The roots of a richly successful women's intercollegiate gymnastics program at Seattle Pacific University can be traced back to 1954, when the recently-completed Brougham Pavilion was the site of the first major meet conducted west of the Mississippi River.

The inaugural women's meet, the AAU Pacific Northwest Open, featured a wide array of events which included the flying rings in addition to today's traditional disciplines. At that time, there was no balance beam on the premises, so Ken Foreman, the Seattle Pacific athletic director at the time, constructed one from a piece of lumber. The finished beam measured the required four inches in width, but was over 10 inches tall. It was Foreman, a former NCAA champion gymnast and world record-holder in the 20-foot rope climb, who organized the event. The meet, which later became known as the Washington Open in the Sixties, became an annual fixture, attracting most of the region's major clubs.

The sport began to take a more permanent foothold at SPU in 1972. George Lewis, a renowned local coach, international authority and founder of Gymnastics Incorporated, moved his club from the Seattle YMCA to Brougham Pavilion's auxiliary gym.

Two years later, in 1974, the varsity program was in place, and became a national power from the outset. Two of Lewis' standouts--Laurel Anderson and Debbie Halle, both members of the U.S. National Team--formed the nucleus of the first Falcon team, along with Jenny Fooshee. A year later, Anderson, who had transferred from the University of Washington, won the national vault title, and Halle was third in the all-around. Following her graduation, Anderson succeeded Lewis as coach.

The Falcons originally competed in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Championships, versus teams from all competitive divisions. In 1982-83, the NCAA began sponsorship of regional and national championship meets, with SPU competing in Division II. After the Falcons won their initial national title, the NCAA dropped the Div. II championships in 1987. USA Gymnastics has since conducted its own collegiate national championship for men and women, with SPU winning titles in 1992 and '97. In 2003, Seattle Pacific joined the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for purposes of a conference championship.

Seattle Pacific has qualified for the national meet 26 times, including 20 consecutive top-four finishes from 1984-03. Individually, there have been 20 national champions and 138 gymnasts have been All-America.