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SEATTLE – Seattle Pacific collected two second-place finishes Friday, by Lena Wirth on the vault and Sienna Brane on the uneven bars, en route to a runner-up team result against top-ranked Lindenwood in a women's gymnastics triangular meet at Brougham Pavilion.
 
Lindenwood placed first on the strength of its sweep of the four event titles. The Lions, the 2015 and 2016 USA Gymnastics Collegiate champions, amassed 193.825 points. SPU was second with a score of 190.725 and Wisconsin-Eau Claire was third at 184.900. Lindenwood and Seattle Pacific are NCAA Division II competitors and UW-Eau Claire is from the Division III ranks.
 
"For the week we had of practice it was really a good performance," Coach Laurel Tindall said of SPU's second time above the 190-point plateau in three meets this season. "We had a rough week with some injuries adding to the few we lost in the meet last week."
 
Tindall singled out Wirth for praise. The sophomore produced a career-best 9.775 vault to place second on that apparatus.
 
"Lena did a great vault tonight. That's a vault you don't see very much and it's pretty hard to control that twist. That was the cleanest landing I've ever seen her do."
 
Lindenwood's Kierstin Sokolowski is the defending national vault champion. She was first on that apparatus Friday with a score of 9.825. Sokolowski also won the bars crown with a 9.725 to finish just ahead of SPU's Brane, who received a 9.700.



Sokolowski tied teammate Andy Alexander's winning balance beam mark of 9.775. Alexander topped the floor exercise field with a score of 9.825.
 
Tori Erickson from UW-Eau Claire was the best all-arounder with 38.400 points. Falcons freshman McKenna Zimmermann was second with a four-event total of 38.225 in her first outing as an all-arounder.
 
"McKenna stood out to me with a great score in her first time as an all-around. That was the first time she's been in the lineup in everything," Tindall said. "She really stepped up."
 
SPU's Darian Burns compiled 37.950 points, good enough for third in the all-around competition.
 
VAULT
The hosts got of to a terrific start in their initial event. Four Falcons established new career highs and Burns improved her season standard to 9.700.
 
Wirth posted the top vault mark of the season by a Falcon with a 9.775 that eclipsed her previous career best of 9.750.
 
The other career-high performances were turned in by Zimmermann (9.750), Zahra Lawal (9.525) and Shelbi Spivey (9.425).
 
The individual success led to a team score of 48.825 that was over seven-tenths better than the combined vault total in the first two meets of the season. That score was just six-tenths off the SPU team vault record of 48.850.
 
SPU vault scores in competition order
1-Shelbi Spivey 9.425, 2-Zahra Lawal 9.525, 3-Itzia San Roman 9.500, 4-Lena Wirth 9.775, 5-McKenna Zimmermann 9.750, 6-Darian Burns 9.700.
 
BARS
Brane delivered her season-high score of 9.700 as an outstanding anchor to the bars lineup. She helped the team notch a collective score of 47.050 on their second event.
 
"Sienna did a really good set," said Tindall. "She's good in that spot. She's clean and she's consistent and that's why she's the anchor."
 
Two Falcons achieved career-best bars marks and Kylie Reese matched hers with a 9.250. Zimmermann received a 9.575 and Itzia San Roman a 9.425.
 
Two falls on the bars forced the Falcons to include one of those among their five counting routines.
 
SPU bars scores in competition order
1-McKenna Zimmermann 9.575, 2-Kylie Reese 9.250, 3-Haven Lanzador 9.100, 4-Itzia San Roman 9.425, 5-Darian Burns 8.850, 6-Sienna Brane 9.700. EX-Brittany Atchison 9.575, EX-Carly Kano 8.700.
 
BEAM
Matching scores of 9.65 by Burns and Wirth paced the Falcons beam corps that combined for 47.025 points. That was a career-high mark for Wirth and season-best by Burns.
 
Haven Lanzador opened the third rotation with the best beam routine of her collegiate career. She was rewarded with a 9.575.
 
SPU had to count a fall on the beam.
 
SPU beam scores in competition order
1-Haven Lanzador 9.575, 2-Shelbi Spivey 9.000, 3-Sienna Brane 8.500, 4-Darian Burns 9.650, 5-Lena Wirth 9.650, 6-McKenna Zimmermann 9.150.
 
FLOOR

The Falcons finished in fine form, fashioning a team total of 48.400 during the fourth rotation. That was their highest floor mark of the season.
 
The top three Falcons tied for fourth place in the floor standings with matching scores of 9.750. That was a season-high for San Roman as well as Zimmermann, who had previously only performed in an exhibition capacity on the floor.
 
The third SPU 9.750 came from Burns, the defending national champion on that event. She would have emerged victorious Friday except for a one-tenth deduction after one step barely out of bounds at the conclusion of a tumbling pass.
 
Freshman Jadacie Durst became the sixth gymnast to make her SPU debut this season. She was second up on the floor and earned a 9.500.
 
SPU floor scores in competition order
1-Kylee Gauna 9.050, 2-Jadacie Durst 9.500, 3-McKenna Zimmermann 9.750, 4-Kylie Reese 9.650, 5-Itzia San Roman 9.750, 6-Darian Burns 9.750, EX-Autumn Huskie 8.775.
 
NEXT MEET
The SPU gymnasts embark on a three-meet road trip that begins Friday, Feb. 2 in Davis, California. They compete against host UC Davis along with San Jose State and Stanford.
 
The next home meet in Brougham Pavilion is another three-team affair when the Falcons host Sacramento State and Alaska Anchorage on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.


NCAA WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS
Seattle Pacific Triangular Meet
Friday, Jan. 26, 2018
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.

Team Scores
1, Lindenwood, 193.875
2, Seattle Pacific, 190.725
3, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 184.850

All-Around
1, Tori Erickson, UWEC, 38.400
2, McKenna Zimmermann, 38.225
3, Darian Burns, SPU, 37.950

Vault
1, Kierstin Sokolowski, LU, 9.825
2, Lena Wirth, SPU, 9.775
3, McKenna Zimmermann, SPU, 9.750
4t, Maya Davis, LU, 9.725
4t, Jordan Boogerd, LU, 9.725
4t, Kyndall Baze, LU, 9.725

Uneven Bars
1, Kierstin Sokolowski, LU, 9.725
2t, Sienna Brane, SPU, 9.700
2t, Ryan Henry, LU, 9.700
4, Courtney Mitchell, LU, 9.675
5, Andy Alexander, LU, 9.625
6, Samantha Borges, LU, 9.600

Balance Beam
1t, Kierstin Sokolowki, LU, 9.775
1t, Andy Alexander, LU, 9.775
3, Taylor Colwell, LU, 9.700
4t, Breanna Franklin, LU, 9.675
4t, Tori Erickson, UWEC, 9.675
6, Darian Burns, SPU, 9.650
6, Lena Wirth, SPU, 9.650

Floor Exercise
1, Andy Alexander, LU, 9.825
2t, Ryan Henry, LU, 9.800
2t, Kayla McMullan, LU, 9.800
4t, McKenna Zimmermann, SPU, 9.750
4t, Itzia San Roman, SPU, 9.750
4t, Darian Burns, SPU, 9.750
4t, Tori Erickson, UWEC, 9.750


Next SPU Gymnastics Meet
Seattle Pacific at UC Davis (with San Jose State & Stanford)
Friday, Feb. 2, 7:00 p.m. PST
The Pavilion / Davis, Calif.