Weekly Release PDF Version

All Press Releases

Home sweet home. Ahhhhhhh. Perhaps breathing a bit easier following their first win of the young gymnastics season, Seattle Pacific University (1-4) seeks to continue its winning ways as it hosts a pair of dual meets on its home mats over the next two weeks. The Falcons return to Brougham Pavilion Friday night (Feb. 9) to face Sacramento State (5-2). San Jose State pays a visit Feb. 16 before a four-meet road stretch.

Flying high. Seattle Pacific is flying high after picking up its first win in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation competition against Air Force last week. Coach Laurel Tindall notched her 350th career victory in the same locale as her first NCAA championship (1986) and most recent conference crown (last year). The Falcons were winners on each and every apparatus, and won by a comfortable overall margin of 3.275 points.

Yet under radar. While winning is nice, the score of 187.575 was not. It was the lowest score in four years, and it caused SPU to slip one spot in the national statistical rankings. This is also the first time since 2003 that the Falcons have failed to break 190 in the first three meets. Air Force mustered a 184.300. The best scores came on vault (47.650) and floor exercise (47.250). After vault and bars, the teams were neck-and-neck before Seattle Pacific outscored the Cadets by over 2 points on beam.

National rankings. In the USAG rankings, the Falcons are now No. 4 in scoring average. Maryland’s Towson and ‘05 national champion Rutgers continued their hold on the top two spots, and Texas Woman’s, last year's national meet winner, moved up to third after scoring a 191.275. Louisiana’s Centenary rounds out the top five. SPU took eighth at the 2006 national meet, and won its last championship at Brougham in 1997. Seattle Pacific has already qualified for this year’s national meet as host. The USAG Championships, presented by Leisure Care, are Apr. 19-21 in the pavilion.

Bryant & Huss on top. For the third week in a row, Kristin Bryant (Sr., Anchorage, Ak./West Anchorage) managed to stick a vault score above 9.700. At Colorado Springs, she landed on a 9.775. Bryant rates fifth overall among national vaulters. She also danced a 9.600 to finish runner-up on floor exercise to teammate Debra Huss (Sr., Orangevale, Ca./Bella Vista), who notched her second all-around win in three meets with an evening-ending total of 38.375. Huss added a first on floor at 9.675. She senior ranks No. 1 nationally on floor and in the all-around, and fourth on balance beam.

On the mend. Recovering from a fractured hand can be a daunting task for any athlete yet Sarah Sullivan (Sr., Salem, Or./Sprague) is not holding anything back as she seeks to return to all four event lineups. Third in the national all-around a year ago, Sullivan is now competing on vault, beam and floor. In fact, she won the beam with a 9.675 last week. She vaulted a seventh place 9.425. Tindall could really use her on beam, and soon. The team managed to score only 45.850 in that rotation at Air Force.

Home remedy. Given their depletion of depth due to injuries, the Falcons are susceptible to low marks, especially early in the campaign. But with Sullivan on the mend, others getting accustomed to their routines and the next two meets at home–this all bodes well for the future. Ultimately, the measure of this team will come at the end of the season, and it will come at home, where they have scored in excess of 190 points in 13 of the last 14 meets. SPU totaled 189.225 in the opening meet of the season and raised that to 189.875 a week later on the road. Last week’s score will undoubtedly be expunged once the national rankings are based on the RQS formula later this month.

Gym shorts. Ashley Domres (Jr., Scottsdale, Az./Scottsdale Christian) swung a 9.500 victory at Air Force on the uneven bars. Brianna Schwartz (So., Bonney Lake, Wa./Sumner) was second (9.475). Schwartz also compiled a 37.450 in the all-around, finishing with second place honors behind Huss, and was third on beam (9.375). After competing all-around one week prior to the Air Force dual, Amber Lundgren (So., Temecula, Ca./Temecula Valley) ran only the vault runway, scoring a fourth place 9.600. She was ranked eighth nationally among all-arounders…Melissa Daniels (So., Salinas, Ca./N. Monterey Cty.) launched a 9.250 vault...Already SPU has lost four gymnasts for the season. Top recruit Kelli Bates (Fr., Port Orchard, Wa./South Kitsap), an 11-time All-American at YMCA nationals and Katelyn Degner (Fr., Hillsboro, Or./Glencoe) were ruled out before the first meet. Aubrie Stavig (Jr., Albuquerque, NM/ Sandia) and Danna Nelson (So., Maple Valley, Wa./Tahoma) were the latest casualties. Tindall used just the minimum five athletes for competition on floor exercise last week.

Tickets, please. Ticket prices for all SPU regular season meets are $5 for general admission, with students and senior citizens $3. Group and team rates are available by phoning (206) 281-2085 in advance.

SPU Coaches. Laurel Tindall is synonymous with Seattle Pacific gymnastics, having either competed or coached each of the program’s 34 years. Under her guidance, SPU has won three national championships (1986, ‘92, ‘97) and, individually, her gymnasts have taken 19 titles. Now in her 32nd year, Tindall has been honored as national coach of the year four times and two years ago, 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 seventh season as an assistant coach. Siwek was a two-time All-America and a member of the 1997 national championship team. Anna Leiferman is in her first year on the staff. She was a member of the team in 2003 and ‘04.

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 Collegiate Gymnastics Information Center or Mountain Pacific Sports FederationWebsites.