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SEATTLE – The highest season-opening score in eight years has Coach Laurel Tindall forecasting even loftier results for the Falcons near future.
 
Maria Hundley won the vault and the balance beam, and a pair of freshmen – Tracie Villanueva and Kristi Hayashida – made it into the win column in their college debuts as Seattle Pacific opened the women's gymnastics season on Friday night by defeating Alaska Anchorage in Brougham Pavilion.
 
The Falcons totaled 190.750. beating out the Seawolves, who finished with 188.200. That marked the third straight time SPU has gotten the better of Anchorage. The Falcons took the second of back-to-back dual meets in Alaska last January, then finished second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation last March meet while UAA was fourth.
 
SPU compiled its highest initial score since starting the 2006 season with a 191.850, also against Anchorage.
 
"A high-190 start is good, but I think that we can very quickly be a 192, 193-point team," projected Tindall, who is beginning her 39th season as SPU's head coach.
 
"I don't think that's going to take until the end of the season to get there. It's going to be a more immediate end of the month goal rather than an end of the season goal."
 


The Falcons have traditionally been strong finishers. That was the case last year when they notched a school-record score of 193.90 on April 12 in a fifth-place performance at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships.
 
The fantastic finishes are fine. But Tindall wants to be stronger starters this year.
 
"This was a good opener for us. Even though we did a great job we definitely left the door open for improvement. Our floor was great tonight and our vault was much improved. The bars and beam routines could be so much better."
 
Friday's final team total for Seattle Pacific was more than two points higher than last year's season-opening mark of 188.475 at Sacramento State. The Falcons' scores on three of the four events – 47.85 on the vault, 47.70 on the bars, and the 48.625 on the floor – also were higher than last year's opener.
 
Hundley (Littleton, Colo.) topped the vault field with a 9.80, and the beam with a 9.70.
 
"Maria did a great job. She has a great vault and that wasn't even her best vault," Tindall said. "Her beam routine also is great. She was a second-team All-American in that event last year and she was really good tonight."
 
Villanueva (Kaneohe, Hawaii) had the top score on the uneven bars with a 9.75, leading SPU to a sweep of the top four positions. Senior Bryn Larson (Westminster, Colo.) was second, junior Shannon Escarra (Fayetteville, Ga.) took third, and junior Cara Lord (Collegeville, Pa.) was fourth.
 
 
In fact, SPU had the top five floor finishers. Freshman Lauren Glover (Fort Collins, Colo.) was third, followed by senior Kenley Memmel (West Bend, Wis.) and Escarra, who tied for fourth.
 
Glover also had top-3 finishes on the vault (tie for second) and beam (tie for third).
 
SPU led throughout the night. The margin was 1.5 points after two events, but was down to just 45 hundredths of a point heading into the final event. The hosts fourth rotation total of 48.625 outpointed Anchorage's beam total of 46.425 by 2.20.
 
The hosts did not have an entry in the all-around competition that was won by UAA's M'rcy Matsunami with a mark of 38.325.
 
The Falcons take to the road next Friday in St. Charles, Missouri against host Lindenwood. Wisconsin-Oskosh and Wisconsin-La Crosse will join in to make it a four-way meet beginning at 5:00 p.m. PST.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS
Friday, January 10, 2014
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Team Scores
1, Seattle Pacific 190.750
2, Alaska Anchorage 188.200
 
All-Around
1, M'rcy Matsunami, UAA, 38.325
2, Stefany Brown, UAA, 37.500
3, Nicole Larkin, UAA, 36.775
 
Vault
1, Maria Hundley, SPU, 9.800
2t, Lauren Glover, SPU, 9.625
2t, M'rcy Matsunami, UAA, 9.625
 
Uneven Bars
1, Tracie Villanueva, SPU, 9.750
2, Bryn Larson, SPU, 9.700
3, Shannon Escarra, SPU, 9.675
 
Balance Beam
1, Maria Hundley, SPU, 9.700
2, M'rcy Matsunami, UAA, 9.65
3t, Lauren Glover, SPU, 9.575
3t, Morgan Cook, UAA, 9.575
 
Floor Exercise
1t, Kristi Hayashida, SPU, 9.775
1t, Kai Tindall, SPU, 9.775
3, Lauren Glover, SPU, 9.725