Good vibrations. They’ve really got a good thing going and this week the gymnasts from Seattle Pacific University believe their late-season momentum will help them make a definitive run at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship. The conference meet is Saturday (Mar. 20) in San Jose and the Falcons (5-14), ranked No. 4 among USA Gymnastics teams, will be competing there for just the second time. Joining Seattle Pacific will be host and favorite San Jose State, plus Sacramento State, Air Force, UC Davis and Alaska Anchorage. The team will then prepare for the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships, Apr. 8-10 in Denton, Texas.

Arriving in style. The Falcons will arrive in California with plenty of air under their wings as they have scored in excess of 192.150 points in each of their last five outings. Furthermore, they are coming off the No. 2 all-time team total in the school record books, a sum of 193.500 at Washington last week. The standing record is 193.700 from the 2001 USAG Championships. Seattle Pacific will likely need to score at or above that level to upset defending champion San Jose State. The Spartans won the MPSF title at Sacramento last year.

USAG’s coming up. Coach Laurel Tindall said a No. 3 seeding for nationals was likely but a No. 2 seeding was within reach, especially given the success of the team over the course of the last few meets. The total at Washington pushed Seattle Pacific’s Division II regional qualifying score (RQS) to 192.400, just behind two-time defending champion Texas Woman’s (193.030), Centenary of Louisiana (192.995) and Air Force (192.840). Temple is fifth (191.005) while Cornell, UC Davis and Alaska Anchorage round out the top eight. Seattle Pacific has finished in the top four nationally the last 20 years running.

Huss near perfection. Though she finished just fifth among a field of Division I elites, Debra Huss (Fr., Orangevale, Ca./Bella Vista) was again near perfection at Washington over the weekend. Huss danced a 9.900, her third mark above 9.9 in 2004, and earned Seattle Pacific’s top finish on the night. SPU tallied a season-high 49.000 on floor where all six gymnasts in the rotation hit 9.725 or better, including Sarah Sullivan (Fr., Salem, Or./Sprague) with a career-high 9.800 and Kristin Bryant (Fr., Anchorage, Ak./West Anchorage) with 9.725. Callie Field owns the school record on the floor mats, a 9.950 set in 2000. The Huskies’ Carly Dockendorf won floor, scoring a perfect 10.

Top scores. All-arounder Corrie McDaniel (Jr., Lawrence, Ks./Lawrence) was sixth in the four-event all-around competition, totaling 38.125. McDaniel is a two-time returning All-America on the mats and is expected to be among the USAG leaders yet again in Texas. Currently, she ranks seventh among individual competitors on the national charts. Jaynie Reynolds (So., White Rock. B.C./South Delta) had a bang-up night against the Huskies, launching a 9.750 seventh place vault to lead all Falcon finishers in a 48.125 event total. The sophomore swung a 9.725 on the uneven bars where Seattle Pacific garnered a 48.025, the second-best event score on the season. Melissa Stanton (Sr., Rapid City, SD/Central-Hamline) led all SPU bar finishers with a ninth-place 9.775. Washington’s Emily Pritchard swung a perfect 10.000 for top honors.

Gym shorts. Huss remains in contention for an at-large berth in the NCAA West Regional Apr. 3 in Corvallis. She is among the leaders in both floor and all-around...Seedings for the USAG meet will be determined next week...The Huskies Friday night team total of 198.025 was a school record. Four days earlier, SPU handed a UW squad a 192.875 to 191.475 defeat...Nationally speaking, Huss rates fourth on floor and Stanton eighth on bars. Ahr was 12th on beam...As a team, Seattle Pacific was third on beam and vault, fourth on floor and fifth on bars....Team Captain Annastasia Ahr (Sr., San Antonio, Tx.) tumbled a 9.725 on floor exercise and hit a 9.650 bar routine Friday night...Elisabeth Kingsley (Jr., Kennesaw, Ga./Harrison) danced a 9.750 on floor and vaulted 9.600...All-American vaulter Kari Kelly (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) launched a 9.675 after scoring a school-record 9.875 on the apparatus two meets ago...Cindy Reed (So., Antioch, Ca./Deer Valley) is out indefinitely due to illness.

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. .