• Complete Release (pdf)
      • VIDEO: Texie Gregory

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10 --
SPU at Illinois State (with Temple, UW-Stout),  5:00 p.m. PST (7 CST)
Horton Field House • Normal, Ill.
• Webcast (pay site): http://www.goredbirds.com/allaccess/?media=291038
• No LiveStats

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11 --
SPU at Illinois-Chicago,  5:00 p.m. PST (7 CST)
UIC Physical Education Building • Chicago, Ill.
• No webcast or Live Scoring

The Seattle Pacific gymnastics team embarks on a trip to Illinois this week for meets on consecutive nights. The Falcons visit Normal, Ill. for a Friday, Feb. 10 quad meet with Temple, Wisconsin-Stout and host Illinois State. On Saturday, Feb. 11 SPU travels to Chicago to compete in a dual at Illinois-Chicago (UIC). Both meets are scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Pacific Time (7 p.m. Central Time.) This marks the Falcons third trip in the last four years to the Land of Lincoln. SPU visited Illinois State last season and competed at UIC in 2009. The NCAA Division II Falcons are ranked 56th overall nationally and No. 4 in the rankings for teams that compete for the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships.  

Friday's Field
Seattle Pacific is the only NCAA Division II team in the four-team field for Friday's meet at Illinois State. Ranked No. 46, the host Redbirds have a season-high score of 193.625. They outpointed SPU 194.00–190.825 last season at home in Normal. Also competing are 64th-ranked Temple, with a high score of 190.800, and No. 77 Wisconsin-Stout, a Division III school with a top team score of 180.475.

Saturday's Foe
Illinois-Chicago (UIC) is an NCAA Division I competitor from the Midwest Independent Conference. The Flames are ranked No. 36 nationally with a season-high score of 194.350. In 2009, SPU was outscored 193.725–189.275 at UIC.

Notable
Friday's score of 192.575 was SPU's best team output since Mar. 27, 2010 ... Twelve of the 16 gymnasts that competed for SPU this season have posted an event score of 9.525 or better and seven of them achieved a mark of 9.70 or higher ... Stephanie Wagner has been SPU's top beam performer in every meet, ranking No. 4 nationally.



Recent Recap
Stephanie Wagner won the balance beam (8.825) and floor exercise (8.800) competitions Friday (Feb. 3) to lead a sweep of all four event titles by Seattle Pacific, which defeated NCAA Division I Air Force at Brougham Pavilion. SPU out-pointed the visitors in all four events en route to a season-high score of 192.575. Air Force compiled a second-place tally of 188.925. Lari Wilson won the vault (9.725) and Texie Gregory topped the bars field (9.725).

Bridgeport Bound?
The season starts in Seattle. The Falcons hope it ends in Bridgeport, Conn., the site of the 2012 USA Gymnastics (USAG) Collegiate Championships, April 12-14. SPU is a perennial championship contender, qualifying for 29 of the last 30 national meets for NCAA Division II schools. Since 1982, the Falcons only missed out in 2009.

Proud History
While the dictionary entry for “consistency” makes no mention of gymnastics or Seattle Pacific University, the Falcons certainly have defined the word. From the very first meet way back in 1974 to a run of 20 consecutive top-four finishes at nationals, including championships in 1986, 1992 and 1997, SPU has made the kind of lasting impression that few programs anywhere can match. The Falcons earned invitations to 29 of the last 30 championship meets (1982-2008, 2010). They narrowly missed a qualifying berth in 2009. SPU gymnasts have won 22 national crowns and collected 160 All-America awards.

Next Week
The Falcons return to Seattle to compete across town at Washington. The tri-meet, that includes LSU, takes place at Edmundson Pavilion on Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.

Season Preview
The Seattle Pacific women's gymnastics team reached the four-team finals at the 2011 USAG Collegiate Championships. They seek do replicate that feat in 2012 and improve on the fourth-place finish. That is an attainable goal according to Laurel Tindall, in her 37th season as SPU's coach. “Some things are going to have to fall into place for us, injuries are always a factor in that. We again have some good kids, we have some standouts on certain events and some All-Americans returning that will really help us in that quest.” Despite the departure of six letterwinners, including All-Americans Anissa Madrid and Bri Steigauf, the Falcons have a foundation of 13 letterwinners on which to build. Heading the list of returnees are three All-Americans who competed in the event finals at the 2011 USAG championships. Corrine Wise placed third on the beam, Samantha Taylor was fifth on the bars and Sherah Veron was 13th on the floor. A talented group of seven newcomers joins the roster and Tindall expects some of them to contribute immediately. “Shannon (Escarra) and Sydney (Clark) are both coming in as experienced freshmen ready to compete. We also have transfer Jenna Dudley from the Air Force Academy who has two years of collegiate experience under her belt and will come in and help us on vault and bars particularly.” SPU will rely on a bevy of event specialists in pursuit of its 30th championship meet berth in the last 31 years. “Sam Taylor did great last year getting All-American on bars and she'll be great again on that this year. Sherah Veron on vault and floor is doing really well. Stephanie Wagner will excel on beam and floor and she's also done a great job on bars this year.”

Coach Tindall
Laurel Tindall (Anderson) was there the very first time a group of Seattle Pacific gymnasts marched onto the competition floor in 1974. Now, 38 years later, she still is an integral part of a program that she helped nurture and lead to a prominent spot on the national scene since taking the coaching reigns in 1976. Whether as an athlete, coach or international-level judge, Tindall has spent a lot of time at the top of the gymnastics world. As she enters her 37th year as head coach, Tindall's SPU teams have won three national championships (1997, 1992, 1986). Falcon athletes garnered 22 national crowns, one of which she earned on the vault in 1975. Tindall has been named the national Coach of the Year four times, most recently in 2003. In a tribute to her myriad accomplishments in the SPU gym, Tindall is a charter member of the Falcon Legends Hall of Fame. She also operates the Falcon Gymnastics Center for local youths.

Home Sweet Brougham
The Falcons host three home meets at Brougham Pavilion on the Seattle Pacific campus. The arena is located at the corner of Third Avenue West and Nickerson Street (3414 Third Ave. W, Seattle, WA, 98119). Brougham has hosted the national championship meet three times, most recently in 2007 when the Falcons finished second. SPU already host Wisconsin-La Crosse (Jan. 13) and Air Force (Feb. 3) in dual meets. The final home meet is Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. against UC Davis.