Right at home. After posting a season high team score and garnering its first win in 2004, the Seattle Pacific University gymnastics team will focus on keeping the momentum going as it finishes out its two-meet home stand this week. The Falcons (1-3) face fellow Mountain Pacific Sports Federation members UC Davis (4-1) and Alaska Anchorage (3-1) in a tri-meet Saturday night (Feb. 7). Seattle Pacific heads to the golden state for a pair of back-to-back meets against California and San Jose State beginning Feb. 13. The Falcons last meet at Brougham is Mar. 8. against Washington.

Much needed boost. Although the SPU gymnasts posted some respectable team scores during the opening weeks of gymnastics season, they were winless heading into the home stand. Coach Laurel Tindall saw her squad raise the competition bar Friday night against San Jose State. Seattle Pacific scored a season best 191.900 team total against the Spartans, posting a season-high tallies on three apparatus. After a sluggish start with a 47.000 team vault score, the Falcons rebounded on the uneven bars (48.275) and led the rest of the way. Their floor exercise score of 48.425 was the highest event score of the meet as five of six gymnasts in Tindall’s lineup posted scores of 9.600 or better. A half-dozen different gymnasts earned finishes at the podium at night’s end.

Second-ranked. Seattle Pacific remained steady at No. 2 in the USA Gymnastics statistical rankings, trailing only Louisiana’s Centenary. Its four-meet average is nearly two full points above that of a year ago when they finished third at the national meet--it is almost shocking that SPU just picked up its first win. Tindall hopes to notch another couple of tallies in the victory column on Saturday as the Falcons have been traditionally, nearly unbeatable at Brougham: they have prevailed against four of the last five visitors and seven of nine over two seasons. Seattle Pacific has finished among the top four teams in USA Gymnastics the last 20 years running.

All-around. Tindall said at season’s outset that the Falcons were in great shape in regards to their all-arounders. The head coach has been regularly competing two athletes all-around and on the weekend, it paid off. Two-time All-America all-arounder Corrie McDaniel (Jr., Lawrence, Ks./Lawrence) garnered her first victory of the year with a win on the uneven bars (9.825). The junior launched a second place vault, 9.6, during the opening rotation and finished third in the all-around competition to teammate Debra Huss (Fr., Orangevale, Ca./Bella Vista) and San Jose’s Shirla Choy. Huss danced her way to victory on the floor mats with a 9.825, her third win on the mats in four meets. Huss also scored second and third on beam (9.750) and bars (9.775). The freshman is the current USAG leader in floor scoring average. Both Huss and McDaniel have flirted with the school record on floor exercise. Callie Field owns the best mark, a 9.950 set in 2000.

The podium. The win against the Spartans was truly a team effort as six different gymnasts earned top three finishes. Annastasia Ahr (Sr., San Antonio, Tx.) danced second place on floor to Huss with 9.750 and Melissa Stanton (Sr., Rapid City, SD/Central-Hamline) negotiated the four-inch wide balance beam to a 9.725 tie with teammate Sarah Sullivan (Fr., Salem, Or./Sprague) and San Jose’s Adriane Mertens and Amberly Klein for third. Cindy Reed (So., Antioch, Ca./Deer Valley) notched a third place tie with the Spartans Choy and Elizabeth Major, earning a score of 9.475.

Gym shorts. Kristin Bryant (Fr., Anchorage, Ak./West Anchorage) hit ninth place on vault and beam with 9.325 and 9.350 Friday night...Elisabeth Kingsley (Jr., Kennesaw, Ga./Harrison) scored a 9.6 on floor to finish 10th and All-America vaulter Kari Kelly (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) launched a 9.225 vault and finished with 9.525 on floor...Haley Krommenhoek (Fr., Seattle, Wa./Mount Rainier) cracked into Tindall’s bars lineup and responded with 9.425...In other USAG individual rankings, Stanton was fifth on bars and McDaniel was 11th. Sullivan and Huss were No.’s 2 and 7 on beam. Kelly was tenth on the floor mats...All rankings are based upon raw average at this point in the season.

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 28 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 fourth season as an assistant coach. Siwek was a two-time All-America and a memberof the 1997 national championship team. Kristen Strid joins the staff after having completed her career in 2003 as a three-time All-America and national champion on bars.

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 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation web site at www.mpsports.org, or the Collegiate Gymnastics Information Center at www.troester.com/gym. .