Gymnastics Hits the Road to Face Arizona

MATCHING UP: Oregon State has controlled the head-to-head series against Arizona, posting team victories in 30 different matchups, which includes each of the last eight. Oregon State posted 197s in both matchups last season, both in Corvallis (Feb. 18) and at the Pac-12 Championships in West Valley City, Utah (March 18), while the last meeting in Tucson saw the Beavers finish with a 196.675-195.525 win on March 4, 2022.

Jade Carey posted two 10s in the Feb. 18 matchup in Corvallis, earning perfect scores for her vault and floor routines to go with a 9.9 on bars and 9.975 on beam to take the all-around event title.

Arizona enters Sunday's meet ranked No. 19 in the nation and is coming off a third-place finish at a quad hosted by Texas Women's University in Denton, Texas. The Wildcats recorded their highest team score in the meet-opening floor exercise, an event in which the team currently ranks No. 14 in the nation. Alysen Fears tied a career-high with a 9.95 on bars while Emily Mueller's 9.925 FX also tied a career-high.

Century Mark: The legend of Jade Carey continues to grow with each passing week, and that continued against Stanford as she joined elite company as just the second gymnast in program history to surpass 100 career event titles in orange and black. Now up to 101 in her collegiate career, the program record of 116, currently held by Chari Knight, is within reach as the 2024 regular season reaches its home stretch.

With four event titles against the Cardinal with an average score of 9.913, Carey was named Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week for the first time this season, having previously earned two Specialist of the Week awards; she's now up to 18 weekly awards in her career thanks to 10 Gymnast of the Week, two Specialist of the Week and six Freshman/Newcomer of the Week awards.

A First Time for Everything: Now in her third season as a collegiate gymnast, Sage Thompson did something she'd never previously done on Saturday: she competed in all four events. Finishing fourth in the all-around standings with a 39.275, the Lehi, Utah, native posted her second-consecutive 9.9 or better on bars thanks to a 9.90 while setting a new career-high on the beam (9.750) and tying a career-high after earning a 9.85 for her floor routine; this all came after she opened the mee with a 9.775 vault.

Nothing New: What do two weeks and two all-around performances have in common? Both resulted in Pac-12 Newcomer of the Week awards for Beaver freshman Sophia Esposito. Esposito posted a 39.450 against the Cardinal, tying a career-high with a 9.825 on bars while finishing with a 9.875 on vault, 9.85 on beam and 9.9 on the floor, and the weekly recognition from the conference was her third such award this season.

Buckner on the Beam: Fellow freshman Olivia Buckner also played a role in the Beaver victory on Saturday, as the Riverton, Utah, native set a new career-high with a 9.90 during OSU's beam rotation that finished with a team score of 49.325. Buckner had previously competed on the beam in four meets and posted back-to-back 9.8s against Cal and Utah, though her career-high for any event came on the vault with a 9.95 against the Utes.

A New Best: Joining Buckner with a new beam career-high was sophomore Jennifer McMillan, who was given a 9.90 from both judges to surpass the 9.875 that she received for a beam routine against Utah on Feb. 2. McMillan, originally from Charlotte, N.C., has appeared on the beam in all but one meet in 2024 while serving as part of the Beaver bars lineup in every meet this season.

INJURY UPDATES: Ellie Weaver and Sydney Gonzales both sustained injuries that will keep them out for the remainder of the 2024 season. Lauren Letzsch still remains out indefinitely.

OTHER NOTES:
•   Six different Oregon State gymnasts have won event titles this season: Jade Carey, bars (four times), beam, floor and all-around; Taylor DeVries, bars; Sophia Esposito, vault (twice) and floor; Kaitlin Garcia, floor; Ellie Weaver, beam and floor; Ariana Young, beam and floor.
•   Five different Oregon State gymnasts have won Pac-12 weekly honors this season: Natalie Briones, Coaches' Choice; Jade Carey, Specialist (two times); Taylor DeVries, Newcomer; Sophia Esposito, Newcomer (twice); and Sage Thompson, Coaches' Choice.
•   Kaitlin Garcia has been a member of the Oregon State vault and floor exercise lineup in each of the team's seven matchups this season and had one of her best floor routines to date against Stanford, earning a 9.90 to tie a season and career high mark.
•   Making her fourth-consecutive appearance, Savannah Miller was given a season-high tying 9.875 for her floor routine against the Cardinal, playing a key role in the Beavers' highest rotation score of the meet (49.450).
•   Ariana Young has been consistent for the Beavers' beam and floor lineup in the 2024 season, having appeared in both events in every meet. Coming off her fourth-straight 9.85 or better on floor, the San Mateo, Calif., native posted another 9.85 against Stanford to extend her streak to five and has finished with a 9.825 or better in every single meet this season.

HOME SWEET HOME: Oregon State has two home meets remaining in the 2024 regular season: Arizona State at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 1 (Pac-12 Network) and Washington at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 8 (Oregon State Live Stream).

Sandwiched in between those matchups is Sunday's meet at Tucson and the regular season finale on Sunday, March 17, when the Beavers compete against Boise State and Utah State in Boise, Idaho at 11:00 a.m. PT.

PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 2024 Pac-12 Championships will be held in West Valley City, Utah, on Saturday, March 23 and be televised nationally on Pac-12 Network.

BACK-TO-BACK: Oregon State won a share of the Pac-12 regular season title for the second-consecutive year in 2023. This is the fourth season the conference has crowned a regular season champion, beginning the tradition in 2020, and the Beavers have shared the title in half of them.

2023: Winning a share of the Pac-12 regular season crown was just one of several highlights for head coach Tanya Chaplin and the Oregon State gymnastics team.
•   Advanced to the Regional Finals for the first time since 2019 where they finished in fourth place with the fifth-highest score in program history (197.650).
•   Finished in a tie for first place at Regionals (with LSU) after posting a 197.375.
•   For the first time in program history, Oregon State went over the coveted 198 mark, recording a 198.075 against Stanford to break the previous program record of 197.850.
•   The Beavers posted three of the six highest scores in program history.
•   Finished No. 12 in the final 2023 Road to Nationals rankings.
•   Jade Carey became just the 13th NCAA gymnast, and the sixth Pac-12 gymnast, to complete the Gym Slam with a 10.000 on vault, bars, beam and floor.
•   The 2023 freshmen class of Francesca Caso, Jennifer McMillan, Savannah Miller and Ellie Weaver all had an instant impact, making up more than 50 percent of the team's bar routines.
•   Jade Carey was selected the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year for the second-straight season.
•   Jade Carey, Madi Dagen and Sydney Gonzales were honored by the Pac-12 Conference, taking home eight different honors for their efforts during the 2023 regular season.
•   19 Oregon State student-athletes were named All-American Scholars by the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) and 15 were selected to the Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll.
•   Madi Dagen was named the 2023 Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Beaver to earn the honor since Madeline Gardiner in 2017.

UP NEXT: OSU returns to action next Friday night, hosting Arizona State at Gill Coliseum.

OUR MISSION: Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent, Authentic, Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).

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Players Mentioned

Natalie Briones

Olivia Buckner

Jade Carey

Francesca Caso

Madi Dagen

Taylor DeVries

Sophia Esposito

Kaitlin Garcia

Sydney Gonzales

Lauren Letzsch

Jennifer McMillan

Savannah Miller

Sage Thompson

Ellie Weaver

Ariana Young