Oregon State
Orange and Black Exhibition
Harris, Stambaugh Lead Orange to Win in Exhibition
November 15, 2012 | Women's Gymnastics
Nov. 15, 2012
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State gymnastics team performed for more than 1,000 fans Thursday night when the Beavers hosted the annual Orange and Black Exhibition at Gill Coliseum. The event which featured a new format that included guest judges and interaction with fans kept the crowd entertained throughout the evening.
“The new format was a lot of fun for the fans and for our gymnasts,” head coach Tanya Chaplin said. “Giving the gymnasts a chance to perform in front of a crowd like this is priceless and is something we can't duplicate in practice. We felt like we had some moments of really good gymnastics but also know that we've still got a lot to work on. Fortunately we don't begin competition until January but in the meantime we'll expect improvements in our next practice intrasquad.”
The exhibition, which was free of admission, concluded with autographs from the entire squad, also included short Gymnastics 101 videos between rotations to help educate fans. Celebrity judges were added to the festivities and the banter between OSU public address announcer Brian Brooks and the judging panels added to the entertainment.
Guest judges included OSU beat reporters, Oregon State coaches, fans chosen from the crowd and Benny Beaver. Representing the media were Lindsay Schnell from The Oregonian, Cliff Kirkpatrick from the Corvallis Gazette-Times, Gary Horowitz from the Statesman-Journal and Stephen Nelson from KEZI-TV. Head baseball coach Pat Casey, head wrestling coach Jim Zalesky and assistant football coaches Mark Banker and Mike Cavanaugh were also part of the action offering their thoughts on the proceedings.
The Beavers split into two teams and performed routines in pairs of head-to-head match-ups. The judges then were left to determine which gymnast performed the best routine by indicating the winner with orange or black cards. Four pairs (eight gymnasts total) were scheduled to perform on each event. In the end the Orange team prevailed 10-6 including a sweep on the uneven bars.
Four gymnasts – Kelsi Blalock and Chelsea Tang for the Black team and Brittany Harris and Makayla Stambaugh for the Orange team – performed in the all-around. Harris and Stambaugh each notched three wins apiece to lead their squad while Blalock, Tang and freshman Sarah Marquez each accounted for two wins for the Orange. Taylor Keeker added two wins and freshmen Erika Aufiero and Nicole Turner each tallied a win for Black.
The Beavers, who have reached the NCAA Championships each of the last seven seasons, opens the 2013 season at the Cancun Classic Jan. 4 before returning home to host Ohio State Jan. 11. Oregon State also hosts the Pac-12 Championships, Mar. 23, and the NCAA Corvallis Regional Championships, April 6.
Players Mentioned
