Oregon State
Utah
Beavers Overcome Start to Score Season-High, Finish Second at Utah
January 19, 2013 | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 19, 2013
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The No. 23 Oregon State gymnastics team recovered from uncharacteristic mistakes in the opening rotation to post season-highs on three events and finished second in a quad meet at Utah. Makayla Stambaugh and Brittany Harris produced their best meets of the year en route to second and third place finishes in the all-around.
The Beavers established a new season-best score of 195.950, an improvement from last week's 195.375 of more than a half-point. With its second place finish Oregon State improves to 3-3.
“This is another improvement,” head coach Tanya Chaplin said. “It was a rocky start but they overcame the adversity and finished strong. I'm happy with that response to fight back and not let it snowball. There were plenty of highlights tonight too including season-highs on three events. Clearly there is still work to be done, but this meet shows we're making progress.”
The Beavers got off to a shaky start in the opening rotation on the uneven bars with a pair of falls. However, freshman Erika Aufiero responded with a fantastic routine under considerable pressure to get the Beavers back on course with a score of 9.775. Harris followed with a 9.80 to tie her season-high setting up Stambaugh, who filled the anchor position, scoring a season-best 9.90 to tie for the event title.
Sitting in third after the first event, the Beavers moved to the balance beam seeking to avoid counting a fall for the first time this year. A first-up fall once again put pressure on the final five to deliver solid routines. Stambaugh stemmed the tide with her best routine of the season to score 9.775 which was followed by a season-high 9.80 from Harris. Katelyn Ohlrich performed a beautiful routine to set a personal-best 9.85 and Chelsea Tang added a career-high 9.825. Melanie Jones, who performed in the all-around for the first time this season, finished the rotation with a 9.875 routine to set a season-high. The Beavers eclipsed the 49-point mark on the beam for the first time in 2013 with a team total of 49.125.
Tied for second with West Virginia at the halfway point, OSU headed to the floor exercise where the team has had success early in the season. Kelsi Blalock matched her career-best of 9.85 to set up outstanding routines from Jones and Stambaugh that garnered matching scores of 9.875 tying for the event title.
Oregon State's vault lineup went six-for-six for the third straight outing with each of the first five vaulters tying or setting season-bests. Tang opened with a 9.80, followed by Jones' 9.85 in her first vault of the season. Stambaugh tied her career-best of 9.875 and Harris tallied a 9.85. Blalock closed the scoring for the Beavers with a 9.90 to set a season-high and finish second in the meet.
The Beavers travel to Fort Worth, Texas next week for the second of four straight away meets for the Metroplex Challenge where they'll face No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 5 LSU, No. 8 Georgia and Washington Saturday, Jan. 26.
Note: Freshman Jaime Wright performed the first routine of her collegiate career scoring 8.925 on the floor exercise … In a scheduling quirk tonight's meet at Utah was not considered a Pac-12 meet as the teams weren't scheduled by the conference to face each other in 2013. It is the third time in the last 12 months the Beavers have competed in Salt Lake City. Utah will be back on the conference schedule in 2014 and OSU will once again travel to SLC … Senior Melanie Jones performed in the all-around for the first time this season.
Team Scores: No. 15 Utah 196.950; No. 23 Oregon State 195.950; No. 22 West Virginia 192.125; No. 20 Southern Utah 191.050.
All-Around: 1. Georgia Dabritz (UTAH) 39.525; 2. Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) 39.425; t3. Brittany Harris (OSU), Corrie Lothrop (UTAH) 39.250. Other OSU Scores: Melanie Jones 38.725.
Vault (49.275): 1. Tory Wilson (UTAH) 9.950; 2. Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) 9.875. Other OSU Scores: Brittany Harris 9.850; Melanie Jones 9.850; Chelsea Tang 9.800; Hailey Gaspar 9.625.
Uneven Bars (48.450): t1. Georgia Dabritz (UTAH), Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) 9.900; 3. Corrie Lothrop (UTAH) 9.825. Other OSU Scores: Brittany Harris 9.800; Hannah Casey 9.675; Stephanie McGregor 9.300; Melanie Jones 9.125.
Balance Beam (49.125): 1. Georgia Dabritz (UTAH) 9.900; t2. Tory Wilson (UTAH), Breanna Hughes (UTAH), Makayla Stambaugh 9.775; Cerise Witherby 9.325.
Floor Exercise (49.100): t1. Nansy Damianova (UTAH), Corrie Lothrop (UTAH), Georgia Dabritz (UTAH), Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) 9.875. Other OSU Scores: Brittany Harris 9.800; Cerise Witherby 9.700; Jaime Wright 8.925.
Players Mentioned
