SEATTLE -- Deni Maxwell, a three-time national champion competitor at Seattle Pacific, returns to her alma mater for a second assistant-coaching stint, Head Coach Laurel Tindall announced Monday.
 
Maxwell previously served as an assistant on the SPU gymnastics staff from September 1998 through August 2000. Prior to that she competed four years, under her maiden name, Boswell.
 
"It is always great to have alumnae come back and join the coaching staff and in Deni's case to reprise her former role as assistant coach," said Tindall. "Deni is passionate about SPU gymnastics and is already jumping into her role as assistant coach even though she doesn't officially start until September."

 

Maxwell won the all-around and uneven bars national titles as a senior in 1998. She was the USA Gymnastics bars champion in 1996.
 
As a junior in 1997, Maxwell helped the Falcons capture their third national team championship.
 
"Deni has a keen eye for gymnastics performance and as a former national all-around and uneven bars champion she brings an enormous amount of experience to our coaching staff," Tindall added.
 
A 1994 graduate of Meadowdale High School, north of Seattle, Maxwell was listed No. 32 in a ranking of the top Snohomish County athletes produced in 2005 by the Everett Herald newspaper.
 
As a Seattle Pacific competitor she accumulated numerous awards, including nine All-America certificates. She was honored as both the SPU and USA Gymnastics Athlete of the Year in 1998.
 
Scores that Maxwell posted still rank among the highest in school history. Her 9.925 bars best ranks No. 2 all-time among Falcons gymnasts. She registered an all-around total of 39.025 that is SPU's 11th-highest four-event figure.
 
A 1998 Seattle Pacific graduate with a bachelor's degree in sociology, Maxwell worked as an assistant coach for two seasons. She completed her masters in physical education and sports administration at SPU in 2004.
 
Maxwell remained active in gymnastics from 2001-05 as a head coach at Northwest Aerials for program levels 4 through 10.
 
She spent five years as the owner of Life Safety Innovations, which manufactured and distributed disaster survival kits, and currently volunteers at The Academy of Snohomish and Adventure Soccer.
 
Returning to Seattle Pacific, Maxwell rejoins a program that is a regular visitor to the USA Gymnastics championships. The Falcons placed fifth at the 2017 national meet in their own Brougham Pavilion. They participated in 35 of the last 36 championship meets, winning titles in 1986, 1992 and 1997.
 
Maxwell replaces six-year assistant coach Carly Dockendorf, who resigned in April to move with her family to Salt Lake City, Utah where her husband, Henry Ruggiero, is the Director of Physical Performance for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer.
 
"Deni's high level of enthusiasm for the student-athletes, the program and SPU made her the logical choice to step into the shoes vacated by Carly Dockendorf," said Tindall.