Oregon State
Ohio State
No. 8 Beavers Beat No. 15 Buckeyes, Vivian Scores Big Again
January 14, 2011 | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 14, 2011
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CORVALLIS - The No. 8 Oregon State gymnastics team a slow start to knock off No. 15 Ohio State 195.925-193.300 in a dual meet at Gill Coliseum Friday night. OSU head coach Tanya Chaplin earned the 200th regular season win of her career and the Beavers hit 28 out of 28 routines and posted a season-high score despite a low scoring opening rotation.
"I wasn't sure how we'd be (physically) with our third meet in eight days but they are holding up really well," head coach Tanya Chaplin said. "Overall the routines weren't scoring as high as we'd like tonight but they hit 28 out of 28 routines and that's a really positive start. We'll keep plugging away and will look to clean up our routines as we go on."
Although the Beavers eventually won by more than 2½ points they actually trailed the Buckeyes following the first rotation, 48.475-48.625. With scores hard to come by on the vault, the back half of OSU's lineup performed solidly on back-to-back-to-back with Kelsi Blalock and Makayla Stambaugh earning matching scores of 9.75 and Brittany Harris finishing the rotation with a 9.775. Harris' vault, the first of her career, was good enough to win the event title.
In the second stanza, Stephanie McGregor led off for the Beavers with a solid score of 9.775 matching Ohio State's best score. Jen Kesler followed with a solid routine and a score of 9.825 and Harris added a 9.75. However, it was Stambaugh's beautiful routine that seemed to energize the Gill Coliseum crowd of 3,113 when her score flashed at 9.90. Leslie Mak's follow up performance elicited another roar from the Beaver faithful and the second straight score of 9.90. With the scene set perfectly for the end of the rotation, Oregon State anchor Olivia Vivian mounted the bars, hitting her handstands and nailing her dismount. Vivian, the reigning Pac-10 Special Performer of the Week, received a perfect 10.0 from one judge and settled for a career-best score of 9.975. The Beavers' bars team scored 49.375 for the second straight meet, a mark that entering the night stood as the highest team score in the country to date.
"The bars team did a phenomenal job," Chaplin said. "We've known all along that bars will be a highlight for our team all year. It's great to see the hard work pay off for them. Olivia really had an absolutely gorgeous routine."
Meanwhile, Ohio State performed a strong set of vaults but like Oregon State struggled to earn strong scores. The Beavers held a lead of nearly a full point at the halfway mark. Moving to the balance beam, where the Beavers had stumbled early in the season they finally had the meet they needed with all seven performers (including an exhibition by freshman Amanda Schulberg) hit their routines. Melanie Jones and Blalock opened the rotation with scores of 9.75 and Kesler, in her first beam routine of the season, added a 9.775. Vivian scored 9.80 to set up Mak in the anchor spot. Mak negotiated a beautiful routine and tied her career-best mark of 9.925 and the Beavers finished the rotation with a team score of 49.000.
Moving to the floor exercise with the meet in hand, the Beavers put up another strong performance on the floor. McGregor led off with a 9.725, Vivian scored a 9.75 and Blalock and Mak added scores of 9.775. Jones followed with a dazzling routine to score a season-high 9.875. Stambaugh closed out the meet with a near-flawless performance and her own season-high score of 9.90.
Oregon State is on the road next week traveling to No. 7 Oklahoma Friday, Jan. 21 in Norman, Okla.
Notes: Friday night's victory was Oregon State head coach Tanya Chaplin's 200th regular season win of her career ... Oregon State's team score on beam of 49.000 was the first time in 2011 that the Beavers have reached the 49-point plateau on the event ... The Beavers team score on bars of 49.375 ties their own season-high mark, which was the highest of the season in the nation going into the weekend.
Team Scores: No. 8 Oregon State 195.925; No. 15 Ohio State 193.300.
All-Around: 1. Leslie Mak (OSU) 39.100; 2. Colleen Dean (Ohio State) 38.825; 3. Rebecca Best (Ohio State) 38.275.
Vault (48.475): 1. Brittany Harris (OSU) 9.775; T2. Kelsi Blalock (OSU), Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) 9.750. Other OSU Scores: Melanie Jones 9.650; Stephanie McGregor 9.550; Leslie Mak 9.500 (Exhibition - Leilani Alferos 9.650).
Uneven Bars (49.375): 1. Olivia Vivian (OSU) 9.975; T2. Makayla Stambaugh (OSU), Leslie Mak (OSU) 9.900. Other OSU Scores: Jen Kesler 9.825; Stephanie McGregor 9.775; Brittany Harris 9.750 (Exhibition - Hannah Casey 9.725).
Balance Beam (49.000): 1. Leslie Mak (OSU) 9.925; 2. Nicole Krauter (Ohio State) 9.825; 3. Olivia Vivian (OSU) 9.800. Other OSU Scores: Jen Kesler 9.775; Melanie Jones 9.750; Kelsi Blalock 9.750; Brittany Harris 9.650 (Exhibition - Amanda Schulberg 9.675).
Floor Exercise (49.075): 1. Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) 9.900; 2. Melanie Jones (OSU) 9.875; 3. Colleen Dean (Ohio State) 9.825. Other OSU Scores: Kelsi Blalock 9.775; Leslie Mak 9.775; Olivia Vivian 9.750; Stephanie McGregor 9.725.
Players Mentioned
