Oregon State
LSU
Season-Best on Bars Gives Beavs Road High
March 13, 2016 | Women's Gymnastics
DENTON, Texas – The No. 16 Oregon State gymnastics team posted its highest road score of the year in the final meet of the regular season with a 196.550 Saturday evening. The Beavers (12-4) finished second in the quadrangular meet hosted by Texas Woman's University also featuring No. 3 LSU as well as New Hampshire.
OSU entered the meet need to score 195.850 to pass No. 13 Stanford, which is idle this week, for the fourth seed at Pac-12 Championships next Saturday at Washington's Alaska Airlines Arena.
“It has been a fight all year,” head coach Tanya Chaplin said. “The Pac-12 is tough and coming right down to the conference meet these last couple weeks have been really important and this team just keeps fighting to get better and better and better.”
The Beavers reached the 49-point mark on three out of four events achieving a season-best 49.425 on the uneven bars to close the meet and securing their spot in the evening session of the conference championship meet.
“I'm proud of today's effort, especially right before finals. We were a little off in warm-ups but came around and did a good job in the meet and that's what counts.”
Freshman Mariana Colussi-Pelaez set the tone on the final event tying her career-high with a 9.850 in the lead off position. Shireen Khamedoost (9.850), Madeline Gardiner (9.875) and McKenna Singley (9.875) each followed suit tying their personal-marks as well. Mary Jacobsen scored the Beavers' third straight 9.875 to set up Kaytianna McMillan, who has been red-hot on the uneven bars for the past five weeks, who performed a beautiful routine to score 9.950 tying her career-high and also tying for the meet-high mark.
Oregon State got the meet started with a solid start on the balance beam scoring 49.125 and followed up on the floor exercise with a 49.025. The Beavers scored 48.975 on the vault, their best score on the apparatus in four meets.
Gardiner scored 39.375 in the all-around to finish second in the meet and added a 9.850 on the balance beam to tie for second with teammate Risa Perez among others.
The Beavers are back in action at the Pac-12 Championships in Seattle next Saturday. Both sessions of the conference meet will air live on the Pac-12 Networks.
Team Scores: No. 3 LSU 197.825; No. 16 Oregon State 196.550; New Hampshire 193.800; Texas Woman's 193.000.
All-Around: 1. Myia Hambrick (LSU) 39.450; 2. Madeline Gardiner (OSU) 39.375; 3. Danielle Doolin (UNH) 38.375.
Vault (48.975): 1. Ashleigh Gnat (LSU) 9.950; 2. Sarah Finnegan (LSU) 9.925; 3. Sydney Ewing (LSU) 9.900. OSU Scores: Madeline Gardiner 9.850; Mary Jacobsen 9.825; Megan Jimenez 9.800; McKenna Singley 9.750; Taylor Ricci 9.750; Shireen Khamedoost 9.750.
Uneven Bars (49.425): T1. Kaytianna McMillan (OSU), Sarah Finnegan (LSU) 9.950; T3. Myia Hambrick (LSU), Lexie Priessman (LSU) 9.925. Other OSU Scores: Mary Jacobsen 9.875; McKenna Singley 9.875; Madeline Gardiner 9.875; Shireen Khamedoost 9.850; Mariana Colussi-Pelaez 9.850.
Balance Beam (49.125): 1. Sarah Finnegan (LSU) 9.900; T2. Risa Perez (OSU), Madeline Gardiner (OSU), Sydney Ewing (LSU) 9.850. Other OSU Scores: Kaytianna McMillan 9.825; Silvia Colussi-Pelaez 9.825; Mariana Colussi-Pelaez 9.775; Megan Jimenez 9.775.
Floor Exercise (49.025): 1. Ashleigh Gnat (LSU) 10.0; 2. Randii Wyrick (LSU) 9.925; T3. Sydney Ewing (LSU), McKenna Kelley (LSU), Jessica Savona (LSU) 9.900. OSU Scores: Kaytianna McMillan 9.850; Jamie Radermacher 9.850; Madeline Gardiner 9.800; Taylor Ricci 9.775; Risa Perez 9.750; McKenna Singley 9.650 (Exhibition – Mary Jacobsen 9.175).
