On the road again. After posting a season high team total en route to a resounding victory at home, the Seattle Pacific University gymnastics team is flying high as it travels east for its final regular season road meet. The Falcons (3-12), now ranked No. 3 among USA Gymnastics teams, meet up in a quadrangular contest with three Division I programs in the Idaho capital. They face 13th-ranked Penn State, San Jose State and host Boise State in a quadrangular affair Friday night (Mar. 11). Senior Night is back at Brougham Pavilion Mar. 19, and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships are Mar. 25.

Slide on high. Coach Laurel Tindall’s Falcons slid one spot to No. 3 in the national rankings despite hitting a season high score of 192.375 in a victory over Sacramento State. Leapfrogging SPU and defending national champion Centenary (La.) was Texas Woman’s, going all the way from fifth to first i the USAG with an RQS of 191.500. Centenary is next (191.410), followed by Seattle Pacific (191.145), Rutgers (191.000) and UC Davis (190.580). By event, the Falcons held the No. 3 spot on vault and floor, jumped two places to No. 3 on beam and they are No. 5 on bars.

Huss clinches win. With the Falcons trailing by .650 going into the final rotation, Seattle Pacific responded with its best event score of the night on floor exercise to pull in front. Debra Huss (So., Orangevale, Ca.) rebounded from a fall off the balance beam to cap the evening and the competition with an first-place score of 9.825. Huss also earned her the top all-around score, totaling 38.275 over four events. It was her fourth such win this season. Sacramento’s Nirvana Zaher edged out Sarah Sullivan (So., Salem, Or./Sprague) by a quarter-point for second place. Huss ranks at the top of the USA Gymnastics division in beam, floor and all-around average. She’s also third among at-large qualifiers for the NCAA West Regional, with five due to make the cut.

Vault sweep. It wasn’t just Huss’ heroics that lifted the Falcons to their season high, it was truly a team effort. Overall, SPU managed to improve its scores with each event, and it was Tindall’s vault lineup that started off the evening with gusto. During the opening rotation, All-American Kari Kelly (Sr., Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) landed a 9.800, leading a sweep which included Sullivan (9.700) and Kristin Bryant (So., Anchorage, Ak./West Anchorage) (9.625). Seattle Pacific tallied a 47.850 as a team. Another All-American, Sullivan managed silver on the uneven bars in addition to her vault performance, swinging a 9.700 en route to third in the all-around contest (38.100).

Top threes. Several Falcons scored well on floor, with five scoring above 9.625. Corrie McDaniel (Sr., Lawrence, Ks./Lawrence) finished just .125 behind Huss in second place, tying with Sacramento’s Stefanie Aeder at 9.775. Sullivan and Ashley Domres (Fr., Phoenix, Az./Scottsdale Christian) picked up second and third place finishes on SPU swung a 47.925 team total on bars, scoring 9.7 and 9.650, respectively. The Hornets’ Meloney Greer won the unevens with 9.800 and teammates Kimiye Narasaki and Alexis Tsurumoto tied with Domres for bronze. In all, the Falcons had 10 top-three finishes in beating the Hornets for the first time since 2001.

Conference meet on horizon. With the MPSF Championships two weekends away, Seattle Pacific currently sits in third place in the federation standings, behind two-time defending champion San Jose State and Sac State. SPU is just ahead of Anchorage, UC Davis and Air Force. Recreation Hall at Davis is the host site for the conference meet. The Falcons were a disappointing fifth at last year’s championships, but tied the school record on floor exercise (49.175).

Gym shorts. Jaynie Reynolds (Jr., White Rock, B.C./Marriot) is expected to return to action this week. Reynolds suffered a double-ankle sprain while on floor Feb. 12, minutes after setting a school record on vault. She is contending for a spot in the bars lineup at Boise...Kelly’s vault victory was her fourth of the season. She ranks third nationally for the season...Huss now has a total of six event titles this season, including three on floor...Seattle Pacific’s score last week was 0.275 higher than its previous best total of 192.100...Christie Chinaka (Fr., Honolulu, Hi.) swung a 9.675 on bars and earned an identical score on beam. Both were career-highs...Priscilla Morgan (Fr., Bakersfield, Ca./East Bakersfield) cracked the vault lineup and, along with Elisabeth Kingsley (Sr., Kennesaw, Ga./Harrison), landed a 9.250...Sullivan is currently ranked No. 6 among those vying regional all-around spots. McDaniel was the last Falcons to earn an all-around regional berth, that in 2002. Sullivan is fifth in the USAG all-around standings...In the MPSF rankings, Huss is No. 2 on floor and all-around, No. 4 on beam and No. 8 on bars. Kelly is fifth on vault.

Tickets, Please. General admission tickets for all SPU women’s gymnastics meets are priced $5, with students, youth and senior citizens $3 with proper identification. Teams can qualify for special discount rates by calling (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 30 years. Under her guidance, SPU has won three national championships and, individually, her gymnasts have taken 15 titles. Four times Tindall has been honored as national coach of the year. Kathy Siwek returns for her fifth season as an assistant coach. Siwek was a two-time All-America and a member of the 1997 national championship team. Kristen Strid is back for her second year on the staff after having completing 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. .