Welcome mats, Part II. After picking up its third consecutive victory in as many meets and completing a season series sweep of UC Davis, the fifth-ranked Seattle Pacific University gymnastics squad remains at home Saturday night (Mar.1). The Falcons (3-6) face Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rival Sacramento State (5-10) in the first of two duels between the teams. Next week SPU ventures to the first of three consecutive away meets, a three-way with Oregon State and Denver University in Corvallis.

Lots of mo. Although the scores have yet to reach an acceptable level, the competitive juices are definitely flowing. The Falcons have got some serious momentum going into this week, at least in terms of victories. The last time an SPU team notched three victories in as many meets was at the outset of 1994, and the Falcons finished went on to place third at the USA Gymnastics national meet that year. Sacramento State is also the last true Division I (non-USAG) team that Seattle Pacific has beaten. The Hornets, currently No. 2 in the MPSF, will host SPU in a Mar. 14 duel and again Mar. 29 in the conference meet.

Flying high. Coach Laurel Tindall has the Falcons flying high near the season's midway point. Although the Birds have been above the 190 benchmark just once in their first half-dozen meets, it's only a matter of time before they break the barrier again and again. The cause for optimism? SPU has posted season-high marks on two different apparatuses the last two meets. Two weeks ago it was the uneven bars (48.275) and beam (47.800). Against UC Davis last week, Seattle Pacific improved by .150 on the balance beam (47.950). The 188.200-187.375 defeat of the Aggies marked the first season sweep since 2000.

First & foremost. All-America all-arounder Corrie McDaniel (So., Lawrence, Ks.) has yet to notch her first real all-around victory in '03, but she capped her last meet with a 9.800 on floor exercise to win that event after tying for third on bars (9.775) earlier. So far, McDaniel's meet performances have been marred by falls but Tindall is considering altering routines to reduce those chances. Against the Aggies, McDaniel finished with an all-around total of 37.425-just 0.50 beyond the first-place score. McDaniel and Jaynie Reynolds (Fr., White Rock, BC/South Delta) have helped SPU rise to No. 3 in team vaulting and it was that event which proved decisive in the victory over UC Davis. McDaniel is No. 5 nationally among individual vaulters and Reynolds, who hit a season-high of 9.600 (second place) last week, is No. 8.

Women behind bars. While the rest of the squad had its difficulties on bars last week, it was more-of-the-same from the Falcons' two swinging standouts, Kristen Strid (Sr., Kingsburg, Ca./Kingsburg Joint Union) and Melissa Stanton (Jr., Rapid City, SD/Central-Hamline). Both Strid and Stanton scored a 9.600 to tie for first place, and each is near the top the national rankings. Strid owns a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 9.650 and is No. 6 overall while Stanton is No. 10 at 9.565. Stanton has finished among the top three on bars in three consecutive meets.

Lock it in the vault. If not for the vault, the Falcons might have taken a loss against the Aggies. SPU owned a lead of 1.750 points going into the second event, thanks to McDaniel, Reynolds and the third-place tandem of Jennifer Christman (Jr., Fairfield, Ca./Benicia) and Kari Kelly (Fr., Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower), who both hit 9.575. Christman's score was a season high. Kelly also recorded a tie for third on floor exercise with a career-high 9.550.

Gym shorts. SPU swept five of the top six spots on vault. On bars, it clinched three of the top four spots and on floor it was two of four. Strangely, the gymnasts tumbled a season high on beam but tallied only one of the top four finishes. Seattle Pacific was forced to count two bars scores of 8.750 or lower versus UC Davis...This marks the first week that all statistical rankings are driven by the RQS system. For that reason, Air Force dropped out of the listing. Texas Woman's held the No. 1 ranking among USAG teams for the third week in a row, followed by Temple, UC Davis, Centenary and Seattle Pacific. The Falcons are No. 3 behind Texas Woman's and Davis in vault average and No. 5 on bars and beam. Individually, Strid is No. 4 on beam. McDaniel is eighth on bars and eighth in the all around...Cindy Reed (Fr., Antioch, Ca./Deer Valley) finished third in the all-around competition with marks of 9.075 on vault, 8.750 on bars, on beam 9.450 and a floor exercise mark of 9.100 for a total 36.375...Annastasia Ahr (Jr., San Antonio, Tx./Blessed Hope Academy) whipped out a 9.550 on the balance beam for seventh place overall and danced a 9.100 on floor exercise...Elisabeth Kingsley (So., Kennesaw, Ga./Harrison) earned a 9.450 from the judges on floor in just her third week back after having off-season surgery to repair a blown knee suffered at nationals last season...Rachael Anderson (Sr., Yakima, Wa./West Valley) sustained a knee injury in California two weeks ago and has not yet been cleared to return to the lineup...Anna Leiferman (Fr., Thornton, Co./Horizon) will miss the entire season after undergoing shoulder surgery...Julie Evin (Fr., Vancouver, Wa./Mountain View) remains out indefinitely.

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.