Oregon State
Stanford
Beavers Finish Third at Pac-10 Showcase
January 09, 2011 | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 9, 2011
LOS ANGELES -
Complete Results in PDF Format 
The Oregon State gymnastics team, ranked eighth in the nation, wrapped up the opening weekend of the 2011 season scored 195.375 to earn a third place finish at the Pac-10 Showcase. Olivia Vivian scored a career-best 9.950 on the uneven bars to win the individual title.
Today's Pac-10 Showcase, which featured all seven teams in the conference, will be televised by FSN via tape delay. It will air on FSN NW Thursday, Jan. 13, at noon and re-air three times (Sat., Jan. 15 at 3:30 p.m., Tues., Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m., and Wed., Jan. 19 at 1:30 p.m.)
The Beavers started the meet with one of the most difficult draws a team can get ... starting on the balance beam. OSU put together a mostly solid beam set. But the fatigue of travel and competing twice during the weekend caught up to the Beavers on the floor exercise. Despite bouncing back with a solid second half of the meet - on vault and uneven bars - the Beavers could only muster a third place finish behind No. 6 Stanford (196.625) and No. 1 UCLA (195.925).
"We definitely have some things to clean up for next week," head coach Tanya Chaplin said. "But to compete twice during the opening weekend of the season, I'm pretty happy with the results. Scoring 195 twice like this is a good indicator of what this team can do."
With the judging on the balance beam tight in the early going, Leslie Mak was the only OSU gymnast to earn a score above 9.80 with an outstanding routine and a score of 9.875. Vivian added a score of 9.725 and Kelsi Blalock tallied a 9.700. However, a fall by one of the Beavers' top beam workers, Makayla Stambaugh, sunk the team score and put them behind from the opening rotation. But in the end, the Beavers' beam total of 48.600 was the second-highest of the meet.
Three out-of-bounds deductions and a fall cost the Beavers and their 48.500 floor score left them in fourth place at the midway point. Blalock posted the team's top score of 9.775. Melanie Jones added a 9.750 and Mak scored 9.700 despite stepping out. Stambaugh also performed a beautiful routine before stepping out of bounds following her third tumbling pass and was left with another 9.700.
Following another bye, the Beavers re-grouped and put together a nice set of vaults including a 9.750 from Melanie Jones and back-to-back-back scores of 9.825 by Blalock, Stambaugh and Becky Colvin. A team total of 48.900 moved OSU back into third place.
After the team's final bye, OSU moved to the uneven bars where the Beavers shined brightest. Stephanie McGregor led off with a career-high 9.825 followed by a great routine from Jen Kesler, who scored 9.850. Brittany Harris added a 9.725 and Stambaugh finished her night with a 9.850. Mak scored 9.900 to set up Vivian for a nearly flawless routine with a stuck landing to score 9.950 to win the individual title.
"This was a true test for us to compete back-to-back like this," Chaplin said. "But it will be a really good thing to have had this experience when we get to the postseason."
Oregon State returns to the competition floor at Gill Coliseum next Friday, Jan. 14, when the Beavers host Ohio State at 7 p.m.
Notes: Olivia Vivian set a career-high on the uneven bars with a 9.950 ... Stephanie McGregor set a career-high on the uneven bars with a 9.825. It is the second time already this year that McGregor as topped her previous personal best ... Kelsi Blalock tied career-best on balance beam (9.700) and floor exercise (9.775), both of which were set on Friday night against LSU ... The Pac-10 Showcase will be televised by FSN via tape delay. It will air on FSN NW Thursday, Jan. 13, at noon and re-air three times (Sat., Jan. 15 at 3:30 p.m., Tues., Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m., and Wed., Jan. 19 at 1:30 p.m.).
Team Scores: No. 6 Stanford 196.625; No. 1 UCLA 195.925; No. 8 Oregon State 195.375; No. 19 Arizona 193.825; No. 21 Washington 193.675; No. 25 Arizona State 191.850; California 191.675.
All-Around: 1. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs (UCLA), 39.550; 2. Allyse Ishino (STAN), 39.350; 3. Shelley Alexander (STAN), 39.250. Other OSU Scores: Leslie Mak (OSU) 39.100; Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) 38.450.
Vault (48.900): T1. Deanna Graham (ARIZ), Shelley Alexander (STAN), Alyssa Brown (STAN), Brittani McCullough (UCLA) 9.875. Other OSU Scores: Kelsi Blalock 9.825; Makayla Stambaugh 9.825; Becky Colvin 9.825; Melanie Jones 9.750; Stephanie McGregor 9.675; Leslie Mak 9.625.
Uneven Bars (49.375): 1. Olivia Vivian (OSU) 9.950; T2. Allyse Ishino (STAN), Monique De La Torre (UCLA) 9.925. Other OSU Scores: Leslie Mak 9.900; Jen Kesler 9.850; Makayla Stambaugh 9.850; Stephanie McGregor 9.825; Brittany Harris 9.725.
Balance Beam (48.600): 1. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs (UCLA) 9.950; 2. Leslie Mak (OSU) 9.875; T3. Molly Quirk (ARIZ), Madisyn O'Brien (CAL), Ashley Morgan (STAN), Kristina Vaculik (STAN), Aisha Gerber (UCLA), 9.850. Other OSU Scores: Olivia Vivian 9.725; Kelsi Blalock 9.700; Brittany Harris 9.675; Melanie Jones 9.625; Makayla Stambaugh 9.075.
Floor Exercise (48.500): 1. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs (UCLA); 2. Ashley Morgan (STAN); T3. Deanna Graham (ARIZ), Allyse Ishino (STAN), Niki Tom (UCLA), 9.900. Other OSU Scores: Kelsi Blalock 9.775; Melanie Jones 9.750; Leslie Mak 9.700; Makayla Stambaugh 9.700; Stephanie McGregor 9.575; Olivia Vivian 9.150.
Players Mentioned
