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       • VIDEO: Tracie  Villanueva

SEATTLE – Fifty former Falcons were spectators at Friday's women's gymnastics meet. They witnessed the finest combined balance beam performance in the 43-year history of the program.
 
Ariana Harger posted a career-high of 9.85, and four of her teammates set season-highs as Seattle Pacific put up a school-record total on the beam during a three-way meet on Alumni Night in Brougham Pavilion.
 
The Falcons tallied 48.950 points on the beam as part of their final score of 192.275 against San Jose State and Alaska Anchorage. The Spartans won the meet with 193.925, and UAA was next with 193.325.
 
SPU's old record total on the beam was 48.775, established on March 27, 2010, during the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in Brougham.


 
In attendance Friday were alumnae who helped SPU win three national team championships. Those present accounted for 11 individual national titles and over 100 All-America awards. But none of them participated in a meet that produced a better beam result.
 
"Boy, we really kicked butt on beam tonight," exclaimed Laurel Tindall, who is in her 41st season as head coach after competing as a gymnast in the Falcons inaugural two seasons.
 
The SPU gymnasts started the meet with a 48.250 vault score that was the team's third best this season. They faltered on the uneven bars in the second rotation, counting two falls for a season-low 46.525. Their next event was the beam.
 
"It was really good to see them come back from a bad bars set," Tindall said. "I told them after bars that they had to get in there and fight for everything on beam.
 
"With great beam and floor scores we salvaged this meet and got a decent overall score. It's not as high as our last couple meets, but at least it was a better score for our average and it will help us in our regional qualifying score."
 
Seattle Pacific got no-fall beam efforts from all six of its performers. Junior Lauren Glover (Fort Collins, Colo.) started with a 9.725. She was followed by senior Alexa Okamura (Redmond, Wash. / Redmond HS) at 9.675, then Harger's 9.85, junior Tracie Villanueva (Kaneohe, Hawaii) at 9.80, senior Maria Hundley (Littleton, Colo.) at 9.875, and junior Kristie Hayashida (Mililani, Hawaii) at 9.70.
 
Besides Harger's career high, Glover, Okamura, Villanueva, and Hundley all had season highs.

 

Hundley tied for first on the beam, also tied for first on the uneven bars (9.80) and had the top all-around total (39.125). She now has three bars wins, two beam wins, and two all-around wins in 2016.
 
"Maria is just a really great competitor. When she sets her mind to it, she competes really well in meets," Tindall said.
 
This is the first year that Hundley, a five-time national champion (twice on bars and beam, once on vault), has done the floor ex and all-around. She scored 9.625 points on the floor Friday.
 
With her 9.85, Harger (Castro Valley, Calif.) eclipsed her previous beam high of 9.825, set just two weeks ago at home against UC Davis.
 
"Ari did a great job again, getting a 9.9 from one judge and 9.8 from the other with a huge wobble on a full turn," Tindall described. "Without that wobble would the judge have given her a 10?"
 
Harger followed that brilliant beam effort with the winning performance on the floor, tying her career high with a 9.875, and thus giving SPU victories on three of the four individual events. She now has taken the floor twice.
 
A sophomore standout, Harger placed fourth in the all-around with 38.075 points. San Jose's Maddie Herr posted a second-place all-around total of 38.875 and M'rcy Matsunami of Alaska Anchorage was third at 38.850.
 
The only one that didn't go to a Falcon was the vault, as Matsunami won with a 9.80. Hundley and San Jose State's Josalyn Ray were close behind, tied for second at 9.775.
 
Friday's score was SPU's fourth straight in the 190s, and push its season average to 191.088.
 
The Falcons are on the road next Friday, joining Ball State for a meet at Oregon State in Corvallis at 7:00 p.m. The final home meet is a rare Monday contest, on March 7 at 7:00 p.m. against the crosstown rival Washington Huskies.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS
Friday, Feb. 26, 2016
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Team Scores
1, San Jose State, 193.925
2, Alaska Anchorage, 193.325
3, Seattle Pacific, 192.275
 
All-Around
1, Maria Hundley, SPU, 39.125
2, Maddie Herr, SJSU, 38.875
3, M'rcy Matsunami, UAA, 38.850
4, Ariana Harger, SPU, 38.075
 
Vault
1t, M'rcy Matsunami, UAA, 9.800
1t, Josalyn Ray, SJSU, 9.800
3, Maria Hundley, SPU, 9.775
 
Uneven Bars
1t, Maria Hundley, SPU, 9.800
1t, Maddie Herr, SJSU, 9.800
3, Haleigh Shepard, SJSU, 9.750
 
Balance Beam
1t, Maria Hundley, SPU, 9.875
1t, Allison Bellingham, SJSU, 9.875
3, Ariana Harger, SPU, 9.850
 
Floor Exercise
1, Ariana Harger, SPU, 9.875
2t, Simone Penker, UAA, 9.775
2t, Erica Matos, SJSU, 9.775
2t, Ellie Pascoe-Long, SJSU, 9.775
 
 
Next Meet
Seattle Pacific at Oregon State (with Ball State)
Friday, March 4, 7:00 p.m. PST
Gill Coliseum / Corvallis, Ore.