No. 5 SPU Gymnasts Notch Win to Finish Out Home Season
March 22, 2003

Complete Results

SEATTLE, Wa. (Mar. 22)-Rachael Anderson closed out senior night with a first place finish on floor exercise and earlier in the meet scored second place on vault as the USA Gymnastics fifth-ranked Seattle Pacific University defeated Cal State Fullerton by just a half-point 191.775 to 191.725, and beat Alaska Anchorage's 186.325 Saturday night at Brougham Pavilion.

Anderson (Sr., Yakima, Wa.) danced her 9.775 victory on floor during the fourth rotation and on the vault in the first rotation, nailed her landing for a 9.675, her highest placing ever on the apparatus.

Teammates Kari Kelly (So., Yakima, Wa.) and Annastasia Ahr (Jr., San Antonio, Tx.) finished second and third to Anderson on floor with 9.750 and 9.725, respectively. Ahr tied with Fullerton's Nicole Kasson, Latoya Milburn and Theresa O'Gara for third.

Corrie McDaniel (Lawrence, Ks.) won second place honors in the all-around competition despite falls off beam and floor. Her total was 37.600. Cal State Fullerton's Brittney Hoffman won the four-event competition with 48.525.

Senior Kristin Strid (Kingsburg, Ca.) tied with teammate Melissa Stanton (Jr., Rapid City, SD) and Cal State Fullerton's Kristen Parker for second place on the uneven bars with 9.700's. Hoffman won the unevens with a 9.725. Strid and Stanton also tied on beam, both scoring 9.700 for third place.

Fullerton's Kelly Mathiasen launched a 9.775 winner on vault and also negotiated the beam to a 9.850 victory.

Top team finishers for Alaska Anchorage were Mandi Burdick on vault (9.575), bars (9.525) and floor (9.625), and Amy Jones on beam (9.650). The Seawolves Jesse Currie finished third to Hoffman and McDaniel in the all-around with a 37.400. The Falcons' 48.225 floor tally was just .25 off a season high. Seattle Pacific tumbled a 47.800 on vault, 47.825 on bars and a 47.925 beam total.

SPU (6-9) travels to California next, for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships hosted by Sacramento State University, March 28 and 29. USA Gymnastics Nationals begins in Denton, Texas, on April 17.

FINAL SCORE: 1) SPU, 191.775; 2) CSUF 191.725; 3) AAU 186.325.

VAULT: 1) Mathiason, CSUF, 9.775; 2) Anderson, SPU, 9.675; 3) Hoffman, CSUF, 9.625.

BARS: 1) Hoffman, CSUF, 9.725; 2) (tie) Strid, Stanton, SPU, Parker, CSUF, 9.700.

BEAM: 1) Mathiasen, CSUF, 9.850; 2) Parker, CSUF, 9.825; 3) (tie) Strid, Stanton, SPU, 9.700.

FLOOR: 1) Anderson, SPU, 9.775; 2) Kelly, SPU, 9.750; 3) (tie) Ahr, SPU, Kasson, Milburn, O'Gara, CSUF, 9.725.

ALL-AROUND: 1) Hoffman, CSUF, 38.125; 2) McDaniel, SPU, 37.600; 3) Currie, AAU, 37.400.