood (Mo.), and her floor score exceeded the 9.725 she posted in the season-opening meet against Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 10.
Sophomore Hundley (Littleton, Colo.) tied her season high on the vault with a 9.80 to earn part of a three-way tie for first place. UW's Alexandra Yacalis and Allison Northey matched her effort on the vault.
"She's got a great vault and she should tie for first," Coach Tindall said. "Her vault should rival any Division I kids doing that vault."
The Falcons also had two other career highs on Friday. Junior
Teryn Loland (Kenmore, Wash. / Inglemoor HS) scored 9.675 on the vault (previous 9.600), and freshman
Kristi Hayashida (Mililai, Hawaii) earned 9.75 on the beam (previous 9.225) to tie for third on that apparatus.
Seattle Pacific posted season-best team scores on three of the four events, and outscored the Huskies on the beam (47.825-47.45) and floor (48.875-48.775). The Falcons also had their best total of the year on the vault with 48.275.
The beam total included four no-fall routines: Tindall, Hayashida, Hundley (9.60), and junior
Shannon Escarra (Fayetteville, Ga., 9.725, a season high).
SPU set its tone for the night early. The first nine performances – all six on the vault, followed by three on the bars – were either career highs (two), season highs (five) or tied season highs (two).
The Huskies' Aliza Vaccher won the beam (9.85) and floor (9.875) titles en route to a first-place all-around total of 39.225. UW's Jacki McCartin topped the bars field with a 9.85.
The Falcons celebrated Alumni Night on Friday, and also honored the memory of former SPU star Corine Frohm Olsen, who passed away unexpectedly in September. Frohm, a graduate of state high school powerhouse Newport in nearby Bellevue, was a member of the Falcons' U.S. Gymnastics Federation national champions in 1992. She was an All-American on the bars in 1990 and 1991, and also was the team MVP in '91.
Frohm served as Newport's head coach from 1993-95, and also became a top-caliber judge.
Seattle Pacific is on the road next week, visiting Air Force at Colorado Springs on Saturday, Feb. 1, in a meet that also includes Utah State.
"Now we have to go and do the same thing away and we have to go do it at Air Force, which is always a little tough for us," Tindall said. "Hopefully they're going to be up for doing it."
NCAA WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS
Friday, January 24, 2014
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
Team Scores
1, Washington 193.925
2, Seattle Pacific 193.425
Vault
1t,
Maria Hundley, SPU, 9.800
1t, Alexanddra Yacalis, UW, 9.800
1t, Allison Northey, UW, 9.800
Uneven Bars
1, Jackie McCartin, UW, 9.85
2, Janae Janik, UW, 9.825
3t, Allison Northey, UW, 9.800
3t, Sheridan Metcalf, UW, 9.800
5,
Maria Hundley, SPU, 9.775
Balance Beam
1, Aliza Vaccher, UW, 9.850
2, Jackie McCartin, UW, 9.825
3t,
Kristi Hayashida, SPU, 9.750
3t,
Kai Tindall, SPU, 9.750
Floor Exercise
1, Aliza Vaccher, UW, 9.875
2t,
Kai Tindall, SPU, 9.825
2t, Allison Northey, UW, 9.825
2t, Alexandra Yacalis, UW, 9.825
All-Around
1, Aliza Vaccher, UW, 39.225
2, Allison Northey, UW, 38.575
3, Janae Janik, UW, 38.025
No SPU all-arounders
Next Meet
Seattle Pacific at Air Force (with Utah State)
Saturday, Feb. 1, 6:00 p.m. PST
Cadet West Gym / Colorado Springs, Colo.
