Season Recap
Beginning the season full of potential with a mix of promising recruits and established returnees, Seattle Pacific has looked every bit a title contender all season long. The Falcons kicked off the schedule with a 190.850 and near midseason hit 192.150 and never looked back. Since, they have strung together six consecutive scores in excess of that total, including a near school record 193.500 among several Division I squads at Washington two weeks ago. On vault, Kelly broke a three-year old record with a 9.875 at OSU. The team achieved a tie for the school’s top score on floor at 49.175 and broke the previous beam mark with 48.675.
SPU Gymnastic All-Americans
Seven SPU gymnasts have been honored as All-Americans for 2004. Earning that distinction are Jaynie Reynolds (upper left), Debra Huss (upper right), Kari Kelly (lower left), and Sarah Sullivan (lower right).

Another strong finish. They have been there time after time, year after year, and so it’s no surprise that once again Seattle Pacific University found itself among the top NCAA Division II teams at the close of the 2004 gymnastics season. The Falcons finished their campaign April 10, in Denton, Tx., by taking seventh place at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships. The finish broke a string of 21 consecutive top-four finishes for Seattle Pacific.

Season wraps up. As it turned out, seventh place wasn’t so bad for Coach Laurel Tindall’s Falcons, who learned they would be without the services of two-time All-America all-arounder Corrie McDaniel (Jr., Lawrence, Ks./Lawrence) just one week before the meet commenced. McDaniel dislocated an elbow during practices and could not finish out the season. The host school, Texas Woman’s (192.600), was unable to successfully defend their 2003 team title, finishing second to Centenary of Louisiana (193.500). UC Davis finished third with 192.100 and Temple was fourth (191.575). Cornell, Air Force, SPU, Southern Connecticut and Alaska Anchorage were eliminated during prelims. The Falcons finished fourth or higher each season from 1983-2003, including national titles in 1986, 1992 and 1997.

4 All-Americans. Individually speaking, Seattle Pacific posted five top-six finishes–the most in four years. Two of the All-America performances belonged to Jaynie Reynolds (So., White Rock, B.C./Marriot), who tied for runner-up with Cornell’s Shellen Goltz on balance beam (9.750) and notched a sixth-place finish on the uneven bars (9.350). Teammate Debra Huss (Fr., Orangevale, Ca./Bella Vista) danced her way to a share of bronze with Air Force’s Jessica Liegl (9.800) on floor exercise while Kari Kelly (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) was fifth with 9.775. Sarah Sullivan (Fr., Salem, Or./Sprague), plagued by an ankle injury for the first half of the season, capped her comeback campaign by finishing fifth on vault (9.650).

No final four this time. Despite solid scores across the board during prelims and a No. 4 seed heading into Thursday night’s competition, Seattle Pacific was unable to mount a serious run at team finals. Huss managed a fourth-place floor exercise on the opening night of competition and Reynolds notched sixth on bars and eighth on beam. But without McDaniel in the all-around, the Falcons came up just short, scoring 190.975. Only 0.475 points separated SPU from a place in the finals. The Falcons began prelims on bars where they swung a 47.150. Beam was next (47.700), followed by floor (48.950) and vault (47.175).

Recruiting begins. Concluding their respective careers in Texas were the squad’s two seniors, Annastasia Ahr (Sr., San Antonio, Tx.) and Melissa Stanton (Sr., Rapid City, SD/Central-Hamline). Ahr was an all-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation pick on beam and also performed on beam and floor as well. Stanton, a national champion at the Division III level at Hamline, was a key cog in the beam and bars lineups. The beam lineup, which featured both, will be due for the biggest overhaul. As far as returnees are concerned, along with the All-Americans, floor specialist Elisabeth Kingsley (Jr., Kennesaw, Ga./Harrison) and Kristin Bryant (Fr., Anchorage, Ak./West Anchorage) are slated to return as is Cindy Reed (So., Antioch, Ca./Deer Valley), who missed the latter half of the campaign due to illness.

Minus two, add three. Tindall loses Stanton and Ahr but has already begun assembling her next class, signing three Level 10 high school seniors to letters of intent. Ashley Domres from Phoenix and Maddie Bernhardt of Littleton, Colo., committed in May and, earlier this month, Amy Potrawski of St. Charles, Ill., was signed. Domres qualified for the national meet and helped the Region I team win the title. She, who attends Scottsdale (Az.) Christian Academy, had taken third in the state all-around while competing for her club, the Arizona Sunrays. Bernhardt , a member of Champion Gymnastics in Centennial, Colo., won the state vault title and finished second on floor exercise. She is a senior at Highlands Ranch High School. Potrawski competes for Illinois Gymnastics Institute in Westmont and attends St. Charles East High School.

Academically speaking. McDaniel made a sweep of the postseason academic awards, earning Verizon Academic All-District VIII for at-large sports as well as USAG Scholar Athlete and Academic all-MPSF. Joining her on the USAG and MPSF lists were Stanton and Kingsley. McDaniel, a student design major with a 3.80 grade point average, is a repeat selection for both all-district and academic all-MPSF. An art major with a 3.47 GPA, Kingsley also made the conference team a year ago. Stanton is a psychology major with a 3.54.

Gym shorts. McDaniel and Huss shared the team MVP honor. Kingsley was voted most inspirational and Emily Hatton-Ward (Fr., Salt Lake, Ut./Juan Diego) was most improved...Kelly’s record supplanted the 9.850 vault by Alison Siegel in 2001. Huss moved into the school’s top 10 floor exercise list with a 9.900 on opening night. That places her at No. 3. The record is owned by Callie Field 9.950...Event titles in Texas went to Anchorage’s Dominique Ingram on vault (9.925) and floor (9.900), Davis’ Nicole Doherty and Centenary’s Jennifer Jackson on bars (9.625), and Liegl on beam. Kristina Menne took home the All-Around title, scoring 38.975 over four events...Tindall said the team will travel to Air Force during the 2005 regular season, marking the first trip to Colorado Springs since 1990. The MPSF Championships rotate to Davis, Ca., and the USAG Championships go to Cornell in Ithaca, NY.

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. .