Aufiero, Dessaints Win Pac-12 Titles; Beavs Second

Saturday, March 18

Oregon State

197.400

197.925

Utah

March 18, 2017 | Women's Gymnastics

Results

By: Oregon State Communications

STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 10 Oregon State gymnastics team entered Pac-12 Championships as the third-seeded team, but walked away with a second-place finish Saturday night at Maples Pavilion. Erika Aufiero scored 9.950 on the uneven bars to win the event and Dani Dessaints scored 9.950 on the vault to earn co-champion status.

"I'm really excited for this team. They came in here tonight and really left it all on the floor," head coach Tanya Chaplin said. "We were looking to improve our position for regionals and were determined to continue to stay on top of our game and we accomplished those goals."

The Beavers reached the 49-point mark on each of the four events for the sixth consecutive meet and established a season-high for the fourth straight. The score of 197.400, ties the sixth-highest score in school history, and makes it the first time since 2004 that OSU has scored 197 or higher in four meets in a row.

Oregon State started the meet on the floor exercise tallying a score of 49.350 to settle into third place, behind Utah and Washington, which were tied at 49.425 in the opening round. Taylor Ricci set the tone for the Beavers with a strong start in the leadoff spot scoring 9.825. Silvia Colussi-Pelaez tied her career-high for the four meet in a row with a 9.90 and Kaytianna McMillan matched it in the anchor spot.

The Beavers followed on the vault posting a season-high 49.325 behind Dessaints' career-tying 9.950 and Mary Jacobsen's career-best 9.90. As the teams reached the halfway point OSU had closed the gap on the Huskies to 98.700-98.675.

OSU moved to the uneven bars in the third stanza, where the Beavers settled for a score of 49.200. Aufiero posted the meet-high mark of 9.950 while Jacobsen had the team's next highest mark at 9.850.

Finishing the meet on the beam, the Beavers set a season-high with a huge score of 49.525. Megan Jimenez (9.85), Sabrina Gill (9.90), Colussi-Pelaez (9.90) and Dessaints (9.950) each set or tied career-bests en route to one of the biggest team scores in program history.

At the conclusion of the meet, senior Kaytianna McMillan was named as the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year. She is the fifth gymnast in OSU history to garner the award and the first since Leslie Mak received the second of back-to-back honors in 2012.

Oregon State will return to action Saturday, April 1 at NCAA Regional Championships at a site to be determined. The regional fields will be announced Monday at 1 p.m. PT via NCAA.com. Regional hosts are Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Washington and West Virginia.

Oregon State Athletics and the gymnastics program will host a Selection Show Watch Party Monday in the Loge Level of Reser Stadium. The public is invited to join the Beaver gymnasts as they await their postseason fate with doors opening at 12:30 p.m.

Team Scores: 1. No. 5 Utah 197.925; 2. No. 10 Oregon State 197.400; T3. No. 3 UCLA, No. 15 Washington 197.100; 5. Stanford 196.625; 6. No. 16 California 196.300; 7. Arizona 196.275; 8. Arizona State 195.600.
All-Around: 1. MyKayla Skinner (UTAH) 39.725; 2. Baely Rose (UTAH) 39.575; 3. Hailey Burleson (WASH) 39.475. OSU Scores: Kaytianna McMillan 39.450; Madeline Gardiner 39.400.
Vault (49.325): T1. Dani Dessaints (OSU), MyKayla Skinner (UTAH), Tiffani Lewis (UTAH) 9.950. Other OSU Scores: Mary Jacobsen 9.900; Madeline Gardiner 9.850; Kaytianna McMillan 9.825; Erika Aufiero 9.800; Sabrina Gill 9.775.
Uneven Bars (49.200): 1. Erika Aufiero (OSU) 9.950; T2. Kari Lee (UTAH), Missy Reinstadtler (UTAH), Peng Peng Lee (UCLA), Kaitlyn Duranczyk (WASH) 9.900. Other OSU Scores: Mary Jacobsen 9.850; Kaytianna McMillan 9.825; Madeline Gardiner 9.800; McKenna Singley 9.775; Shireen Khamedoost 9.775.
Balance Beam (49.525): 1. Kyla Ross (UCLA) 10.000; T2. Dani Dessaints (OSU), Katelyn Ohashi (UCLA) 9.950. Other OSU Scores: Kaytianna McMillan 9.900; Silvia Colussi-Pelaez 9.900; Sabrina Gill 9.900; Madeline Gardiner 9.875; Megan Jimenez 9.850.
Floor Exercise (49.350): 1. MyKayla Skinner (UTAH) 10.000; T2. Tiffani Lewis (UTAH), Elizabeth Price (STAN), Hallie Mossett (UCLA) 9.925. Other OSU Scores: Kaytianna McMillan 9.900; Silvia Colussi-Pelaez 9.900; Madeline Gardiner 9.875; Isis Lowery 9.850; Taylor Ricci 9.825; Erika Aufiero 9.800.