SPU, Air Force Win Titles at USA Championships
April 15, 2014
Providence, RI--Seattle Pacific sophomore Maria Hundley posted three individual national titles on Sunday (Apr. 13) at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships in Providence, RI, while senior Kai Tindall claimed another. Hundley won the vault (9.85) and balance beam (9.85) crowns, and gained a three-way share of the title on the uneven parallel bars (9.85), then Tindall capped her career with a four-way split of the gold on the floor exercise (9.875). The 23rd, 24th, 25th, and 26th national titles in program history marked the first time ever the Falcons had earned a national title on each event, much less on the same day.
The individual championships were the first for Seattle Pacific since Brianna Schwartz won the bars title in 2009. The last Falcon to win multiple titles in the same meet was Debra Huss in 2005 (bars and floor, along with all-around). The only Falcon ever to win three national titles in the same year was Barbara Elliott in 1986 (vault, beam, and floor).
Air Force senior Linnaea Hance shared the uneven bars title with Hundley. With her second-highest score of the season, Hance became the program's seventh USAG champion, and the first since Brittany Dutton won the bars' title at the 2011 meet.