THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE GYMNASTICS ...
 
22nd annual Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship
Saturday, March 22 – 2 pm ADT
Avis Alaska Sports Complex – Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska Anchorage, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, UC Davis
 
LIVE VIDEO: overnght.com/sport/gymnastics ($)
 
LIVE SCORING: GoSeawolves.com/MPSF
 
TICKETS: aac-uaa.evenue.net/events/MPSF
 
PROMOTIONS: The first 300 fans will receive free sunglasses, courtesy of meet sponsor Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska.
 
CHASING A CHAMPIONSHIP: With the regular season in the rearview mirror, the Alaska Anchorage gymnastics team begins the postseason Saturday when it hosts the annual Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship at the Avis Alaska Sports Complex ... UAA will aim to upset league rivals Sacramento State, defending champion/top seed Southern Utah and UC Davis in the four-team competition ... the Seawolves' rotation order will be beam/floor/vault/bars.
 
RARE OCCURRENCES: UAA is hosting the MPSF Championship for just the second time, having hosted in 2015 at the Alaska Airlines Center when it was a six-team meet ... Saturday will mark the first college gymnastics competition at the Avis Alaska Sports Complex since UAA hosted Lindenwood on Mar. 2, 2014.
 
UAA MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: The Seawolves earned their lone title in Colorado Springs in 2009 but have not finished better than third place in any of their other 18 appearances ... Jessica Portlock is the lone Seawolf to win the MPSF all-around title (2006) and owns three of UAA's 12 individual titles ... Sophia Hyderally is the most recent UAA gymnast to win an individual MPSF title, taking the beam crowns in 2017 and 2019.
 
STICKIN' IT: The Seawolves are currently on pace for the second-best floor NQS (48.415) and the third-best floor average (48.318) in the program's Div. I history (since 2002) ... UAA's bars (47.750) and beam (47.910) averages currently rank fourth and fifth on the program lists ... the 193.325 and 193.000 scores Feb. 21 and 23 ranked as UAA's best ever in back-to-back regular-season meets and ranked 10th and 12th on the program list ... UAA's 49.025 floor score ranked No. 2 in program history, while the 48.650 Feb. 10 at Oregon State tied for No. 16 ... the Seawolves matched the No. 4 bars total (48.900) in program history with their Mar. 9 performance at Towson, while the 48.450 Feb. 21 tied for No. 19.
 
'WOLF BITES: Senior Montana Fairbairn went from two to 10 career victories with her performances against Greenville and Sacramento State ... with her 9.9 floor routine Feb. 21, the Canadian became just the fourth Seawolf to earn 9.85 or better at least three times on that apparatus, joining former standouts Dominique Ingram (2004-06), Mandi Burdick (2001-04) and Elena Tkacheva (1994-97) ... Fairbairn has scored 9.625 or better on 26 of her 30 routines this season, after leading UAA last year with 30 scores of 9.6 or higher ... Fairbairn's 9.810 floor average is on pace to break the school record of 9.798 (Sophia Hyderally in 2019), while her 9.825 NQS is currently second-best on the UAA list ... junior Ariana DeSouza is also on pace for a top-6 program mark with a 9.753 floor average, scoring between 9.65 and 9.85 on all nine routines ... senior Grace Costello has earned 9.55 or better on 21 of her 26 routines, including nothing lower than 9.575 on all but one beam routine ... Costello's 9.628 beam average currently ranks No. 16 on the UAA single-season list ... UAA is enjoying one of its most consistent seasons on vault with the addition of four key pieces in 2025, getting no lower than a 9.3 from Boyd, freshman Maribelle Albert, sophomore Jamilia Duffus and freshman Verena Wong on 31 of their 33 vaults ... a transfer from Talladega, Duffus has also strengthened the bars lineup, earning a team season-high 9.825 on Feb. 23 ... junior Madelyn Gomez (9.8), sophomore Avery Tillmanns (9.775) and sophomore Claudia Lessig (9.725) all recorded career highs on bars Mar. 9 at Towson, while Duffus (9.8) recorded her fifth score of 9.7 or better.
 
BOYD IS THE WORD: After helping UAA to a trio of historic scores, Hannah Boyd was chosen the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnastics Freshman of the Week for Feb. 17-23 ... the Minnesotan started her weekend with scores of 9.5 on beam, 9.55 on floor and a then-career-best 9.625 on vault, aiding the 10th-best total team score in program history at 193.325 ... in Sunday's rematch with Sacramento State, she boosted a 193.300 total – No. 12 on the UAA list – with a 9.6 on beam and career highs of 9.7 on vault and 9.8 on floor ... her floor routine was critical to a 49.025 total, which was No. 2 on the school's all-time list, while her vault boosted a team season-high 48.275.