The SPU gymnastics team has had a spring awakening.

The team has struggled to pick up wins this season, but despite a 1-10 conference record, there's no doubt these gymnasts are blooming.

The Falcons soared last Friday at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) conference championships in Davis, Calif., scoring a season-high 193.

"It was really a team effort," head coach Laurel Tindall said of the meet.

The team's strong performance landed them in second place with a ticket to nationals.

"I think we knew we could do it as a team. I think a lot of us weren't confident in ourselves, and we've really tried to build confidence in practice," junior and co-captain Brianna Schwartz said. "We were worried we wouldn't make it to nationals-that was a lot of drive."

SPU finished behind University of California, Davis (UC Davis), who won with a score of 194.7, but ahead of both University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and Air Force.

In the all-around competition, senior Ashley Domres placed fifth and freshman Anissa Madrid placed sixth.

The Falcons had a strong showing on beam, which has been an area of struggle this season, earning an overall score of 48.675. Madrid, who was honored last week as the MSPF gymnast of the week after winning the all-around competition against University of Washington (UW) on March 21, tied for first on beam with Christine Tao of UC Davis. Madrid scored a 9.8, while senior Christie Chinaka tied for fourth at 9.75.

"We started on beam, and we really hit beam well," Tindall said. "We set the bar high for the other teams."

Chinaka tied for third on bars with Kristy Boswell of UAA, both grabbing a score of 9.8. Schwartz, who came in second place, scored a 9.85.

Freshman Brianna Steigauf, who has consistently scored well on floor for the Falcons this season, tied for third on floor with Air Force's Abbey Rogers and Michelle Kulovitz of UC Davis. All three women received a 9.8.

"Bars was strong in the beginning, but I think vault has come along. Beam has been stronger too," Schwartz said.

The weakest events for the Falcons have been the floor and the beam, but Tindall has noted improvements.

"We really tried to emphasize making all our routines. This week, they came in and warmed up in general, and the first thing they had to do was a routine on beam," Tindall said.

"They've [the coaches] been really happy with our scores and performances. We still aren't perfect, but their talks have been really positive," Schwartz said.

In the past four meets, the lowest score posted by the Falcons was a 188.525 at UW. The team faced the UW twice over spring break, and the second time the team went head-to-head, the meet was at Royal Brougham Pavilion. The Falcons' overall score went up to a 192.2. In addition to Madrid's win in the all-around competition, Domres had a personal season-high score on beam with a 9.65.

"We always love home meets," Schwartz said. "I think they build our confidence. The energy was awesome, and we had great fans."

SPU doesn't have another meet until nationals, which takes place April 17-19. Nationals are held in Shreveport, La., and Tindall said the team will be facing other schools like Temple University and the College of William and Mary.

The team is ranked seventh in the competition. There are two sessions of four teams, and two teams are eliminated from each session. The team finals are the following day, and nationals include individual competition as well.

Schwartz said the team is really looking forward to competing at the national level.

"Now we just believe in ourselves. We aren't accepting mediocrity," she said. "We know what we're capable of."