Home sweet home. After improving upon its first week's score but managing to finish only fourth at Stanford, the Seattle Pacific University gymnastics team (0-4) seeks to post bigger and better numbers on its home mats as it duals against crosstown rival Washington, Friday night (Feb. 1). The Falcons, No. 6 among USA Gymnastics (Division II) teams, meet the Huskies (4-2), the 13th-ranked team in NCAA Division I, before visiting San Jose State for a three-way meet involving Air Force Feb. 14.

Tall order. Seldom do the Huskies make their way west to Brougham Pavilion (once in the last four years) and even more rare are the Falcons' victories in this series. Still, the home-floor advantage has proven vital to Seattle Pacific's hopes of a win. In fact, each of the Falcons' three wins in the series have come at the pavilion. The last time SPU pulled an upset, in 1997 over an 8th-ranked UW team, it proved to be a harbinger of things to come as the Birds went on to claim a third national title. Laurel (Anderson) Tindall, now the head coach, and Debbie Halle combined to beat the Huskies in the program's first-ever meet back in 1974 and the next win, in 1987, also occurred on Nickerson Street.

Get well-soon. It's questionable whether Seattle Pacific currently has the capability of bringing down Washington. Still laden with injuries, the Falcons have struggled to fill lineup sheets as of late and they had only five performers on floor last week. They have not surpassed 188 points in the first two meets while the Huskies have not dropped below 194. The vault has been the strongest event for both teams. SPU scored 47.975 on opening night and 47.575 last week at Stanford. Washington leads Division I in the vault, averaging 49.325.

California girls. Performing in front of friends and family seemed to boost the resolve of a couple of California natives. Over the weekend, Kristen Strid (Sr., Kingsburg, Ca./Kingsburg Joint Union) continued her team domination of the uneven bars, swinging a 9.775 to improve by more than a full point on her season opening score of 9.650. Strid also walked the beam to earn a 9.600. What makes those marks so interesting is the fact that Strid missed the entire week of practice prior to the meet at Stanford. Another Golden Stater, Jennifer Christman (Jr., Fairfield, Ca./Benicia), pulled a couple of fancy release moves on the bars to finish just .050 behind Strid at 9.725. Christman's performance was a season high as was her vault performance (9.550).

Down on The Farm. The mats at Stanford were brimming with the some of the nation's top-notch gymnasts and although Seattle Pacific did not land an athlete on the awards podium, Corrie McDaniel (So., Lawrence, Ks.) did manage an eighth-place finish in the all-around competition. McDaniel posted a career-high 9.675 on vault and a 9.575 on floor, a boost of 0.475 over opening night. However, just as in the first meet, McDaniel had two poor events. She took a combined three falls on beam and bars. Stanford's Lise Leveille and Tanya Ricioli of Oregon State tied for first in the all-around with 39.475.

Career marks. Several gymnasts posted career-highs at Stanford. Melissa Stanton (Jr., Rapid City, SD/Central-Hamline) hit a 9.750 on bars while Rachael Anderson (Sr., Yakima, Wa./West Valley) posted Seattle Pacific's top finish on floor exercise with a 9.675 and popped off a career-high 9.525 on vault as well. Stanton, an all-arounder the last two years, has been plagued by a sore back, thus limiting her availability. Annastasia Ahr (Jr., San Antonio, Tx./Blessed Hope Academy) swung a career-high on bars with a 9.675.

Gym shorts. UC Davis entered the week ranked No. 1 among USAG teams, followed by defending champion Air Force, Texas Woman's, Temple, Centenary and SPU. The Falcons are No. 2 behind Texas Woman's in vault average. Individually, Strid ranks No. 2 on bars and No. 7 on beam. She leads the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation on bars and is No .8 on beam. McDaniel is No. 6 nationally on vault and Anderson is No. 8 on floor...Cindy Reed (Fr., Antioch, Ca./Deer Valley) vaulted a 9.375 and hit 9.300 and 9.450 on beam and floor, respectively...Jaynie Reynolds (Fr., White Rock, BC/South Delta) landed a 9.450 on vault...Kari Kelley (Fr., Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) launched a 9.350 on vault and danced her way to a 9.450 on floor exercise...The Falcons posted 47.450 on bars, 45.325 on beam and 47.475 on floor exercise, the floor total coming in at nearly two full points better than that of opening week (45.875)...Tindall is still without the services of Elisabeth Kingsley (So., Kennesaw, Ga./Harrison), Julie Evin (Fr., Vancouver, Wa./Mountain View) and Anna Leiferman (Fr., Thornton, Co./Horizon). Kingsley is still recovering from reconstructive knee surgery from an injury which she suffered at nationals, but may make her way back into a lineup later this month. Evin remains out indefinitely and Leiferman may redshirt.

Tickets, please. General admission tickets for all SPU home gymnastics meets are priced $5 with students, youth and senior citizens $3 with proper identification. Teams or groups can qualify for discount rates by call (206) 281-2085 in advance.

SPU Coaches. Coach Laurel Tindall is a veteran of the sport and is synonymous with the university. Originally, she competed for the Falcons, then replaced her mentor, George Lewis, immediately following graduation. Subsequently, she has served in her position for 27 years. Under her guidance, SPU has won three national championships and, individually, her gymnasts have taken 15 titles. Three times Tindall has been honored as national coach of the year. Kathy Siwek returns for her third season as an assistant coach. Siwek was a two-time All-America and a member of the 1997 national championship team. Alison Siegel-McAfee joins the staff after having completed her career in 2002 as a four-time All-America and school record-holder in vault, beam and all-around.

Missing links. For the latest and best information on Seattle Pacific University athletics, stay where you're at -- on The Falcons Online. For updated standings and statistics, see the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web site.