No. 11 Beavers Travel to Face No. 6 Utes Saturday

THE MEET
For the second week in a row, No. 11 Oregon State (4-1) leaves the Pacific Time Zone, this time to open the Pac-12 season at No. 6 Utah (2-0). The meet air live on Pac-12 Networks as well as on the Oregon and Mountain regional channels. Jim Watson is on the call with Amanda Borden providing analysis.

BEAVER BITES
Oregon State's schedule features nine opponents ranked in the top 36 of the preseason coaches poll. ... last week, the Beavers won their third straight road opener picking up four wins at Lindenwood with a team score of 196.350. OSU's is now 29-17 in its first meet away from home under head coach Tanya Chaplin ... the Beavers will likely continue to use only one all-arounder this week with junior Madeline Gardiner in all four lineups ... Kaytianna McMillan returned to the uneven bars lineup last week at Lindenwood and promptly won the event with a meet-high score of 9.875. McMillan continues her recovery from a late season knee injury last year. She performed on the balance beam in the season opener against Auburn ... OSU has a pair of young gymnasts returning to their hometown to compete at Utah for the first time in their college careers. Sophomore Shireen Khamedoost and freshman McKenna Singley, both of whom list Bountiful (a suburb of Salt Lake City) as their hometown will compete in SLC for the first time this week. Khamedoost was part of OSU's squad at 2015 Pac-12 Championships but was not in the lineup.

VS. UTAH
Saturday's meet marks the 75th time OSU and Utah have met and the Utes hold a 65-9 advantage in the series. Oregon State, which has never won in Salt Lake City in 33 tries, and Utah have competed against one and other at least once every year since 1987.

OREGON STATE QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about the Oregon State gymnastics team early in the 2016 season:

Week 2 rankings have, Oregon State at No. 11, one spot better than last week as well as where the Beavers finished the 2015 season and were picked in the preseason coaches poll. See page 3 for the preseason top 25 and complete rankings.
OSU ranks tied for No. 8 in the nation on the vault (49.113), No. 16 on bars (48.963), No. 13 on beam (48.875) and No. 17 on the floor (48.938).
Individually, Oregon State has gymnasts ranked among the top 25 on every event. On the vault, Dani Dessaints is tied for No. 2 in the nation (9.900) and Megan Jimenez is tied for 23rd (9.850). On the bars, Kaytianna McMillan is tied for No. 13 (9.875), while on balance beam Madeline Gardiner is tied for No. 23 (9.850). Jamie Radermacher is tied for No. 19 (9.887) on the floor exercise while Gardiner is tied for 12th in the all-around (39.262).
The Beavers return 10 contributors in 2016 including 15 out of 24 routines from NCAA Championships in 2015. But it is more complicated than that. Senior Erika Aufiero, who would likely have been an all-arounder in 2016 and performed on the two events in 2015, will miss the season due to injury ... to insult to injury, sophomore Dani Dessaints suffered an injury in practice last week and will remain out of the lineup this week at Utah. Dessaints served as the team's anchor on vault and bars to open the season.
OSU coaches need to replace three routines each on vault and barsm two on floor and one on beam.
Among the returners is Madeline Gardiner, who has qualified to Individual Event Finals each of the last two years finishing third on the balance beam both times.
In addition, Kaytianna McMillan, who qualified to NCAA Championships on the balance beam in 2014, is back for the Beavers after suffering a knee injury at the NCAA Norman Regional in 2015. McMillan competed on the beam in the season opener and continued to clear hurdles last week moving into the bars lineup, which she won at Lindenwood. She continues to work toward returning on other events.
The 2016 roster includes four freshmen: Mary Jacobsen, Mariana Colussi-Pelaez, McKenna Singley and Elizabeth Yu. Colussi-Pelaez is the younger sister of Silvia Colussi-Pelaez, who transferred to Oregon State last year.
Three former transfers that joined the program for the 2015 season are back back for another go-round. Seniors Risa Perez and Jamie Radermacher and junior Silvia Colussi-Pelaez are expected to combine to fill at least five routines this season.
Nine of OSU's 2016 opponents were ranked in the preseason top 36: No. 4 Utah, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 UCLA, No. 8 Stanford, No. 10 Auburn, No. 14 California, No. 30 Washington, No. 33 New Hampshire and No. 36 Arizona State.

LAST TIME IN COMPETITION
Oregon State made its first road trip of the year last week traveling to St. Charles, Mo. to face Lindenwood along with Bridgeport, Illinois State and Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The Beavers posted a season-best on three out of four events achieving the 49-point mark in all four rotations. Junior Madeline Gardiner scored 39.300 to win the all-around and also captured event titles on vault (9.875) and beam (9.850). A week after securing her first career event win, senior Jamie Radermacher recorded another career-best mark on the floor (9.900) and her second straight title. Junior Kaytianna McMillan making her first bars lineup appearance of the season tallied a 9.875 to take meet honors as well.

LOOKING BACK AT 2015

Oregon State finished the 2015 season ranked No. 12 in the nation.
All four of OSU's lineups were ranked among the top 25 in the nation. Vault ranked No. 13 (49.285 RQS); uneven bars ranked No. 14 (49.215); balance beam ranked No. 12 (49.145); and floor exercise was No. 7 (49.360).
OSU's floor team posted a 49.675 mark in a quad meet against San Jose State, Lindenwood and Seattle Pacific (Mar. 14), the second-highest floor score the Beavers have ever tallied.
Oregon State's upperclassmen performaned the majority of the routines in 2015 with the juniors and seniors accounting for 56% of the routines.
OSU 'hit' 95% (297 out of 314) of its routines in 2015.
Erika Aufiero (bars), Madeline Gardiner (beam) and Chelsea Tang (beam and all-around) each earned All-America honors. Aufiero and Gardiner qualified to Individual Event Finals where Gardiner finished third on the beam.
Kaytianna McMillan scored a 9.90 on the vault for the first time in her career at Pac-12 Championships. With that mark she became the ninth gymnast in Oregon State history to record a 9.90 on all four apparatuses in her career.
The Beavers welcomed three rather unexpected transfers to the squad in the fall of 2014 with the arrival of Silvia Colussi-Pelaez (Florida), Risa Perez (Arizona State) and Jamie Radermacher (Eastern Michigan). The trio combined to 'hit' 44 out of 45 routines in 2015.

TANYA CHAPLIN QUICK HITTERS

Chaplin holds the Oregon State record for wins during the regular season as well as overall. She set the record at the 2014 home opener with a 196.425-194.850 victory over Iowa State. Now in her 19th season Chaplin has 354 career wins including 285 victories during the regular season.
Chaplin has led the Beavers to conference titles in two of the last five years, winning the 2011 Pac-10 title and the 2013 Pac-12 Championships.
She has directed OSU to the NCAA Championships 11 times in her 18 seasons at the helm.

MADELINE GARDINER QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about Madeline Gardiner, a junior from Cambridge, Ontario:

Qualified to NCAA Championships as an individual all-arounder in 2014.
Earned All-America First Team honors on the balance beam and in the all-around in 2014 ... finished tied for third in the Individual Event Finals in 2014 - the best beam finish for an OSU gymnast since Joy Selig was first in 1990.
Became a three-time All-American in 2015 earning first team honors on beam ... again finished third at Event Finals.
Two-time Pac-12 All-Conference selection - 2015 All-Around first team & 2014 Balance Beam second team
Has won 18 event titles in her two-plus seasons; 4 in 2016 (2 AA, 1 V & 1 BB); 10 in 2015 (3 AA, 2 V, 3 BB & 2 FX); and four in 2014 (3 BB & 1 FX).
Has 'hit' all 93 out of 95 routines in her career.
Madeline was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week for the week of Feb. 10-16, 2014 after she posted career-bests of 9.95 on floor and 9.875 on beam to win the first event titles of her career ... named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the week of Mar. 3-9, 2014 after she won the beam title (9.925) and scored 39.400 in her first all-around performance.
Received Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week for the week of March 9-15, 2015 after winning the all-around tying her career-high with a 39.400. She added an event title on the beam.
Canadian National Team's alternate for the 2012 Olympics in London.
Majoring in exercise and sport science with an option in therapy and allied health.

KAYTIANNA MCMILLAN QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about Kaytianna McMillan, a junior from Coburg, Oregon:

One of just nine gymnasts in Oregon State history to record a score of 9.90 or better on each apparatus in her career.
Suffered a season-ending knee injury on the final routine (vault) at the 2015 NCAA Norman Regional; her recovery continues and began the season competing only on the balance beam ... returned to the bars lineup in Week 2 at Lindenwood, winning the event ... the Beavers are hopeful she will be return to other lineups.
2015 Pac-12 All-Conference second team on the floor exercise.
Tied for balance beam title (9.85) at NCAA University Park Regional in 2014 qualifying to NCAA Championships on the the event.
Has won seven event titles in her career; 1 in 2016 (1 UB); 3 in 2015 (2 UB, 1 FX); and 3 in 2014 (2 BB, 1 UB).
Has 'hit' 52 of 56 routines in her career.
Kaytianna trained at the National Academy of Artistic Gymnastics - the same gym as other OSU greats Chari Knight, Jami Lanz and Chelsea Tang among others including OSU head coach Tanya Chaplin.
Four-time Junior Olympic Nationals qualifier and won the Level 10 national titles on beam and all-around in 2013.
Majoring in human development and family science with an option in human services.

MEGAN JIMENEZ QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about Megan Jimenez, a junior from Temecula, California:

Has 'hit' all 29 routines in her career.
Performed in the vault lineup in all 13 meets in 2015 and nine times in 2014.
Forced into making her floor lineup debut at 2015 NCAA Championships due to injury.
Majoring in digital communication arts.

RISA PEREZ QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about Risa Perez, a senior from Las Vegas, Nevada:

Has 'hit' 79 out of 87 routines in her career.
Won three event titles in 2015 for the Beavers; two on floor and one on beam.
Transferred to Oregon State from Arizona State in the fall of 2014.
Competed in beam and floor lineups for the Beavers 12 out of 13 meets last season.
Has cut and choreographed her floor routines since she was a Level 8 gymnast.
Also helped choreograph several of her current teammates' floor routines this season.
Majoring in liberal studies.

JAMIE RADERMACHER QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about Jamie Radermacher, a senior from Tualatin, Oregon:

Recorded the first event title of her career tying for first on the floor (9.875) in the season opener against Auburn ... followed up with another career-high 9.90 on the floor and another event title at Lindenwood.
Late addition to the 2015 squad after transferring from Eastern Michigan.
Battled injuries at EMU.
Cracked the floor lineup late in the 2015 season competing three times.
Aggravated a previous injury at regionals and was unable to compete at nationals.
Has 'hit' 14-17 career routines.
Majoring in human development and family sciences.

SILVIA COLUSSI-PELAEZ QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about Silvia Colussi-Pelaez, a junior from Oakville, Ontario:

Has 'hit' all 23 of her routines in her college career.
Transferred to Oregon State from Florida following spring term of 2014.
Competed as a member of Spain's national team.
Successfully performed a sideways aerial on balance beam – a first in World or Olympic competition – the skill is now named the Colussi-Pelaez. She has not used the skill in competition at the collegiate level.
Younger sister, Mariana, is a freshman for the Beavers in 2016.
Majoring in chemical engineering.

DANI DESSAINTS QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about Dani Dessaints, a sophomore from Las Vegas, Nevada:

Suffered a shoulder injury in practice on Wednesday prior to the Lindenwood meet (1/13) and missed the meet ... remains out this week pending further examination.
Has 'hit' all nine of her routines in her college career.
Anchored the Beavers' vault and bars units in the season-opener posting career-bests on both events.
Battled injuries as a freshman competing only seven routines.
Majoring in sociology with an emphasis in crime and justice.

ERIKA AUFIERO QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about Erika Aufiero, a senior from Sparks, Nevada:

Suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice (1/7) leading up to the season opener.
Earned first team All-America honors on uneven bars in 2015.
Owns 15 career event titles; 13 on bars and two on vault.
Chosen as one of the team's captains in 2015 and '16
Earned All-Pac-12 honors on uneven bars in 2013 and on vault in 2015.
Has 'hit' 57 of 62 routines in his career.
Erika's sister, Breyanna, competed at Utah State.
Majoring in finance with a specialization in accountancy.

MISCELLANEOUS QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about the rest of the team:

Junior Taylor Ricci performed on the vault seven times in 2015. In addition, she competed on floor once. She has 'hit' all 12 of her career routines ... like Jimenez, Ricci was forced into the floor exercise lineup for the first time in her career at 2015 NCAA Championships due to injury.
Sophomore Shireen Khamedoost began the 2015 near the top of the bars lineup for the first seven meets. She has 'hit' all 11 of her routines.
Mary Jacobsen, a freshman, performed on three events in her first college meet, including leading off on vault and floor. Posted the Beavers' second-highest score on bars (9.800) ... matched those scores at Lindenwood ... has 'hit' 4 out of 5 routines in 2016.
Freshman McKenna Singley opened the season in the bars and beam lineups and exhibitioned on vault and as the alternate on floor. Could become a factor in the all-around.
Freshman Mariana Colussi-Pelaez 'hit' the first routine of her career on the bars in the season-opener ... performed in the beam lineup at Lindenwood ... has 'hit' all three of her routines to start her career.

CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS
The Pac-12 Conference has six out of eight of its teams ranked in the Top 36, which is the number of teams that qualify to NCAA Regionals. UCLA is ranked No. 5, Utah is at No. 6, Oregon State is 11th, California is 22nd, Stanford is 24th and No. 29 Arizona ranks 36th.

THREE FOR 2017
In November, two gymnasts signed the National Letters of Intent to join the Oregon State gymnastics program for the 2016-17 academic year. Isis Lowery (Melbourne, Australia) and Brianna McCant (Frisco, Texas) are scheduled to enroll in Oregon State this coming summer. In addition, 2015 signee Sabrina Gill (Oakville, Ontario) is slated to join the program for the 2017 season as well. Gill opted to defer her enrollment while she trains for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for Team Canada.

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