Laurel Tindall
Head Coach

Kathy Siwek
Ass't. Coach

Anna Leiferman
Ass't. Coach

Laurel Tindall, Head Coach

She is not only synonymous with Seattle Pacific University gymnastics, Laurel Tindall is also recognized nationally as a champion of her sport. Whether as an athlete, a coach or a judge, Tindall has always risen to the top. Her teams have won three national championships and, individually, SPU gymnasts have taken 20 individual titles, and in 2003 she was been honored as national coach of the year for the fourth time.

Simply stated, Tindall has made the Falcons one of the most respected and formidable college programs in the nation. Perhaps the most impressive run of success was Seattle Pacific's 20 consecutive top-four national finishes from 1984-03. That includes a USA Gymnastics Championship in 1997 followed by a runner-up finish in '98. Now entering her 32nd year as SPU head coach, Tindall's athletes have been All-America 138 times.

During the past year, Tindall’s breadth of work as both competitor and coach have been further recognized. She was inducted into the Washington State Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2004 and was a member of the charter group for Seattle Pacific’s Falcon Legends Hall of Fame in 2005.

To recount Tindall's accomplishments is to recite the history of SPU gymnastics; they have been intricately intertwined for 34 years. As an athlete, she brought instant prestige to the fledgling, first-year Falcon program, transferring from the University of Washington where she had won a national title on vault. Tindall would win another vault crown at Seattle Pacific before succeeding her mentor, George Lewis, as the team's head coach immediately following her graduation.

Since then, she has guided the Falcons to an NCAA crown and two USAG titles, plus three national second-place finishes. Her most memorable achievement may have come in 1997 when her team attracted record crowds to Brougham Pavilion to witness not only the winning of a national team title but two individual event championships as well. Tindall was instrumental in not only bringing the USAG meet to Seattle for two consecutive years, in 1996 and '97, but she also proved to be an excellent grassroots promoter and coordinator of the event.

As a competitor, Laurel Anderson was a 10-time All-American, six of those certificates coming while at SPU. She was named to the U.S. National Team in 1974. Together with Debbie Halle, she fashioned the Falcons' image as a giant-killer. In its first year, the team was unbeaten in dual meets, including wins over Washington and Oregon.

As coach, Tindall has always kept the program in the hunt for national honors. Her first squad finished 14th in the AIAW Collegiate (all division) Championships. In 1986 Seattle Pacific captured the NCAA Division II championship, rallying from last place to first during the final event. She was recognized for that achievement by being voted the national coach of the year. In 1988, Seattle Pacific placed third nationally, and became the first Division II program to qualify for a Division I regional. Since then, several individuals have qualified for at-large all-around berths.

In 1992, the Falcons went through the entire season rated No. 1, and proved themselves worthy at nationals by earning their second crown. Again, Tindall was voted coach of the year. The 1997 season was full of lofty accomplishments, among them a win over Washington, then the No. 6 team in Div. I; a first-ever Western Independents Conference championship and finally the national team title and two individual crowns. SPU collected another conference title and two more individual championships in 1999. In 2006 came the first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title.

Tindall continues to be involved with all levels of gymnastics, seemingly around the clock. She operates the Falcon Gymnastics Center for local youths and is a Brevet Class judge. She served as supervisor of gymnastics meet operations for the 1990 Goodwill Games in Tacoma.

A Seattle native, Tindall, was raised in the nearby Magnolia neighborhood and graduated from Queen Anne High School, located just a couple miles from the SPU campus. She is married to Dave Tindall, the executive director of computer and information systems at SPU. They have a son, Jory, and daughter, Kailee. The Tindalls reside in Brier, a northern suburb of Seattle.

Kathy Siwek, Assistant Coach

Returning to the coaching staff for her seventh season is Kathy Siwek, former All-America and a key member of Seattle Pacific's 1997 USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championship squad. Siwek is also the assistant director of the Falcon Gymnastics Center.

Before returning to her alma mater, Siwek spent two years substitute teaching in the Peninsula School District and coaching at the Lakewood YMCA for Grace Gymnastics Center, winner of the 2000 YMCA National Gymnastics Championships.

During her college career, Siwek was a two-time All-America, finishing ninth on floor exercise as a junior and seventh on vault in as a senior .

Siwek, a native of Port Orchard who attended South Kitsap High School, graduated from SPU in 1999 with a degree in history and later earned her secondary teaching certificate and master's degree in athletic administration at Seattle Pacific. Siwek resides in Magnolia.

Anna Leiferman, Assistant Coach

Anna Leiferman joins the coaching staff in 2007 after competing for the Falcons earlier.

A 2006 graduate of Seattle Pacific, Leiferman was a member of the tem from 2003-04. She has been a coach in the Falcon Gymnastics Center for four years.