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        • VIDEO: Shannon Escarra

SEATTLE – Falcons fans finally got to witness what Coach Laurel Tindall saw while recruiting Shannon Escarra.
 
The standout sophomore won three of the four events plus the all-around, set two career highs and tied another on Friday night as Seattle Pacific finished second behind Air Force in the home-opening women's gymnastics meet.
 
Air Force won the dual meet in Brougham Pavilion with 190.100 points. SPU was less than a point behind at 189.425.



Escarra (Fayetteville, Ga.) won the vault with a 9.725, the balance beam with a no-fall routine that earned 9.725, and the floor exercise with a 9.775.
 
“She had a great performance,” said Tindall. “She had a rough start last week in the all-around, but she scored pretty high tonight. She had a great meet, which was great to see her do.”
 
Escarra's all-around total was 38.600. That was well ahead of last week's 36.475 in the season-opener at Sacramento State, her first college all-around performance.
 
The last time SPU had an all-around mark in the 38s was Anissa Madrid's 38.475 in 2011.
 
“Shannon's done a great job going from basically two events last year to an all-around this year,” Tindall explained. “In her senior year of high school she had Tommy John surgery on her elbow. So last year coming back from that was a little difficult for her, especially on bars.
 
“When she was able to train fully on bars again, she got her old skills back and learned some new ones. We recruited her as an all-arounder and now she's ready to go.”
 
Escarra's vault score shattered her previous career high of 9.075. It also was a jump of more than a full point from her mark of 8.65 in last week's season-opener.
 
The floor score tied Escarra's career high, and led a 1-2 3 SPU sweep of that event.
 
“At home meets we tend to rise to the challenge of that last event, the floor. That always tends to be our best event,” said Tindall.
 
Kenley Memmel (West Bend, Wis.), a junior, was second on floor with a career-best of 9.75 (beating her old high of 9.725), and senior Corrine Wise (Seattle / West Seattle HS) was third at 9.625. Wise wiped out her previous career high of 9.075.
 
The only event Escarra didn't win was the uneven bars. Air Force's Linnaea Hance took that with a 9.775. Seattle Pacific senior Stephanie Wagner (Estacada, Ore.) had a career-high 9.70 for second, and sophomore Cara Lord (Collegeville, Pa.) tied her career best of 9.625 to deadlock for third place.
 
SPU had its first 48 total of the season on any event, tallying 48.400 on the floor, and also logged season-best totals of 47.900 on the vault and 47.400 on the bars. The Falcons outpointed Air Force in those three events, but were outscored by 1.525 points on the beam.
 
“There was definite improvement overall, even though we had a lot of misses on beam,” Tindall said. “We counted four falls there, which was unfortunate.”
 
The Falcons and Air Force will meet again on Mar. 2 in Colorado Springs. A third meeting is set for Mar. 23 back at Brougham Pavilion when SPU hosts the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships.
 
Seattle Pacific is on the road the next two weeks, beginning with back-to-back meets at Alaska Anchorage next Friday and Saturday.
 
“Going back-to-back this early in the season is a little bit of a challenge,” Tindall projected. “At nationals when it's back-to-back if you make the finals, at that point you are probably pretty sore and injured. But it's nationals and you can usually just go.
 
“It's early in the season to have meets on consecutive nights, but it gives us some opportunities to play with the lineup and give different people chances to compete."
 
NCAA WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS
Friday, January 18, 2013
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Team Scores
1, Air Force 190.100
2, Seattle Pacific 189.425
 
All-Around
1, Shannon Escarra (SPU) 38.600
2, Linnaea Hance (USAF) 38.050
3, Jessica Hanner (USAF) 37.350
 
Vault
1, Shannon Escarra (SPU) 9.725
2, Corrine Wise (SPU) 9.675
3, Linnaea Hance (USAF) 9.60
 
Uneven Bars
1, Linnaea Hance (USAF) 9.775
2, Stephanie Wagner (SPU) 9.70
3T, Cara Lord (SPU) 9.625
3T, Alexandra Stych (USAF) 9.625
 
Balance Beam
1, Shannon Escarra (SPU) 9.725
2, Shannon Kelly (USAF) 9.70
3, Emily Bucher (USAF) 9.625
 
Floor Exercise
1, Shannon Escarra (SPU) 9.775
2, Kenley Memmel (SPU) 9.75
3, Sydney Clark (SPU) 9.725
 
 
NEXT MEET
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage
Friday, Jan. 25, 8:00 p.m. PST
Wells Fargo Sports Complex / Anchorage, Alaska