A school-record on the balance beam and one of the best all-around scores in program history added up to big news Friday night for the UAA gymnastics team.
The Seawolves defeated Seattle Pacific by more than two points for their first team victory at SPU's Brougham Pavilion in Seattle.
UAA beat the Falcons 191.825 to 189.550 to end a 25-meet losing streak at SPU. The win marked just the second UAA triumph in 41 meetings between the schools.
"We did an amazing job," said UAA coach Paul Stoklos, who was happy to see his team break the 190-point mark. "We needed to have some confidence on the road. We needed to to show we can score well."
UAA won all four individual events and took the top three spots in all-around.
M'rcy Matsunami won the uneven parallel bars (9.75) and shared victory in the vault with teammate Morgan Cook (9.775). Simone Penker ruled the floor exercise (9.825) and Emily Ramberg topped the balance beam (9.825).
Matsunai took the all-around title with 38.9 points, the fourth best score in UAA history. Cook was second with 38.625 and Penker was third with 38.55.
UAA's only missteps came in floor exercise, where three Seawolves recorded falls. At the same time, Seattle Pacific was struggling on balance beam with five falls.
From floor exercise, the Seawolves moved to their final event, balance beam, where they ignored any bad vibes from floor exercise and clinched the rare victory over the Falcons with five strong routines.
"Just fantastic," Stoklos said.