No time to rest. Coming off the sixth-best all-time team total and a season-high score, the Seattle Pacific University gymnastics team has little time to catch its breath before facing six Division I teams in the next two meets. The Falcons (4-7), ranked No. 3 among USA Gymnastics division teams, begin by taking the southbound onramp to Interstate-5 for Friday night’s (Mar. 5) Salbasgeon Suites Invitational in Corvallis. There they meet the host, 13th-ranked Oregon State (4-8), No. 14 BYU (7-3), No. 23 Michigan State (10-9) and Boise State. On Monday night (Mar. 8), SPU rolls out the Brougham Pavilion mats for the last time and a dual against 12th-ranked Washington. The regular season concludes Mar. 12 with a triangular meet at Washington with Boise State.

Say “Hi Mom.”. Taped highlights from the Salbasgeon Suites Invitational will be aired in a 1-hour show on Fox Sports Net Northwest Mar. 13 at 6 p.m. Bob Akamian and Judy Corwin will provide the commentary.

Peaking gymnasts. Coach Laurel Tindall has her Falcons near their peak with a little over a month to go in the season. The score of 192.175 last week at Cal State Fullerton was a fraction (.025) better than the previous season high set two weeks earlier at San Jose. At Fullerton, the Falcons finished second behind the host Titans (193.950) and ahead of longtime regional rival UC Davis (189.800). The total pushed Seattle Pacific’s regional qualifying score (RQS) to 191.420 but dropped it from second to third in the USAG rankings behind two-time defending champion Texas Woman’s (192.025) and Centenary of Louisiana (191.810). Temple is No.4 (190.415) and Air Force No. 5 (190.380), while Cornell and Alaska Anchorage round out the top eight. The Falcons have finished in the top four at nationally each of the last 20 years.

Remainder of the schedule. Five of the seven regular season opponents remaining on the schedule are nationally-ranked Division I programs, including three in the top 15. Compounding matters is the short recovery time, with three meets in eight days, and final exams. Postseason competition begins Mar. 20 with the MPSF Championships in San Jose. The USAG Championships are Apr. 8-10 in Denton, Tx.

Kelly soars to first. The team total was not the Falcons’ only season-high score in the Fullerton/Davis triangular. A new school record was set on the balance beam (48.675). Individually, Kari Kelly (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) finished atop the vault podium for the second time in ‘04, launching a season-best 9.850 to lead Seattle Pacific to a season-high event score of 48.450. All six vaulting gymnasts launched scores of 9.575 or better and, individually, either tied or set season-high marks on the apparatus. Kelly has posted top-three finishes half-a-dozen different times on three events with three regular season contests to go, and ranks sixth on the USAG charts among vaulters.

Top scorers in The OC. Freshman floor specialist Debra Huss (Fr., Orangevale, Ca./Bella Vista) continued to impress West Coast judges on the weekend, managing a tie for silver on floor with Fullerton’s Sharon Snell. Huss took a bronze on beam with a 9.800 one rotation later. All-arounder Corrie McDaniel (Jr., Lawrence, Ks./Lawrence) tumbled a second-place finish, totaling 37.600 and finished third to Kelly on vault with a season-best 9.725. Huss rates No. 4 among MPSF competitors in floor scoring average and is fourth as well on the USAG national charts. McDaniel ranks ninth among all-arounders. Both athletes have been close to the school record on floor exercise on several occasions. Callie Field set the record, a 9.950 in 2000.

At next Monday's last meet of the season, with Washington, the program will honor seniors Annastasia Ahr (left) and Melissa Stanton (right).,

Gym shorts. Jaynie Reynolds (So., White Rock. B.C./South Delta) hit a season-high 9.675 vault to land fifth place and scored 9.350 on bars...Annastasia Ahr (Sr., San Antonio, Tx.) walked the beam to a 9.725 and hit a 9.575 on bars while teammate Melissa Stanton (Sr., Rapid City, SD/Central-Hamline) negotiated a 9.750 beam score...Elisabeth Kingsley (Jr., Kennesaw, Ga./Harrison) scored 9.600 and 9.500 on vault and floor...Sarah Sullivan (Fr., Salem, Or./Sprague), who will be competing near her hometown this weekend, competed in three events at Fullerton, vaulting a 9.600, swinging a 9.525 on bars and on beam, scored 9.725 to tie with Ahr...Kristin Bryant (Fr., Anchorage, Ak./West Anchorage) hit a 9.575 on vault and negotiated a season-best 9.675 on beam...Cindy Reed (So., Antioch, Ca./Deer Valley) did not compete over the weekend and is out indefinitely due to illness...In other USAG individual rankings, Stanton was seventh on bars and McDaniel was 11th on vault. Huss and Ahr were ninth and 11th on beam while Stanton was No. 10. Departing Seniors Ahr and Stanton will be honored in a brief ceremony following Monday’s meet...The old beam mark of 48.650 was first set in 2001 and tied Feb. 14.

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. .