Scoreboard

Air Force invades for final home meets

Women's Gymnastics UAA Media Relations

Air Force invades for final home meets

THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF GYMNASTICS…

Friday, March 12, 7 pm AST
Wells Fargo Sports Complex — Anchorage, AK
Air Force (5-11) at Alaska Anchorage (2-13)
&
Sunday, Mar. 14, 2 pm ADT
Wells Fargo Sports Complex — Anchorage, AK
Air Force at Alaska Anchorage

ON TV: Friday's meet will be televised tape-delayed on KCFT Ch. 35 (GCI cable Ch. 19) at 11 p.m. that evening and again at 11 a.m. Saturday. There is no TV for Sunday's meet.

LIVE VIDEOSTREAM: Surf to pennatlantic.com for a free live webcast of Friday's meet.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS: Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rival Air Force will be competing for the first time since Feb. 22 when it scored a season-high 191.725 in a loss at Denver … the Falcons come in with a season average of 186.813, led by sophomore Jenna Dudley, who has captured two MPSF Gymnast of the Weeks honors thus far.

THE SERIES
All-Time vs Air Force: AFA leads 28-16 (UAA leads 10-7 in Anch.)
Last Dual: AFA 185.350, UAA 184.800 (1/27/10 at AFA)  / Streak: AFA 4  /  Notes: AFA and UAA met 15 times during the last decade, with AFA holding an 8-7 edge … UAA enjoyed a 7-meet win streak prior to AFA's current 4-meet string … UAA defeated AFA in last year's MPSF Championships, although that meet does not count as a dual competition for series purposes … series dates to UAA's first year of gymnastics in 1985.

MIDWEST METTLE: The Seawolves performed admirably at a pair of meets in the Midwest last week, losing a dual to Illinois State on Friday and scoring 189.850 in Sunday's tri-meet with Southeast Missouri and 18th-ranked Missouri … in the first meet, sophomores Kelsey Fullerton and Shakea Sanders swept the top two spots on bars, but much of the meet at Horton Field House was a struggle as the Seawolves fell 193.825-187.600 to the Redbirds … after starting out with its injury-plagued bars lineup, the Seawolves performed well on vault, outscoring the Redbirds 48.050-47.825 on that apparatus … a solid performance on floor pushed UAA to its 4th-best team total of the season … Fullerton won vault by tying her season-best with a 9.675, while Sanders delivered a 9.65 and senior Courtney Williams a 9.6 … junior Maria Puricelli, performing down the road from her hometown of Saint Louis, posted UAA's top bars routine with a 9.675, and sophomore Kaelei Spoor paced the Seawolves on floor with a 9.7 … two days later, in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Williams earned a career-high all-around score and UAA's best this season, pushing UAA to its 2nd-best team score of the season at 189.850 … the Seawolves were at their best on floor exercise with a 48.600 total, tying the No. 4 score in school history and equaling the best mark since 2006 … Williams tied her career-high with a 9.675, while Fullerton did the same with a 9.825 … Spoor (9.75) and Sanders (9.775) also sprung big routines, while senior Meagan Byrne easily surpassed her career highs on both floor (9.575) and uneven bars (9.35) … Spoor provided the other highlight of the meet for UAA, tying for third place on beam with a 9.75, trailing only Mizzou stars Sarah Shire (9.925) and Mizzou's Mary Burke (9.85) … Williams also scored a 9.55 on vault, a 9.65 on bars and a 9.6 on beam to earn a 38.475 total, bettering her previous mark by 0.15 … senior Lauren Agostino led the Seawolves with a 9.65 on vault, while Missouri native Puricelli was right behind Williams on bars with a 9.625.

TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves' 48.600 floor total Sunday at SE Missouri matched the 4th-best score in program history and was the highest since hitting the same number at the 2006 MPSF Championships … on vault, the Seawolves have posted three of the top 18 marks in program history this season, led by a 48.475 at UC Davis (6th all-time) … on bars, the 47.900 at the Metroplex Challenge ranked 12th on the UAA list … the wins over Brown snapped an 0-12 streak in duals since last March.

GYMNAST NOTES: UAA's trio of seniors — Lauren Agostino, Courtney Williams and co-captain Meagan Byrne — have combined for 136 career meets … Williams performed her 31st career all-around Sunday, finally topping the 38.325 mark that she set on Mar. 2, 2008 at Sacramento State ... Agostino owns six of the top 17 vault scores in UAA history ... sophomore Shakea Sanders now has UAA's best two all-arounds of the season (38.150 & 38.075) — doing it in her first two career performances, against Brown, Feb. 19 & 21; the Washington native owns the team's best  averages on floor (9.572) and vault (9.593) among non-injured gymnasts … Sanders has scored 9.6 or better on her last six vaults and 9.575 or better on her last five floor routines … among active Seawolves, sophomore Kelsey Fullerton owns the team's best 2nd-best floor average at 9.533; the Texan has posted 9.65 or better on floor in five of the last six meets, including a team season-high-tying 9.825 on Sunday … sophomore Kaelei Spoor has UAA's top scores on floor (9.825, Feb. 19, now tied with Fullerton) and beam (9.8, Feb. 12) this season; on the UAA all-time list, that beam mark ties for 7th and the floor mark ties for 18th.

SENIOR NIGHT SET: The Seawolves will honor their three seniors — Lauren Agostino, three-time co-captain Meagan Byrne, and Courtney Williams — at the conclusion of Sunday's meet as it will be the final home performance … all three Seawolves will finish as 4-year letterwinners.

INJURY REPORT: The injury bug delivered a lion-sized bite as the Seawolves lost three gymnasts to season-ending ACL injuries in a span of nine days, Feb. 11-19 … first, junior and defending MPSF bars champion Kristy Boswell got hurt during practice before the UC Davis meet, and sophomore walk-on Rebekah Booth suffered a similar injury a few days later … finally, junior and 2009 team MVP Leah Wilson was hurt in the first Brown meet on her bars dismount … the Seawolves had already lost significant time with senior Lauren Agostino and junior Maria Puricelli earlier in the season, although both have returned to full strength.

BY THE NUMBERS: For complete individual meet-by-meet scores, surf to GoSeawolves.com and click on the 'Statistics' tab on the Gymnastics page.
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Players Mentioned

Lauren Agostino

Lauren Agostino

5' 1"
Sophomore
Meagan Byrne

Meagan Byrne

5' 0"
Freshman
Courtney Williams

Courtney Williams

5' 8"
Freshman
Rebekah Booth

Rebekah Booth

5' 5"
Freshman
Kristy Boswell

Kristy Boswell

5' 6"
Freshman
Kelsey Fullerton

Kelsey Fullerton

5' 3"
Freshman
Maria Puricelli

Maria Puricelli

5' 3"
Freshman
Leah Wilson

Leah Wilson

5' 4"
Freshman
Shakea Sanders

Shakea Sanders

5' 5"
Freshman
Kaelei Spoor

Kaelei Spoor

4' 10"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Lauren Agostino

Lauren Agostino

5' 1"
Sophomore
Meagan Byrne

Meagan Byrne

5' 0"
Freshman
Courtney Williams

Courtney Williams

5' 8"
Freshman
Rebekah Booth

Rebekah Booth

5' 5"
Freshman
Kristy Boswell

Kristy Boswell

5' 6"
Freshman
Kelsey Fullerton

Kelsey Fullerton

5' 3"
Freshman
Maria Puricelli

Maria Puricelli

5' 3"
Freshman
Leah Wilson

Leah Wilson

5' 4"
Freshman
Shakea Sanders

Shakea Sanders

5' 5"
Freshman
Kaelei Spoor

Kaelei Spoor

4' 10"
Freshman