College Women

Chapter 18

COLLEGE GYMNASTICS WOMEN

(updated 4-20-10)

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.

Washington Athletes Who Went On To Compete at College outside of WA (Check out WA college info below)

1970's

1980's

	Tina Barnes 1985-88 OSU
	Pierce, Linda (Goos) Oregon State 1988-91; elite level Northwest Aerials gymnast - but started at the UW club program (non-competitive) with Dick Foxal, then to George Lewis and then to Patti Gable at NWA. 1982, '85, and '87 WA. State AA Champ;1982, 1986, and1987 USGF Class 1 Regional AA Champ; 1983 USGF Elite Zone AA Champ; 1988 Oregon State University MVP as a freshman! 1990 and '91 NCAA Academic All American Gymnast; 1991 Pac-10 Conference All Decade Team. 2007 USAG WA. Hall of Fame Inductee. Linda got her degree in Sports Psychology, and now works at Microsoft.
	Barrios, Roni, PSSG, Cal State Fullerton. Elite gymnast for Brad Loan. Went on to and to coach club in CA. Coaches in Arizona at Flames. Inducted into the USAG WA Hall of Fame in 2008.
	Rogers, Taunia Cal-State Fullerton Won all four events and the all-around title at the 1982 High School State Meet. Won all-around, vault, beam and tied for first in floor in the 1981 state meet. Her nine state titles are the second most first places at the high school state meet, only bested by Liz Grajewski of the 2000,2001,and 2002 state meets. Five-time All-American at Cal-State Fullerton.

1990's

	Summer McCain SU From LEGA North, Bellingham 1997 Kim Carey SPU From LEGA North, Bellingham
	Kim Rushing, NWA, OSU
	Lori Whitwer, NWA, Iowa
	Kathy Kradock
	Jessica Marshall Hart NWA coached by Dan and Linda Young. U of Arizona 1992-1996. Was an all arounder freshman year and competed in the NCAA division 1 Finals (Super Six) as a team in 1993 in Corvalis, OR. Went on to compete as a vault specialist in 1996 in the NCAA team finals in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where U of A placed 7th as a team. Coached in Arizona, moved to Southern CA and began judging. Moved to Nor CA and then to WA.
	Tiffani White 1999 OSU, NASA Gymnast
	Annie Campbell, Leading Edge Gymnastics, OSU 2000-02, 04: coached by Betsy Woodruff. 1st AA, at USAIGC championships. 1st on vault at American Classics. Competed in Mexico as member of the Pacific Northwest All-Stars. Oregon State University gymnast. In 2002 Annie Campbell missed the NCAA Gymnastics Championships as a result of an injury suffered in practice. The junior all-around stand out at OSU ruptured the Achilles' tendon in her left leg while working on her floor routine in practice. Prior to the injury, Campbell had been enjoying her finest season as a Beaver. She set or tied career highs on all four events this season and ranked 12th nationally on floor and 23rd on beam. She was named to the All-Pacific-10 Team as an all-arounder, and she won the NCAA West Region Championship on floor after a 9.975 on the event. Campbell had won 10 individual titles that year, most on the team, and she'd scored a 9.90 or better 12 times during the season. Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week March 16, 2002.
	Fluhrer, Caroline born 1982, Cascade Elite gymnast -Stanford: Club/High School: Three-time champion in the all-around at Level 10 Regionals ... Won the all-around at Regionals in 1994, 1997 and 1998 ... Competed with the U.S. National Team in the 2000 American Classic ... Finished fourth in the all-around at 1998 Level 10 Nationals ... Reached the finals on both beam and bars at the 1998 Level 10 Nationals ... Bar finalist at the 1997 Level 10 Nationals ... Member of the Junior National Elite Team from 1995-1996 ... Graduated with honors from Lakeside High School ... AP Scholar. As a Junior in 2003: Team co-captain ... Earned Second-Team All-America honors on bars ... Competed in the all-around twice, scoring a 39.475 in both the Oklahoma and Pac-10 meets ... NACGC Academic All-American. 2002: Recorded a 39.150 All-Around score at the NCAA Championships, her first appearance in the All-Around since Feb. 10 due to injury ... Took first place honors on bars with a 9.925 at NCAA Regionals in Denver. Earned NACGA Academic All-America honors ... 2002 Pac-10 All-Academic Second Team Selection. As a Freshman in 2001: Provided a huge spark for the Cardinal in her rookie campaign ... Named to the Pac-10 All-Conference team for the All-Around and vault ... Posted a 9.975 on vault at the Pac-10 Championships to tie for first place and tie the school's all-time record...Tied for sixth in the All-Around with a 38.825 at the NCAA Regionals to guide the Cardinal into the finals ... Also at NCAA Regionals, placed fourth on the vault (9.875), tied for fifth on bars (9.875) and tied for 10th on the floor exercise (9.825) ... Earned 2001 "Most Consistent- Vault" Team Award.
	Willis, Onnie From Tacoma. PSSG gymnast for Brad Loan and Cathy Sutherland. 1996 USA Jr. National Team and 8th place at American Classics. Competed in three U.S. Championships. National AA, Vt. And Beam champ 1998. UCLA gymnast. 2002 Pac-10 all-around champion with a score of 39.625. Also won the conference bars title (season-high 9.95). Earned first-team All-America honors on bars, floor and all-around. Second-team All-American on vault. Recorded two perfect 10s (vault and floor) on Mar. 3 at the UCLA Invite. Earned All-Pac-10 honors in the all-around and on vault. First-team Pac-10 All-Academic selection with a 3.66 GPA in Psychology. Team co-captain. 2001 Became UCLA's first-ever NCAA all-around champion after tying Michigan's Elise Ray for first place at the NCAA Championships with a 39.525. NCAA runner-up on bars and placed fifth on floor. Honda Award nominee. One of just two athletes to earn All-America honors on all four events and the all-around. First-team All-American on bars, beam, floor and all-around. Second-team All-American on vault.Recorded her first perfect 10 of the season on vault. At her next meet, she scored her first career 10 on floor. West Regional co-champion on vault.Selected the Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week Feb. 13-21 after her performance at Oregon State. NACGC Scholastic All-American. Team co-captain. 2000 First-team All-American on vault with a fifth-place finish. Second-team All-American on bars and floor. Established new freshman school records on vault (10.0), bars (9.975), floor (tied, 9.95) and all-around (39.525). Her 10.0 on vault Feb. 20 at the UCLA Invitational was the first-ever perfect mark by a UCLA freshman and a UCLA Invitational first. Pac-10 runner-up on bars. UCLA's Co-Rookie of the Year. Club Five-year elite gymnast at Puget Sound Gymnastics under coaches Brad Loan and Cathy Sutherland. Was selected her club's Top Performer of the Year three times. Named the 1999 Tacoma Athletic Commission Athlete of the Year and the Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Western Washington � J.O. National all-around, vault and beam champion in 1998. Made the 1996 USA Junior National Team after an eighth-place showing at the American Classic. Chosen to compete for the U.S. at the 1993 Japan Tour. Competed in three U.S. Championships. Personal Describes her team's win at the 1998 Junior Olympic Nationals as the greatest meet of her life and her biggest athletic thrill. Earned four varsity letters as a long and triple jumper at Wilson HS in Tacoma. 1999 State Triple Jump Champion and state bronze medalist in the long jump (career-best mark of 17-11) Set the school record in the triple jump (career-best 38-5 1/2) her freshman year. Four-time team MVP.1999 track team captain. Full name is Leoandra Elaine Willis. Born October 5, 1980 in Santa Maria, CA.

2000's

	2001 Tiffany Putman BSU From LEGA North, Bellingham
	Tashi Simontin, NWA, UW
	Ty Burgess, NWA, PSSG, Michigan
	Kristen Omori, UW
	Liz Grajewski, University of Iowa, born 1983; 2006 - earned Big Ten Sportsmanship award... academic all-Big Ten. 2005 - team co-captain... academic all-Big Ten. 2004 -tied for ninth on beam at NCAA regionals (9.825)... academic all-Big Ten. 2003 - voted Most Hawkeye Spirit. High School Kentwood- Competed at Level 10 Nationals from 1999-2003... finished 13th in all-around in 2001 with a 37.7... placed eighth on vault with a 9.5 in 2000... in 1999, finished eighth on vault (9.4).
	Dodd, Mylan CEG, U.CA. Berkeley, born 1983 in Seattle. Gymnast at Cascade Elite under Coach Frank Lee. Member of the National Team 1998-2001. 14th on FX and 16th on vault at the 1998 US Championships. 1999 World Team Trials. 16th AA at the 2000 U.S.Championships. As a Freshman and Soph. at U.CA. Berkeley, made the NCAA Championships.
	April Boone, Gym East - Arizona State...Born 1985; A 2003 graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Seattle, Wash., where she was an honor student and member of the National Honor Society. Coached by John and Tammy Carney at the Gymnastics East in Bellevue, WA. 1999 AA champ at Level 9 Westerns. As a level 10 gymnast, placed 9th on the bars at the 2002 Junior Olympic National Championships. Placed first in the all-around at the Level 10 Regional Meet in 2000 and 2002. Placed second in the all-around at the 2003 Level 10 Regional Meet and seventh at Nationals.Competed in Santiago, Chile in 2000 where she placed second in the all-around. Pacific-10 Conference Gymnast of the Week for March 13 - 19, 2007; Team Captain 2007
	Aimee Goheen, Gym East (2004 National Team Member)- Auburn 05-08
	Tasha Smith, Gymnastics Express, OSU. National team member in 2002, 2003 and 2005 ... Won national title on vault in 2005 and on floor exercise in 2003 ... Finished second in the all-around at Junior Nationals in 2002 and 2005 and finished third in 2003 ... Trained at under coaches Jeff and Linda Lutz. Born in San Diego, California. Oregon State University: 2008 NCAA West Regional Floor Exercise Co-Champion..All-Pac-10 First Team, Vault & Floor Exercise...2008 Pac-10 Vault & Floor Exercise Champion...Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week, Feb. 19-25... Pac-10 Specialist of the Week, Feb. 12-18. 2007 First Team All-American, Vault. South Central Floor Exercise Champion. All-Pac-10 Conference, All-Around. Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week, Feb. 20-26. 2006 Second Team All-American, Vault. 2006 Pac-10 Vault Champion. Pac-10 Floor Exercise Champion. All-Pac-10 Conference, Floor Exercise. Co-Female Newcomer of the Year (OSU)
	Rebecca Engberg, Gym East - University of Pennsylvania 2009. Club/High School: Level 10 gymnast ... Two-time Western National qualifier (Levels 9-10) ... Washington state champion in beam ... Second in bars, beam, floor and all-around at regionals ... Qualified to 2008 Level 10 Junior Olympic National meet ... Level 9 in 2007 ... Fourth place in the all-around at Western Nationals, fifth in beam and floor ... Regional all-around and beam champion, second in vault and bars ... State champion in vault.
	Jennifer Kesler, Gym East Snohomish, NWA, Gym East - Oregon State University Five-time Level 10 national champion ... earned the all-around titles and vault titles in 2006 and 2007 ... won the national title on the uneven bars in 2007 ... rinished second at nationals on balance beam to 2006 and 2007 ... is a four-time Junior Olympic National Team Member ... Level 9 second place all-around finisher at Western Nationals ... eight-time regional champion ... trained at Gymnastics East under John and Tammy Carney and Kim Thomson. At OSU: 2009 All-American Second Team, Uneven Bars, 2009 Pac-10 Co-Champion, Uneven Bars, 2009 All-Pac-10 First Team, Uneven Bars, 2008 All-American Second Team, Uneven Bars, 2008 NCAA West Regional Uneven Bars Champion
	Taylor Miller, Gym East - Cal State Fullerton
	Kelli Fournier, Gym East - San Jose State University
	Jessica Khoshnood, Gym East - San Jose State University
	Sarah Nagashima, Gym East - University of Arkansas
	Alyssa Strodel, Gym East - University of Arkansas (career ending ACL tear)
	Kelsi Blalock, Gym East - Oregon State University. Born in Portland, Oregon. Kelsi is a two-time qualifier to the Olympic Training Center ... finished second in the all-around at Junior Olympic National Championships in 2007 ... finished third in the all-around at 2009 J.O. nationals and second on the balance beam ... finished eighth in the all-around at J.O. nationals ... won the all-around at Region 2 championships four straight years ... trained at Gymnastics East under coaches Tammy Carney, Kim Thompson and Remus Dragan ... was a club teammate with current OSU All-American Jen Kesler ... previously trained with current OSU assistant coach John Carney at Gym East.
	Dana Bonincontri, Gym East - University of Pennsylvania 2010. Club/High School: Level 10 five-time Junior Olympic Nationals qualifier (2005-09) ... 2009 state champion ... Placed fourth in all-around at the 2007 Nationals ... 2009 Gymnast of the Year.
	Jenna Dudley, LEGA North - Air Force
	Kristina Baskett, PSSG - Utah- Record holder at Utah- 35 AA wins, '09 MVP, All American (12 times) 2006–Bars (1st), Vault* 2007–Bars (4th) 2008–All-Around (3rd), Vault (2nd), Bars (6th), Floor (INJ, 14th) 2009–All-Around (2nd), Vault (3rd), Bars (3rd), Beam (3rd), Floor* Finished 3rd at NCAA Nationals on three events and 2nd AA
	Brittany Bilmeir, Gym East - Stanford Club/High School: Four-time Junior Olympic Nationals competitor ... Earned seven regional gold medals ... Competing for Gymnastics East of Bellevue, she earned a gold medal on balance beam in international competition in Santiago, Chile, in 2002 ... A graduate of Woodinville High, Billmaier was named the 2003 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. As a Freshman in 2004: Redshirted the 2004 season. As a Sophomore in 2005: Did not compete due to injury ... One of the squad's vocal leaders on the competition floor.
	Emily Marques, Issaquah, Gym East - Ursinus 2007
	Jessica Rands, Gym East, Level 9 gymnast- Utah State, 2002. Had knee surgery in her sophomore year.

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.

Haley Bogart 2008 - Qualified for the NCAA Championships with a fourth-place showing in the all-around at the NCAA West Regional

2009 UW Gymnastics Team Awards : (MVP) - Ashley Houghting. Finished the season ranked No. 8 in the nation on vault, Vault All-Conference first team for her strong performances in the event. (Academic Award) - Kristen Omori. (Coaches Award) - Kelly Gilbert . Head gymnastics coach Joanne Bowers was named Regional Co-Head Coach of the Year and the GymDawgs tied for fifth overall in the NCAA West Regional.

2010 Kristin Linton (SGA) and Sam Walior (MN TAGS)for their tie for first place on Floor Ex at NCAA College Regionals. They will compete on Floor at NCAA Nationals. (Linton Graduated from Meadowdale High School in 2008. Was a member of the National Honor Society. Coached by Amy Linhardt and Igor Novosselov at Seattle Gymnastics. A TOPS National team member in 1999 and 2000. Four-time competitor at Junior Nationals (2002, 2003, 2006, 2007). Placed 15th in the all around and ninth on bars at the 2003 Junior Nationals in Colorado. Scored a 9.425 to take seventh place on beam at the 2007 Junior Nationals in Ohio.

Paper by Heidi Coleman on History of Women's Gymnastics at UW

"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 REGIONALS 2004 Carly Dockendorf won floor with a 9.900.

NCAA REGIONALS 2010 Juniors Samantha Walior and Kristen Linton became UW's first NCAA Regional Champions since 2004 and the Huskies won Floor with a season-high score 9.9. They will advance to NCAA Nationals.

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	MVP	TEAM CAPTAINS
1975	Vicki Severns
1976	Nancy Fine
1977	Nan Yasutake & Liz Kite
1978	Liz Kite
1979	Liz Kite
1980	Lynn Osborn
1981	Suzie Sun
1982	Suzie Sun
1983	Suzie Sun
1984	Suzie Sun	Nancy Rinesmith & Suzie Sun
1985	Wendy Goya	Michele Garcia & Shelly Leacock
1986	Yumi Mordre	Katie Baird & Wendy Goya
1987	Yumi Mordre	Wendy Gangwer
1988	Yumi Mordre	Letitia Selk
1989	Yumi Mordre	Yumi Mordre & Betsy Erickson
1990	Lisa Churchill	Kristi Anderson & Sarah Peters
1991	Shylo Miller	Lisa Churchill & Kelli Hawkins
1992	Shylo Miller	Jennifer Callow & Shylo Miller
1993	Stacy Connolly & Christine Niebling	Carley Rose & Trisha Kubota
1994	Stacy Connolly	Carly Rose & Denise Ashbaugh
1995	Jamie Stauffer & Heather Cooper	Carly Rose & Joan Greve
1996	Klara Kudilkova	Joan Greve & Heather Cooper & Kim Rucci
1997	Tiffany Simpson	Courtney Seabolt & Jamie Stauffer
1998	Klara Kudilkova	Tiffany Simpson & Jamie Stauffer
1999		Rhyan Pelander & Lauren Riesenman
2000	Lanna Apisukh & Lauren Riesenman	Rhyan Pelander & Mandi Klug
2001	Mandi Klug	Mani Klug & Stacy Wong
2002	Emily Pritchard	Stacy Wong
2003	Carly Dockendorf	Amy Metcalf & Molly Seaman
2004	Emily Pritchard	Carly Dockendorf & Amy Metchalf
2005	Carly Dockendorf	Carly Dockendorf
2006	Kelly McDonald	Kelly McDonald & Chelsea Bakken
2007	Ashley Houghting	Jenni Chang & Natalie Gillan
2008
2009		Ashley Houghting & Kelly Gilbert

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. Inducted into the SPU Hall of Fame 2004.
Laurel Anderson Tindall 1974-1975: National Vault champion (Yami vault) 1975. Inducted into the SPU Hall of Fame 2006.
Barbara Elliott won Vault, Beam and Floor in 1986 NCAA Championships -as a Freshman. She also won floor in 1987. Inducted into the SPU Hall of Fame 2009.
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
Brianna Schwartz, bars 2009

Division 2 Athlete of the Year Jaynie Reynolds, 2006; Sarah Sullivan, 2007
Assistant Coaches: Kristin Strid. Kathy Siwek 2006-09, Anna Leiferman, 2006-07, Carly Dockendorf 2009.
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.

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