Oregon State
Oklahoma
Beavers Snap Sooners' Streak with Win
January 13, 2012 | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 13, 2012
Complete Results Post-Meet Video BNO Webcast
CORVALLIS -
The No. 7 Oregon State gymnastics team upset No. 4 Oklahoma 196.525-195.975 snapping the Sooners' nation-leading 32 straight regular season win streak. The Beavers' score of 196.525 is the highest season-opening score in school history.
“We knew that it was going to be a fight tonight and it was all the way to the end,” head coach Tanya Chaplin said. “We knew we just didn't have to do our job but do it well. We are seeing midseason scores at the beginning of the season and we needed to be part of that. I was very pleased to see the improvement they've made since the intrasquad in October and even the improvements of just the last couple weeks.”
Oregon State record moved to 1-0, while Oklahoma falls to 3-1. The win marks the first over the Sooners since the 2002 NCAA West Regional Championships spanning six meetings.
“I am ecstatic and so happy for this team,” Leslie Mak said. “I think this meet will set off the rest of our season and this is just a glimpse as to what is coming in the future.”
OSU started slowly scoring 48.850 in the opening rotation on the vault. But the Beavers never scored below 49-points in a rotation thereafter. Freshman Chelsea Tang, who has taken her vaulting up several notches in the past week according to associate head coach Michael Chaplin, tallied the Beavers' highest score with a 9.825. Makayla Stambaugh followed with a 9.80 while Brittany Harris and Leslie Mak added scores of 9.75 and 9.725. Kelsi Blalock recovered from a balk on her first attempt to score 9.70 to round out the scoring for OSU.
The Beavers, who ranked No. 1 on the bars for much of the 2011 season, took the lead in the second rotation and bars with an impressive score of 49.275. Hannah Casey set the stage for the lineup sticking her landing to score 9.75. The next four competitors – Tang, Harris, Stambaugh and Mak – nailed their landings as well to earn scores of 9.825, 9.85, 9.85, and 9.90. As is the case week-in and week-out, Mak's Pak Salto (release between the bars) drew loud ooh's and ah's from the crowd of 3,421 and scored the event title. Olivia Vivian finished the rotation for the Beavers scoring 9.85 to grab the lead in the meet.
Clinging to the lead 98.125-97.975 at the halfway point the Beavers hit six more routines scoring 49.100 on the beam. Stambaugh and Tang each scored 9.80 to start the rotation and Harris followed with a 9.85 and Melanie Jones joined the action with a 9.775. Anchoring the beam team, Mak negotiated her way through a beautiful routine to score 9.875 to tie for the event title.
Toting a 147.225-146.875 lead, the Beavers just needed to stay on their feet on the floor exercise to secure the victory. A fall on the final pass of Blalock's lead off routine kept things interesting and needing five “hit” routines to finish. Harris corrected the course for the Beavers with a fun routine that got the crowd involved and scored 9.825 and Vivian added a 9.80. Jones and Mak performed beautiful routines to earn matching scores of 9.875. The Sooners kept the heat on matching the Beavers' score-for-score on the beam. Stambaugh finished the meet with another fabulous routine earning the meet's highest score with a 9.925 to earn the event title and push the Beavers past the Sooners.
“We started off a little rough on vault but we brought it back on the bars, beam and floor,” Stambaugh said. “It was a lot of fun and we had a good time, which was our goal this evening.”
Oregon State returns to action next Friday, Jan. 20, at No. 19 Arizona when the team travels for the first time in 2012. The Beavers return to Gill Coliseum the following Friday, Jan. 27, to host No 8 Stanford.
Team Scores: No. 7 Oregon State 196.525; No. 4 Oklahoma 195.975.
All-Around: 1. Leslie Mak (OSU) 39.400; 2. Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) 39.375; 3. Brittany Harris (OSU) 39.300.
Vault (48.850): 1. Taylor Spears (OU) 9.875; 2. Brie Olson (OU) 9.850; 3. Chelsea Tang (OSU) 9.825. Other OSU Scores: Makayla Stambaugh 9.800; Brittany Harris 9.775; Leslie Mak 9.750; Kelsi Blalock 9.700; Cerise Witherby 9.575.
Uneven Bars (49.275): 1. Leslie Mak (OSU) 9.900; T2. Brittany Harris (OSU), Makayla Stambaugh (OSU), Olivia Vivian (OSU) 9.850. Other OSU Scores: Chelsea Tang 9.825; Hannah Casey 9.750 (Exhibition – Katelyn Ohlrich 9.400).
Balance Beam (49.100): 1. Leslie Mak (OSU), Taylor Spears (OU), Megan Ferguson (OU) 9.875. Other OSU Scores: Brittany Harris 9.850; Makayla Stambaugh 9.800; Chelsea Tang 9.800; Melanie Jones 9.775; Olivia Vivian 9.575 (Exhibition – Cerise Witherby 9.575).
Floor Exercise (49.300): 1. Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) 9.925; T2. Melanie Jones (OSU), Leslie Mak (OSU) 9.875. Other OSU Scores: Brittany Harris 9.825; Olivia Vivian 9.800; Kelsi Blalock 9.275.
Players Mentioned
