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USA GYMNASTICS WOMEN'S COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Washington
 
FRIDAY, APRIL 7
Team Semifinal #1 --  2:00 p.m. PDT
Team Semifinal #2 -- 7:00 p.m. PDT
 
SATURDAY, APRIL 8
Team Final, 7:00 p.m. PDT
 
SUNDAY, APRIL 9
Individual Event Finals, 1:00 p.m. PDT
 
• Webcast: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/spu/
• Live Scoring: http://www.spufalcons.com/sports/2016/12/15/Livestats.aspx
 
The gymnastics nationals return to Brougham Pavilion for the first time in 10 years. Seattle Pacific will host and compete in the three-day USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Championships that determine the team and individual national champions. The competition runs from Friday through Sunday, April 7-9, on the SPU campus. The Falcons will participate at the championships for the 35th time in the last 36 years, chasing their fourth team title.

 

Defending Champ
Seattle Pacific junior Ariana Harger seeks to defend her national floor exercise title. She scored a 9.90 on that event last year in St. Charles, Mo. to tie for gold medal honors with Bridgeport's Randi Cutolo. Harger is USAGym's fourth-ranked vaulter and was the Falcons' top scorer 10 times on that apparatus with a top mark of 9.825. Her career-high of 9.900 came at the 2016 nationals on April 9 and broke the 12-year-old school record (9.875). Harger was extremely consistent on the vault this year, winning that event three times and scoring 9.800 or higher six times while never dropping below 9.725. She is also ranked No. 4 on the floor exercise, topping the team in each of the last eight outings on that event. Harger notched a season-best score of 9.875 three times and was the floor winner three times. Her career-best of 9.925, posted last season, is the second-highest floor score ever for a Falcons gymnast. Harger competed at the NCAA Division I regional on April 1 at Washington and placed 18th on the floor (9.800) and 32nd on vault (9.725).
 
USAGym Format
Nine teams and 33 individual qualifiers will contend for team, all-around and event national titles. The team semifinals will be conducted in two separate sessions, taking place on Friday, April 7 at 2 and 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. The two highest-scoring teams from each preliminary group advance to the four-team finals on Saturday, April 8 at 7 p.m. PDT. Friday's top-five scoring gymnasts in every event, including ties, from the first team session, and six from the second, will qualify for the event finals. The individual event finals will be contested on Sunday, April 9 beginning at 1 p.m. PDT.
 
The Field
Friday's first semifinal starts at 2 p.m. PDT and features top-seeded Bridgeport, a six-time champion. Also competing in the opening session are No. 4 Cornell, No. 5 Air Force and No. 8 West Chester. Ninth-seeded SPU competes in the second session at 7 p.m. and opens the meet with a bye before competing on the uneven bars for the second rotation. Also in the evening group will be No. 2 seed Lindenwood, the two-time defending national champion, No. 3 Texas Woman's, No. 6 Yale and No. 7 Brown.
 


USAGym History
The Falcons have won three national gymnastics team championships. They captured the 1986 NCAA Division II crown and the 1992 and 1997 titles after USA Gymnastics became the sponsor in 1987. The collegiate championships include NCAA Division II and III members along with Division I schools that choose to adhere to the limit of 7.5 scholarships. This year's nationals field features four Division I schools and five Division II entries. Seattle Pacific placed third in each of the last three years.
 
Magnificent Maria
Maria Hundley completed her collegiate career as the most decorated gymnast in SPU history. She graduated in 2016 after collecting a school-record seven national championships, including the all-around and vault in 2016. She was the 2014 vault, bars and beam champion and repeated as the bars and beam winner in 2015. Hundley equaled the Division II record for career titles with those seven gold medals.
 
Gym Shorts
The Falcons posted a season-high 194.100 on March 11 at Washington, the seventh-highest team score in school history ... Four Falcons combined for 11 event wins this season: Ariana Harger (7), Kristi Hayashida (2), Darian Burns (1) and Lauren Glover (1) ... In addition, Burns won one all-around title ... Seven current gymnasts were in the SPU lineup at the 2016 national championships ... Five Falcons earned All-America acclaim in 12 categories at the 2016 nationals, including returnees Ariana Harger (V, BB, FX), Lauren Glover (V, FX), Kristi Hayashida (BB) and Breanna Beltran (UB) ... This is the 44th season of intercollegiate gymnastics competition at Seattle Pacific and the 42nd with Laurel Tindall as the coach.
 
Proud History
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, Seattle Pacific has made the kind of lasting impression that few programs anywhere can match. The Falcons earned invitations to 35 of the last 36 championship meets (1982-2008, 2010-2017). They narrowly missed a qualifying berth in 2009. SPU gymnasts have won 31 national individual crowns and collected 199 All-America awards. The Falcons finished third at the last three USAGym Collegiate Championships.
 
Home Sweet Brougham
Brougham Pavilion, on the Seattle Pacific campus (3414 Third Ave. W, Seattle, WA, 98119), has hosted the national championship meet three times, most recently in 2007 when the Falcons finished second. They won the 1997 title at home and also hosted in 1996.

 

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, four decades 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 completes her 42nd year as head coach, Tindall's SPU teams have won three national championships (1997, 1992, 1986). Falcon athletes garnered 31 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. And, in a tribute to all of her accomplishments in the SPU gym, Tindall was inducted into the Falcon Hall of Fame in 2005.
 
2017 Preview
The Falcons want to be home when they collect their fourth national championship. Seattle Pacific, winner of titles in 1986, 1992 and 1997, plays host to the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships in April. They parlayed the home gym advantage into the top spot on the victory platform in 1997. "Definitely it's great to have the kids competing in their home gym. The home crowd and not having to travel is a good advantage for us," said Coach Laurel Tindall, in her 42nd season at SPU. "We tend to have a good meet when we host." The 2017 pursuit to the podium features 10 returning letterwinners, including defending floor exercise national champion, junior Ariana Harger. Also returning are balance beam silver medalist Kristi Hayashida and Lauren Glover, who earned bronze on the floor exercise. Breanne Beltran finished eighth on the uneven bars. They seek to offset the departure of Maria Hundley, who won a school-record seven national titles during the last four years. The Division II Falcons seek to improve upon the third-place national result they accomplished at the 2014, 2015 and 2016 USAGym meets. A stellar group of six newcomers will find places to make their presence felt. "We have some really great freshmen. In our sport we recruit for them to contribute right away. Both Darian (Burns) and Lena (Wirth) are strong gymnasts in several events and will contribute a lot along with Miyuki (Matsune)." SPU reaped its 35th championship meet berth in the last 36 years. Tindall and her staff of Sarah Jean Marshall and Carly Dockendorf were happy to extend that streak by staying home for the championships.
 
2016 Recap
The Falcons forged one of the finest seasons in school history in 2016. They placed third at nationals as a team and collected 12 All-America certificates at the USAG Collegiate Championships in St. Charles, Mo. Maria Hundley won national titles in the all-around and vault, giving her a record seven career championships. Ariana Harger tied for the floor title while Kristi Hayahida brought home a silver medal on the balance beam and Lauren Glover was a floor exercise bronze medalist. In the USAG team finals, the Falcons compiled a school-record total of 194.875 points to secure a third-place showing. SPU finished fourth at the MPSF (conference) Championships with a mark of 193.000.