No. 12 Beavers to Open Season with No. 10 Auburn

THE MEET
No. 12 Oregon State (0-0) opens the season with a top 12 match-up at home against SEC foe No. 10 Auburn (0-0) at 2 p.m., Sunday at Gill Coliseum. The meet will be broadcast on Pac-12 Oregon with play-by-play from Brian Webber and analysis by Samantha Peszek.

TALL & SMALL
Sunday's meet concludes Tall & Small Weekend. Fans taller than Beaver basketball coach Wayne Tinkle (6-foot-10) or shorter than gymnastics' associate head coach Michael Chaplin (5-4) will receive a free ticket to the Auburn meet. Fans are encouraged to bring their cameras for a photo opportunity with life-sized cutouts of the coaches.

BEAVER BITES
Oregon State's schedule feature nine opponents ranked in the top 36 of the preseason coaches poll. ... the Beavers will seek a win in their home opener, something they have succeeded in doing on a regular basis during the Tanya Chaplin era. Over Chaplin's 18 year run, her teams have attained a record of 17-6 on opening night at Gill Coliseum ... the Beavers are likely to use only one all-arounder this week with junior Madeline Gardiner in all four lineups ... freshman McKenna Singley is also in the running to earn a spot in all four lineups in the near future.

VS. AUBURN
Oregon State and Auburn meet for the sixth time in history with the Beavers trailing the series 2-3. The Beavers are 0-1 in Corvallis and dropped the last meeting, at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Prior to last year's championships, the teams' most recent meeting came when the Beavers took second place at the 2012 NCAA Auburn Regional to advance to that year's national championships.

OREGON STATE QUICK HITTERS

Here are some quick hitters about the Oregon State gymnastics team as the season begins:
Oregon State is ranked No. 12 to begin the season, the same ranking the Beavers finished the 2015 season. See page 3 for the preseason top 25 and complete rankings.
The Beavers return 10 contributors in 2016 including 15 out of 24 routines from NCAA Championships in 2015.
OSU coaches need to replace two routines each on vault, bars and floor and one on beam.
Among the returners are Erika Aufiero and Madeline Gardiner, both of whom qualified to Individual Event Finals at last year's NCAA Championships - both enter the season with high expectations to lead the Beavers.
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 is expected to compete on the beam this week and will work towards returning on other events as the season progresses.
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 to begin the season.
Nine of OSU's 2016 opponents are 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.

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.
The Beavers' lost to UCLA in the home opener in 2015, the first time since 2006 they had lost at Gill Coliseum on opening night.

TANYA CHAPLIN QUICK HITTERS

Tanya 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. Entering her 19th season Chaplin has 350 career wins including 281 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.
Has won 14 event titles in her two seasons; 10 in 2015 (3 AA, 2 V, 3 BB & 2 FX) and four in 2014 (3 BB & 1 FX).
Has 'hit' all 85 out of 87 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.
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:

Suffered a season-ending knee injury on the final routine (vault) at the 2015 NCAA Norman Regional; her recovery continues and will likely only compete on beam to begin the season.
One of just nine gymnasts in Oregon State history to record a score of 9.90 or better on each apparatus in her career.
Tied for balance beam title (9.85) at NCAA University Park Regional in 2014 qualifying to NCAA Championships on the the event.
Won three event titles as a rookie - two on beam and one on bars; and three more in 2015 - two on bars and one on floor.
Has 'hit' 49 of 53 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.

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

Suffered an injury in practice this week and her availability for this week is doubtful.
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.

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

Has 'hit' 75 out of 83 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.

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

Has 'hit' all 21 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.

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

Junior Megan Jimenez performed in the vault lineup in all 13 meets in 2015. She also performed on the floor once. She has 'hit' all 23 of the routines in her career.
Junior Taylor Ricci performed on the vault seven times in 2015. In addition, she competed on floor once. She has 'hit' all eight of her career routines.
Both Jimenez and Ricci were forced into the floor exercise lineup for the first time in their careers at 2015 NCAA Championships due to injury. Both are favorites to step into multiple vacant lineup spots in 2016.
Senior Jamie Radermacher was a late addition to the squad in 2015 after transferring from Eastern Michigan. Radermacher cracked the floor lineup late in the season competing three times. She was injured at regionals and was unable to compete at nationals. She has 'hit' 12-15 career routines.
Sophomore Dani Dessaints is another gymnast expected to take major steps forward in 2016. As a freshman, Dessaints performed on vault five times and on bars twice. She has 'hit' all seven of her routines.
Sophomore Shireen Khamedoost began the 2015 near the top of the bars lineup for the first seven meets. She has 'hit' all seven of her routines.

WHICH WAY DO WE GO?
The Beavers, like every other team in the country, are seeking to qualify to the NCAA Championships and the Super Six. But to reach that goal teams must get through NCAA Regionals. In 2016, regionals will be held at Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Utah. The top two finishers at each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas.

CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS
The Pac-12 Conference has all eight of its teams ranked in the Top 36, which is the number of teams that qualify to NCAA Regionals. Utah is ranked No. 4, No. 6 UCLA, No. 8 Stanford, Oregon State is 12th, California is 14th, Arizona 18th and Washington ranks 30th and Arizona State is ranked No. 36.

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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