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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sophomore Ariana Harger tied for top honors on the balance beam and Maria Hundley collected bronze medals in two categories Saturday for Seattle Pacific, which finished fourth at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Women's Gymnastics Championships in the Hornets Nest.
 
The Falcons tallied 193.300 team points to place in front of Alaska Anchorage (192.850) and Air Force (191.450).
 
Host Sacramento State re-claimed the conference team title with a winning score of 196.300. The Hornets finished first in 2014, but were dethroned last year by UC Davis.
 
Davis was the team runner-up Saturday (195.300) followed by San Jose State in third place (194.375).
 
SPU is the only NCAA Division II team in the conference as all five other teams are Division I competitors.
 
Harger tied her career high of 9.850 to finish in a three-way tie for first on the beam. She is SPU's second straight MPSF beam champion as teammate Kristi Hayashida shared the 2015 gold. Harger (Castro Valley, Calif.) is SPU's ninth MPSF event champion all-time and the fourth in the last five years.
 
"Ariana just did awesome," exclaimed SPU coach Laurel Tindall. "She's done several really good beam routines this year and this was another one of them."
 
Harger shared the beam crown with a pair of Sacramento gymnasts, Kalliah McCartney and Lauren Rice. Those two Hornets finished one-two in the all-around competition, McCartney with 39.450 points and Rice 39.325. McCartney was also the vault champion (9.900).

 

Hundley (Littleton, Colo.) posted a four-event total of 39.175 to place third while Harger's total of 38.925 was good enough for fifth among all-arounders. Harger received a fourth-place score of 9.875 on the floor exercise.
 
A senior, Hundley's total included a mark of 9.825 that put her in a five-way tie for third place on the vault. She tied for fifth on the floor with a career-high 9.850 and was in a seventh-place uneven bars tie with a 9.775.
 
"Maria did a great job, was nice and consistent," Tindall said. "She should have scored higher on beam with a routine that was comparable to Ariana's. She put her events together pretty well and had another good all-around score."
 
The other two individual event titles were captured by UC Davis gymnasts, Alexis Brown on the bars (9.825) and Stephanie Stamates on the floor (9.925).
 
The Falcons opened the meet on the floor and were fantastic, recording their season-best team output of 48.950. That was 0.225 better than their previous high of 48.725 scored on Mar. 7.
 
The lofty floor total came on the strength of three career-high scores. Harger tied her best of 9.875, Hundley topped her high score with a 9.850 and Rain Sullivan eclipsed her high mark with a 9.750.
 
A solid score of 48.325 on the vault had SPU in second place after the second rotation with a two-event total of 97.275. No season-best scores were reached, but Hundley had a 9.825 to lead the team.
 
Tindall bemoaned the fact the Falcons have a pattern of thriving in the opening two events, but then faltering in the second half of meets and haven't yet reached the 194-point figure.
 
 "We had a great floor start, awesome. It was the highest score of the season, almost a 49. And then they were pretty good on vault tonight.
 
"The last three meets, whatever two events have been first, because it's been different every time, we've been at 97 or above. We were at our highest after floor and vault, at 97.275, which was our highest first half. Then we weren't as good, again, in the third and fourth rotations."
 
The SPU gymnasts scored lower on their final two events, being forced to count falls in each of them. They registered 47.750 points on the bars without anybody reaching their season-high mark. Hundley led the way with a 9.775.
 
SPU concluded the meet on the beam and compiled a mark of 47.975. Harger equaled her career-best effort of 9.85 and Lauren Glover improved her season standard to 9.750.
 
Hayashida, an SPU junior, was unable to defend her beam crown. She scored 9.100 points after grabbing the gold in 2015 with a 9.875.
 
Seattle Pacific is assured of a bid to the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships, set for April 8-10 in St. Charles, Missouri. The eight-team field will be announced Monday and the Falcons will likely be the No. 4 seed.
 
That would mark the 34th time in the past 35 seasons that the Falcons will have advanced to nationals. SPU won three national championships, in 1986, 1992 and 1997.

NCAA WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships
Saturday, March 21, 2016
Hornets Nest / Sacramento, Calif.

Team Scores
1, Sacramento State, 196.300
2, UC Davis, 195.300
3, San Jose State, 194.375
4, Seattle Pacific, 193.300
5, Alaska Anchorage, 192.850
6, Air Force, 191.450

All-Around
1, Kalliah McCatney, SSU, 39.450
2, Lauren Rice, SSU, 39.325
3, Maria Hundley, SPU, 39.175
4, Julia Konner, SSU, 39.100
5, Ariana Harger, SPU, 38.925
6, M'rcy Matsumani, UAA, 38.675
7, Simone Penker, UAA, 38.550

Vault
1, Kalliah McCartney, SSU, 9.900
2, Lauren Rice, SSU, 9.850
3t, Maria Hundley, SPU, 9.825
3t, Lauren Schmeiss, SSU, 9.825
3t, Megan Kyle, SSU, 9.825
3t, Alexis Brown, UCD, 9.825
3t, Josalyn Ray, SJSU, 9.825

Uneven Bars
1, Alexis Brown, UCD, 9.825
2t, Kalliah McCartney, SSU, 9.800
2t, Dani Judal, UCD, 9.800
2t, Rachel Heinl, SJSU, 9.800
2t, Marie-Sophie Boggasch, UAA, 9.800
2t, M'rcy Matsunami, UAA, 9.800
7t, Maria Hundley, SPU, 9.775

Balance Beam
1t, Ariana Harger, SPU, 9.850
1t, Lauren Rice, SSSU, 9.850
1t, Kalliah McCartney, SSU, 9.850
4t, Stephanie Stamates, UCD, 9.825
4t, Allison Bellingham, SJSU, 9.825
6t, Megan Kyle, Sacramento State, 9.800
6t, Alexis Brown, UCD, 9.800
6t, Maddie Herr, SJSU, 9.800

Floor Exercise
1, Stephanie Stamates, UCD, 9.925
2t, Kalliah McCartney, SSU, 9.900
2t, Julia Konner, SSU, 9.900
4, Ariana Harger, SPU, 9.875
5t, Maria Hundley, 9.850
5t, Jennifer Brenner, SSU, 9.850
5t, Cassie Benning, SSU, 9.850
5t, Lauren Rice, SSU, 9.850
5t, Kara Jones, UCD, 9.850


NEXT SPU MEET
USAG Collegiate Championships
St. Charles, Missouri (Lindenwood University)
April 8-10