Hayashida caps freshman year as All-American

Seattle Pacific freshman Kristi Hayashida, a 2013 graduate of Christian Education Academy, was named an All-American on the balance beam after finishing in a third-place tie with a score of 9.750 on Friday in the semifinals of the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships.

Hayashida qualified for Sunday’s finale, where she finished 10th on beam with a score of 9.050.

She also finished 26th in the floor exercise with an 8.90 on Friday and in Saturday’s team finals, she scored a 9.775 on the floor exercise to finish in 12th place and help the Falcons finish third overall, which is the second-highest finish in school history.

SPU teammate Tracie Villanueva (Moanalua ’13) finished 21st on the uneven bars with a score of 9.00 on Friday and was seventh in Saturday’s team final with a score of 9.850.

Cornell’s Mackenzie Sato (‘Iolani ’10) scored a 9.625 on the floor exercise on Friday.

The eight-team meet serves as the championships for schools that choose to adhere to a limit of 7 scholarships.

Crabb named national player of the week

Long Beach State senior Taylor Crabb, the reigning AVCA national player of the year, was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II men’s national player of the week on Tuesday.

Crabb helped the 49ers secure their fourth straight berth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs with two three-set wins over Cal State Northridge.

He had 17 kills in three sets last Thursday and finished with a .469 hitting percentage with six digs and two aces.

On Saturday, he had a team-high 13 kills and committed only one error in 16 swings to finish with a .750 hitting percentage. He also had four digs, four blocks and two aces.

Crabb’s 4.79 kills per set average leads the nation and he’s also ranked in the top 25 in the country with 2.21 digs per set and a .375 hitting percentage.

Long Beach State earned the seventh seed in the MPSF playoffs and will play at No. 2 seed Pepperdine on Saturday.