A rise in latitude. With one last chance to make an impression on a conference foe before the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships, the Seattle Pacific University gymnastics team journeys north for its first back-to-back meets in more than a month. The Falcons (3-9) visit Alaska Anchorage (5-6) for a dual meet Friday night (Mar. 10) and come back Saturday (Mar. 11) to face the Seawolves and Nebraska (11-5-1). SPU’s regular season will wrap up at Oregon State Mar. 17, and the conference championship meet will be held in Colorado Springs Mar. 25.

A homecoming. This will be Seattle Pacific’s first trip to Alaska since the start of the 2001 season and it will be a homecoming for one of the team’s top gymnasts. Kristin Bryant (Jr., Anchorage, Ak./West Anchorage), an all-conference vaulter, is a native of Anchorage. The Seawolves and Falcons could meet as many as five times, if both qualify for the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships. They met in Seattle Jan. 20 in the SPU opener. Historically, UAA has brought out the best in the Falcons. Last season SPU hit a school record in the vault en route to the No. 2 all-time team total (193.650). This season’s earlier win over UAA marked SPU’s best-ever opening night score (191.850).

Just missed it. Between an injury-laden opponent lineup and team of Falcons empowered by a recent meet-sweep, the stars almost seemed to line up. Unfortunately it wasn’t a Cinderella finish for Coach Laurel Tindall’s squad when they took on Pac-10 teams Washington and 16th-ranked Oregon State last week. OSU got the easy victory (194.600) over both the Huskies (193.300) and the Falcons (189.750). On the upside, SPU did hit a season-high vault score of 48.475.

All-time add-in. The vault apparatus was in for a pleasant surprise when all-arounder Sarah Sullivan (Jr., Salem, Or./Sprague) took to the runway at Washington. She stuck her landing for a career-high 9.800 that rates No. 8 on the school all-time list. Sullivan finished fourth in the event and was also eighth on bars with a 9.700. Jaynie Reynolds (Sr., White Rock, BC/Marriot) paced SPU’s all-around (38.300) and finished fourth in the meet. Both Sullivan and Reynolds remain in the running for at-large berths in the NCAA West Regional Apr. 6.

Ups and downs. Bryant continues to provide vault and floor leadership for the Falcons. She tied for fifth on vault (9.725) and was sixth on floor (9.700). Other top-10 finishes came from Reynolds, who was ninth on vault (9.675), and 10th on bars (9.625) and floor (9.575). Beam, however, remains a sore spot. Last week was the fourth time SPU scored below 47 points on that event. Part of the low can be attributed to illness, which has plagued several athletes, including Dana Nelson (Fr., Maple Valley, Wa./Tahoma), whose third-place beam debut the previous week added optimism to the lineup.

Still top three. For the second week in a row Seattle Pacific holds at No. 3 in the USA Gymnastics statistical rankings with a regional qualifying score of 190.305. Texas Woman’s took the lead this week (191.155), trading places with No. 2 Rutgers (190.885). Event-wise the Falcons are No. 2 on floor, third on vault and beam and fourth on bars. Rutgers holds the top spots on beam and floor, while Texas Woman’s owns vault and fellow MPSF team UC Davis tops bars.

Gym shorts. Sullivan continues to rank No. 1 in the all-around with an RQS of 38.175. She is also first on beam and fifth on bars. Reynolds remains No. 4 nationally in the all-around (38.030) and is sixth on vault and beam and seventh on floor. Kristin Bryant slipped a spot to No. 2 on vault and is fourth on floor...Brianna Schwartz (Fr., Bonney Lake, Wa./Sumner) scored a season-high 9.650 on vault, 9.450 on bars, 9.500 on beam and 9.250 on floor as part of a 37.850 all-around...Ashley Domres (So., Scottsdale, Az./Scottsdale Christian) slipped from last week’s top bars score, swinging 9.050...Domres also scored 9.525 on beam and danced a 9.225 in her first non-exhibition floor performance...Amber Lundgren (Fr., Temecula, Ca./Temecula Valley) scored a season-high 9.625 on vault and 9.425 on floor...Debra Huss (Jr., Orangevale, Ca./Bella Vista) swung 9.525 on bars...Melissa Daniels (Fr., Salinas, Ca./N. Monterey County) launched a 9.550 on vault...Shannon McConahey (Fr., San Jose, Ca./Willow Glen) scored 9.150 on bars...Brianna Piedmonte (So., Chandler, Az./Desert Vista) had a 8.550 on beam...Sullivan got a 9.100 on beam and 9.075 on floor...Reynolds had 9.425 on beam.

SPU Coaches. Coach Laurel Tindall is synonymous with Seattle Pacific gymnastics, having either competed or coached each of the program’s 33 years. Under her guidance, SPU has won three national championships (1986, ‘92, ‘97) and, individually, her gymnasts have taken 19 titles. Now in her 31st year, Tindall has been honored as national coach of the year four times and last year she was the MPSF coach of the year. Originally, Tindall competed for the Falcons, winning a national crown on vault as a senior. She then succeeded George Lewis as head coach. Tindall is a charter member of the Falcon Legends Hall of Fame. Kathy Siwek returns for her sixth 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 third year on the staff after having completing her career in 2003 as a three-time All-America and national champion on bars. Four-time all-American Corrie McDaniel joins the coaching staff this season.

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 calling 206-281-2085 in advance.

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 Great Northwest Athletic Conference web site. For updated gymnastics standings and statistics, see the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation web site, or the Collegiate Gymnastics Information Center.