Chapter 18

COLLEGE GYMNASTICS WOMEN

(updated 1-29-08)

In “the old days”, college women were only allowed to have gymnastics competitions during “Play Days”.  In that era, a number of colleges were brought together on a Saturday for competitions. In the late 1960’s, UW started a women’s club team.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

1964-1965 marks the first season that UW had a women’s club team. It was part of the P.E. department, not the Athletics department. They went to the first college Nationals on March 27th and took 2nd place! (Collegiate Women’s Invitations Gym Meet, Southern Ill.) Margaret Cant was the coach, with Dale McClements as the assistant coach. Carol Elsner was 7th all-around. Dale McClements (P.E. Major) was 4th AA, 1st Fx., 1st on Vault, 1st on Bars, and 8th on Beam. Karen Patoile Wisen (P.E. Major) transferred to the UW after competing in Minnesota at Gustavus Adolphus on their very first gymnastics team. Dale McClements and Carol Elsner were the two “stars". Also on the team were Barb Cook, and Sharon Reiken.

In the 1965-1966 season, Karen was captain of the team. The team worked out at the U but they really “trained” at the “Y” with George Lewis.

1969-1971: Ruth Rabinovitch and Maureen Ryan were on the team. Ruth was captain in 1970 and Carol Elsner was the coach. Ruth says that they worked out and trained at the "Y" with George Lewis, and that the UW team was small but competed successfully at the PAC 8 level. (As of 2007, Maureen was an attorney in Mill Creek, and Ruth practiced medicine in Southern Oregon.)

Joyce Tanac competed for one year after retiring from the 1968 Olympic Games. She competed only on FX and BB and went to nationals in Iowa 1972. Laurel Anderson Tindall was great on UB and VT and Priscilla Taylor Hickey did all-around with Laurie Black. Joyce made finals on BB and FX and Laurel was in VT and UB finals. By this time they were practicing at the women's PE deptment building.

Laurel Anderson Tindall competed for UW for two years and won vault nationals in 1973. (She then went to SPU.)

UW competed at the AIAW Championships in 1975-1977.(13th in 1976)

Some of the recognized UW gymnasts:
Suzie Sun went to the NCAA Championships in 1982 and in 1984 and was an outstanding gymnast for the Huskies. The Huskies placed 8th as a team in 1984 with the team of Wendy Gangwer, Wendy Goya, Suzi Sun, Christi Robell and Nancy Rhinesmith.

The UW won the 1986 conference championship.

Yumi Modre, (Pringle)the most decorated UW gymnast, started her UW career in 1985 with a serious knee injury. At the 1986 NCAA Championships, she finished 4th on beam, which made her the first Washington All-American. She was the NorPac Gymnast of the Year of 1986. She was a 7-time All American. In Pac-10, Yumi was a five-time champion. She was named the University’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1987. In 1988 she was in the top 10 in three events at NCAA Championships and at the 1989 Championships, she was injured in the warmups. 1995 UW Hall of Fame Inductee. A one-armed diomidoff was named for her. USAG WA Hall of Fame 2006 Inductee.

Woodruff, Mrs. Betsy (Erickson, Betsy) Gymnast at Oak Harbor Gymnastics Club then UW. Was a winning contestant on the tv show American Gladiator -won a car. Coaches at Leading Edge Gymnastics in Bellingham and coached elite gymnast Annie Campbell.

Tiffany Simpson broke the school record in the all-around in her first home meet at UW in 1996 as a freshman. She made the NCAA Championships that year but was sick and didn’t do well. But in 1997 she took 7th all-around and was a three time All-American.
Pac-10 Vault Champ in 1997. All-around co-winner with teammate Klara Kudilkova in the 1998 West Regionals. Also was a three time All-American at the 1998 NCAA championships. Three time 10.0 score winner.

Klara Kudilkova co-champ with Tiffany Simpson at the 1998 West Regional championship. At the NCAA Championships that year, she took 3rd in the all-around. She was All-American in all-around, vault and floor ex.

Carly Dockendorf, Canadian gymnast for the UW. Went to 2003 and 2004 NCAA championships as an all-arounder. Three 10.0’s in 2003 season. Won 2006 Pac-10 Bars with a 10.0.

Stacey Wong qualified for NCAA Championships in 2003 on beam, as did Tacia LaBatte in AA.

Emily Pritchard has an uneven bars move named for her.

Chelsea Bakken took 26th at the NCAA championships in the All-around in 2007.

"Celebrating our Heritage of Women in Athletics - The University of Washington"

Honoring our Female Pioneers on April 7, 2007 at Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Athletes who competed for the University of Washington prior to Title IX 1975-76 season were honored. 

(back row) Laurel Anderson Tindall 1972, Priscilla Taylor Hickey 1971, 1972, (front row) Louise Grant Sussman 1960's, Joyce Tanac Schroeder 1972, Karen Patoile Wisen 1964-66

Carol Elsner was awarded the blanket for being a gymnast and coach. Louise Grant Sussman 1960's, Karen Patoile Wisen 1964-1966, Maureen Ryan 1969-1971, Ruth Rabinovitch 1969-1971, Carol Elsner 1971, 1972, PriscillaTaylor Hickey 1971, 1972, Laurel Anderson Tindall 1972, Joyce Tanac Schroeder 1972

Not pictured but also attended: Sharon Heilman Marks (1960's) Barbara Newton (1960's) and Annette Barton (1970's).
Listed in the program, but did not attend: Dale McClements Kephart (1960's).

Pac 10
Summer of 1986 was the year that the Pac 10 installed womens sports into the conference. Before that, UW and WSU were part of the Pacific Athletic Conference.
Pac 10 Winners:  Yumi Mordre won Beam in 1989, and FX and AA in 1987; Tiffany Simpson Vt Champ in 1996.; Klara Kudilkova Vt 1996 with a 10.0; Klara Kudilkova FX 1997; Stacy Wong won Bars 2001; Emily Pritchard was Pac 10 Vt. Champ in 2002; Carly Dockendorf 10.0 on bars in 2002. Ashley Houghting won vault in 2007.

West Regionals UW won the 1998 West Regionals.

NCAA Winners NCAA first included womens sports championships in 1981. Yumi Mordre won the NCAA Beam and Vault Championships in 1987 and was 2nd all around, 4th on bars and 11th on floor. She wasn’t expected to win and wasn’t invited to the pre-meet conference. She was the first female gymnast to win more than one national championship event at the NCAA.

UW Women Year by Year Results produced by UW.
UW Women Region Results produced by UW.
UW Women at NCAA's produced by UW.
UW Women Awards produced by UW.
UW Women All-Time Scores produced by UW.
UW Women Pac-10 produced by UW.

SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY

SPU Complete History and Records written by SPU staff: spu-recordbook-gymnastics.pdf

SPU’s new gym (Brougham Pavilion) was the site of the 1954 AAU Pacific Northwest Open. This was a big event for this area - it was the largest meet held west of the Mississippi River. There was no balance beam, so SPU’s athletic director, Ken Foreman made one from a piece of lumber! (Foreman was a former NCAA champion, and world record holder in the rope climb.)

1972 saw George Lewis move his gymnastics club to SPU.

The first year for the varsity team, 1974-75, Virginia Husted was the coach. The original Falcons included US National Team members Laurel Anderson Tindall and Debbie Halle.

George Lewis coached the 1975-76 season. In 1975, Laurel won the national vault title and Debbie Hale took 3rd in the all around.

Laurel Anderson Tindall took over as head coach in 1976 and has been there ever since. Under Laurel’s leadership, the team has won 3 National Division II titles. The Falcons have qualified for Nationals 23 times, with 19 consecutive top finishes since 1984. By 2006, there have been 20 national champions and 154 All-Americans.

SPU Team, 1994

National Champions:
1986, 1992 and 1997 National Champs. (In the 1986 meet, SPU was in last place going into vault. They beat out the other 7 teams to win first.)
Debbie Halle, bars 1974
Laurel Anderson Tindall 1974-1975: National Vault champion (Yami vault) 1975.
Barbara Elliott won Vault, Beam and Floor in 1986 NCAA Championships -as a Freshman. She also won floor in 1987.
Kathie Cradduck, all-around 1992
Anna Sandberg, beam 1993
Stephanie Andrews, beam 1995
Deni Boswell, bars 1996 and was the 1998 all around champion and bars champ. (Deni went on to coach club.)
Lisa Smith, vault 1996
Gina Moody, floor 1996
Mindy Lee Ferguson, bars 1997
Amanda King, beam 1997
Kristen Strid, bars 2003
Kari Kelly, vault 2005
Debra Huss, bars, floor, aa, 2005
Division 2 Athlete of the Year Jaynie Reynolds, 2006; Sarah Sullivan, 2007
Assistant Coaches: Kristin Strid. Kathy Siwek 2006-07, Anna Leiferman, 2006-07
Conference: Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
2006 Honors: 8th place, USA Gymnastics Nationals; 1st place, MPSF
Previous Honors:  NCAA Division II Champions, 1986; USAG Champions 1992, 1997

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

This program started in 1966 under coach Dianne Albright, and was disbanded in 1987.

Al Sanders was named Co-Coach of the year in the conference for his work in his first season with the WSU Women’s Gymnastics Team in 1980. He also won honors as NorPac Coach of the year in 1984. (Al was an All-American at George Williams College in Chicago.)
The best finish for the Cougars, was a fourth place at the NCWSA/AIAW Regional Championships in 1980. 1982 saw the whole team make it to AIAW Nationals in Tennessee, where they finished eleventh. The team was made up of: Joan Carbaugh, Spokane,(AA); Kim Rogers, Corvallis, OR.; Patty Warner, Boise, ID.; Lesa Stark, Kent; Lisa Onweiler, McCall, ID; Linda Spears, Spokane; Kirstan Jensen, Oak Harbor; and Linda Femling, Woodinville,

Some of the star gymnasts include:
Lisa McKuen, of Auburn, in 1974, she became the first WSU woman gymnast to qualify for the AIAW Nationals. She did so in floor ex for Coach Dianne Albright.
Nanette Thomas, Aiea, Hawaii, 1976.
Kathy Kortier, Mercer Island, 1979 (She placed first in Regionals in 1979 as a frosh and just missed going to Nationals)
Robin Boasen, Richland, 1980, was fourth on the uneven bars at Regionals.
Patty Warner, Boise, ID. 1980’s.  She held records in vault, bars, beam and all-around. She was fourth in 1981, at Regionals, as a sophomore, with a school record of 36.00.  She went to Nationals in Salt Lake City in 1982. 
Kim Rogers, Covallis, OR. Won all-around and uneven titles at the AIAW Regionals in 1982.  She led the team to Nationals in Tennessee that year.
Tammy Baker, Redwood City, CA.
Suzy Sawyer, Boise, ID.
Sarah Larson, Great Falls, MT.
Kathy Bovaird, Santa Clara, CA.  She received the Outstanding Senior Woman Athlete Award in 1987, and Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, 1987.

SPOKANE COMM. COLLEGE: Rick Harrison. Spokane Community College had a good team. National Champs.

WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY (Any information about this program would be appreciated.)

EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Won the 1971 PNRP 8 Championships in 1971 under coach Maxine Davis.
(Any information about this program would be appreciated.)

COACHES

Womens Team Coaches:

UW  Margaret Cant club team, 1965. Carol Jacobs; Carol Elsner; Judy Swanson, assistant coach 1974. Dale Shirley 1975-79; Ed Zimmer 1980;Bob Ito 1981-90; Bob Levesque 1991-2006; Joanne Bowers 2006-present (2007 West Region Coach of the Year and Pac 10 Coach of the Year.)

W.S.U. 1966-1987. Diane Albright 1966–1977; Brad Loan 1975-76; Al Sanders, 1978-1987.(National Tumbling Champ?) Diane Ritchie Palmer was asst. coach 1979-1986.

S.P.U. Virginia Husted 1974-1975; George Lewis 1975-1976; Laurel Tindall 1976-present.

Eastern Washington U  Maxine Davis, born 7/28/40. Competed for Monessen Turners and Sokols for six years, and coached at Chino High in California, and Chaffey College, in Alta Loma for seven years. Coached Eastern Washington State College in Cheney in the 1970’s. She was nominated as one of six to coach the US Women at the World University Games in Moscow, Russia in 1973. Her team won the 1971 PNRP 8 Championships in 1971.
Rusty Wellman and Louise Manilia are two names associated with the program.