Falcon Gymnasts Fifth at MPSF Championships
March 20, 2004

San Jose, Ca. (Mar. 20)—Corrie McDaniel and Kari Kelly notched a pair of fifth place finishes on beam and vault as Seattle Pacific University finished in fifth place behind host San Jose State, Sacramento State, UC Davis and Alaska Anchorage at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships Saturday night in San Jose.

Host San Jose won the meet easily, scoring 195.925. Sacramento State was second with 195.400, UC Davis third at 194.350 and Anchorage fourth (193.750). Seattle Pacific hit a 192.550 and Air Force finished with 192.525.

The 192.550 team total was well off last week’s near school record 193.500, but marked the sixth consecutive score over 192.150 for SPU. The Falcons tallied 48.425 on vault, swung a 48.075 on the uneven bars but counted several falls on the balance beam (46.875). Seattle Pacific tumbled a season high on floor exercise (49.175).

McDaniel (Jr., Lawrence, Ks.) negotiated a team-best 9.775 on beam en route to an eighth place tie with Air Force’s Sahonna Iwaniec in the all-around competition. The junior two-time All-American totaled 38.550 over four events. Sacramento State’s Binta Coleman won all-around, totaling 39.350.

Kelly (Jr., Yakima, Wa.) launched a 9.825 vault and was just .25 out of a three-way tie for second while Sacramento’s Nirvana Zaher won with a 9.875. Kelly also notched the Falcons’ best finish on the uneven bars, swinging an eighth place 9.825 tie with Anchorage’s Dominique Ingram and UC Davis’ Brandi Forte. San Jose’s Shirla Choy landed in first on the unevens with a 9.950.

Floor exercise featured a ’10,’ as the Spartans’ Jennifer Greene danced a perfect routine on the mats. Seattle Pacific’s top finish on floor exercise was Debra Huss (Fr., Orangevale, Ca.). The freshman scored a 9.900, but finished in a tie for a distant eighth with Zaher .

Seattle Pacific competes next at the USA Gymnastics national meet, April 8-10, in Denton, Texas. The Falcons have finished among the top four USAG teams the last 20 years running.

TEAM SCORE: 1) SJSU 195.925; 2) SAC 195.400; 3) UCD 195.400; 4) UAA 193.750; 5) SPU 192.550; 6) USAF 192.525

VAULT: 1) Zaher, SAC, 9.875; 2) (tie) Ingram, UAA, Maguire, USAF 9.850.

BARS: 1) Choy, SJSU, 9.950; 2) Weddell, UCD, 9.925; 3) (tie) Coleman, Greer, SAC, Major, SJSU 9.875.

BEAM: 1) Klein, SJSU, 9.850; 2) Liegl, USAF, 9.825; 3) (tie) Coleman, SAC, Major, SJSU 9.800.

FLOOR: 1) Greene, SJSU, 10.000; 2) (tie) Choy, SJSU, Chen, UCD 9.950.

AA: 1) Coleman, SAC, 39.350; 2) Choy, SJSU, 39.200; 3) Leach, SJSU, 39.175.