Photo above features Sienna Brane performs her routine on balance beam earlier this season. (Marissa Lordahl | The Falcon)
Last Friday, the Seattle Pacific University gymnastics team tapped into a 192.600 scoring performance and surpassed Wisconsin-Whitewater and Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The Falcons came in second place in front of the home crowd, only falling short to Air Force.
University’s 194.200 total. Overall, this was one of the gymnastics team most positive performances, with multiple Falcons landing top five in every routine.
“Our goal is to get in the 193s for these next two home meets. That is where we really need to be and definitely have the potential to do so,” said the Falcon’s head coach Laurel Tindall.
“The team has been working really hard in practice to increase consistency and confidence,” said Sarah Jean Marshall, the assistant coach of the team. “We saw a lot of great routines with plenty of room for further improvement. This team is extremely talented, and it was great to see them put together four solid events.”
For vault, Darian Burns tied for first with a score of 9.700, followed by Lena Wirth and Itzia San Roman tied at third with a 9.675. Uneven bars saw Darian Burns snag third with 9.825 and Mckenna Zimmerman grabbed fifth with 9.725. On the balance beam, McKenna Zimmerman was the only SPU gymnast in the top five, earning second place with a 9.825. Finally, Darian Burns tied for first place on the floor exercise with a 9.850, followed by Jadacie Durst at fifth with a 9.650.
The Falcons had more gymnasts land in the top five in the four-way meet than any other all season long.
Tindall said she was happy to see the team score above 192.000 again, saying, “Placing doesn’t really matter, everything is all about scores, so it was good that our scores were 192+ again.”
The last time the team scored this high was during their last and only previous home meet. The Falcons only scored .025 lower than their highest scoring meet this season. Along with the higher scoring at home meets this season, last season’s squad also averaged about one point higher at home meets in comparison to away meets.
“[The team] are definitely more comfortable in their home gym! We have been working hard in the gym on the events that have given us problems,” Tindall said.
Tindall said the team should have much more time for practice before the next meet if the weather corporates. Last week’s snow canceled several practices.
The Falcons have two more home meets next up on the ballot, and they are the final home meets for the season.
“It was awesome to be back at home last Friday, and we look forward to two more home meets coming up,” Marshall said. “The energy was fantastic from the team and the crowd and the girls really felt that enthusiasm. Our goal is to build from this meet and continue to increase our scores as the season goes on.”
The Falcons will host Sacramento State University Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. SPU previously faced off against SSU earlier in the season, and only lost by .125 points.
Tindall, hopes the teams scores will continue to soar, because the USA Gymnastics Championships is approaching in about two months, and they need to continue scoring high in order to qualify.
