Women's Gymnastics Places Second at Pac-10 Meet
March 21, 1998
LOS ANGELES- Senior Deanne Droegemueller scored a career-high 9.975 on her bar routine to claim the Pac-10 title on the event, which helped lead the Beavers to a second-place showing at the 1998 Pac-10 Championships. OSU scored a 194.950, second only to Stanford's 195.275. The Cardinal victory marked the first time Oregon State or UCLA did not win the Pac-10 Championship.
Droegemueller becomes the third OSU gymnast to win the event at Pac-10s and the first since Chari Knight in 1994. Senior Amy Slack tied for third place with a 9.90 on bars.
"I was really excited. I heard my teammates cheering and I nailed my dismount," said Droegemueller. "I heard those guys yelling at the end, and I knew I was going to do it."
"It really tops her senior year winning a Pac-10 championship," said OSU head coach Tanya Chaplin. "It's something she's worked really hard for this year and the team did a great job helping her set up for it. You can't get much better than that."
Freshman Lara Degenhardt just missed the Pac-10 Championship title on vault with a 9.90 on a 9.90 vault, good for second place. Only UCLA's Lena Degteva scored higher after coming up with a 9.925 vault.
Junior Megan Murphy scored a career-high 9.80 on her 9.80 vault, while junior Bea Tistu came up with a 9.65 on her first ever collegiate vault. OSU's team vault core of 48.725 was its second best of the year.
"I was most impressed with how we kept building event by event. Our scores went up after every event and we kept improving," said Chaplin. "Two of our vaulters had perfect vaults, and I think we could really see them relax after vault. We knew that they were going to be hot on bars." Oregon State opened the meet on beam with Murphy leading the Beavers with a third place 9.875, while Tistu turned in the team's second best score at 9.725.
Murphy recorded her second consecutive third-place 9.875 mark when she led the Beavers on floor, while Degenhardt scored a 9.85. Murphy also tied her career-high as an all-arounder, placing third with a 39.175.
"I think after last week, they really focused on what they needed to do as individuals," Chaplin said. "That's what we're going to continue over the next two weeks as we prepare for regionals. If we keep doing that, there's no doubt they're going to hit."
Oregon State returns to action at the NCAA West Regionals, set for 6:00 p.m. on April 4 at Washington.
1998 Pac-10 Gymnastics Championship Final Results
Team Standings:
1. Stanford, 195.275;
2. Oregon State, 194.950;
3. Arizona State, 194.825;
4. UCLA, 194.700;
5. Washington, 193.700;
6. Arizona, 192.800; California, 189.200
Individual Results:
Vault:
1. Lena Degteva (UCLA), 9.925;
2. Lara Degenhardt (OSU) 9.90;
T3. Heidi Moneymaker (UCLA), Keri Monahan (Stan.), Larissa Fontaine (Stan.), Jenny Wilson (Stan.), Tiffany Simpson (Wsah.), 9.875.
Other OSU finishers:
12. Megan Murphy, 9.80;
T16. Corrie Young, 9.75;
T25. Bea Tistu, 9.65;
T27. Amanda Turko, 9.625;
T34. Amy Slack, 9.80.
Bars:
1. Deanne Droegemueller, (OSU) 9.975;
2. Larissa Fontaine (Stan.), 9.925;
T3. Amy Slack (OSU), Mohini Bhardwaj (UCLA), 9.90.
Other OSU finishers:
9. Stephanie Bychowski, 9.80;
T15. Annette Taylor, 9.70;
24. Megan Murphy, 9.625;
T25. Amanda Turko, 9.60.
Beam:
1. Stella Umeh (UCLA), 9.925;
2. Kiralee Hiyashi (UCLA), 9.90;
3. Megan Murphy (OSU), 9.875.
Other OSU finishers:
T17. Bea Tistu, 9.725;
T21. Corrie Young, 9.675; Annette Taylor, 9.675;
29. Amy Slack, 9.55;
36. Deanne Droegemueller, 9.25.
Floor:
1. Stella Umeh (UCLA), 9.95;
2. Elizabeth McNabb (ASU), 9.925;
T3. Megan Murphy (OSU), Kiralee Hiyashi (UCLA),
Cami Banholzer (Ariz.), Elizabeth Reid (ASU),
Tiffany Simpson (Wash.), 9.875.
Other OSU finishers:
T8. Lara Degenhardt, 9.85;
T14. Corrie Young, 9.75;
T24. Annette Taylor,9.65;
30. Marissa Bruch, 9.55;
31. Bea Tistu, 9.525.
All-Around:
1. Stella Umeh (UCLA), 39.600;
2. Kiralee Hayashi (UCLA), 39.275;
3. Megan Murphy (OSU), 39.175.
