Gymnasts Set for Regionals
April 8, 1999
THIS WEEK: The 12th-ranked Oregon State gymnastics team (13-6) will host the 1999 NCAA Region 1 Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, April 10 at Gill Coliseum, starting at 7 p.m. Gates will open at 6 p.m. The meet will feature four Top 25 teams, including No. 3 Utah, No. 15 UCLA and No. 18 Boise State along with the host Beavers. Washington and Sacramento State will round out the team field, and there will also be six at-large all-arounders from teams that did not qualify. Leila Khoury, Lindsay Baker and Helene Kenny from Cal; Alison Giorgetti and Georgina Lilich from UC Santa Barbara; and Annie Snellgrove from San Jose State will compete as all-arounders. Each all-arounder will be paired with a team.
TICKETS: Tickets for Saturday's NCAA Region 1 Championships are still available. Reserved seats are $15, and general admission seating is available for $8. There is no discount for senior citizens or students.
ROTATION ORDER: There will be six rotations at the NCAA Region 1 meet. The rotation order was determined by a random draw. The all-arounders will compete with an assigned team and will compete seventh after the team has completed its six routines. Following is the complete rotation order for all teams:
VAULT BYE BARS BEAM BYE FLOOR ROT. I Sac St. UCLA OSU Wash. BSU Utah ROT. II Utah Sac St. UCL:A OSU Wash. BSU ROT. IIIBSU Utah Sac St. UCLA OSU Wash. ROT. IV Wash. BSU Utah Sac St. UCLA OSU ROT. V OSU Wash. BSU Utah Sac St. UCLA ROT. VI UCLA OSU Wash. BSU Utah Sac. St.
A REUNION FOR BEAVERS AND FORMER TEAMMATE: Oregon State gymnasts will be reunited with a former teammate when San Jose States Annie Snellgrove will return to Gill Coliseum for this weeks regionals. Snellgrove was a member of the Beaver squad in 1997 (Corrie Youngs freshman year), but then transfered to San Jose State. Ironically, Snellgrove will be paired with the Beavers during the regional meet. OSU is the No. 2 seed at regionals, and Snellgrove is the No. 2 seeded all-arounder, meaning she will compete with OSU during the meet.
MURPHY-BARCROFT SHINES AT PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS: Senior Megan Murphy-Barcroft won the Pac-10 titles on beam and vault, scoring a 9.95 on beam and 9.925 to tie for first. She also scored a career-high 39.625 to place second all-around. She was named Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week after an impressive outing against Utah on March 14. Murphy-Barcroft set three career-highs in the win over the Utes, highlighted by a career-best 39.500 all-around score. She placed first on floor with a personal best 9.95, and she also had a career-high 9.925 on vault to finish third on the event. Additionally, she tied for second with a 9.925 on beam. Murphy-Barcroft is ranked 14th in the nation as an all-arounder, is sixth on beam and 20th on vault. She is one of only two Beavers to score as high as 39.625 all-around (seven-time All-American and current OSU volunteer coach Chari Knight is the other). Earlier this season she set career-highs of 9.975 on beam and 9.825 on bars at Washington on Feb. 26. Murphy-Barcroft has the second best average on the team on vault (9.770) and floor (9.732), and she is averaging 38.825 as an all-arounder this year. She has 13 first-place showings this season, four in the all-around, four on beam, three on floor and two on vault.
RECORD-BREAKING MONTH FOR OSU: Oregon State set or tied school records on every event in the month of March. The Beavers scored a 197.325 for a then-school record against Utah on March 14 before bettering that mark with a 197.400 at the Pac-10 Championships on March 20. In the meet against Utah, the Beavers scored a 49.475 as a team on vault to tie the school record set at the 1996 NCAA Super SIx in Alabama. The Beavers also scored a school-record 49.375 on beam against the Utes to break the old record set in 1994. OSU also rewrote the school records on bars and floor at the Pac-10 meet. The Beavers scored 49.475 on both events to break the previous marks from 1993.
TWO BEAVERS REACH PERFECTION: Senior Danae Phillips and sophomore Lara Degenhardt recorded perfect 10.0s at the Pac-10 Championships on March 20. Phillips was crowned Pac-10 Champion on the bars, and Degenhardt took top honors on the floor. Those 10.0 scores were the 15th and 16th in school history, and it marked the fifth time that the Beavers have scored two 10.0s in the same meet. The last time that happened was against California in 1996, when Kristie Snyder was perfect on vault and Heather Bennett on bars. Chari Knight scored a 10.0 on bars and beam in the same meet twice, once in 1992 and once in 1993. Knight also had a part in another double-perfection meet, when she scored a 10.0 on beam the same night Amy Durham did on floor in a regular season meet in 1993. Prior to Degenhardts 10.0 on floor, Durham was the only Beaver with a perfect score on floor. Durham did it twice in 1993, in a regular season meet and at the NCAA Championships to win the national title on the event. Degenhardt is the fourth Beaver to win the Pac-10 title on floor. Phillips is the third OSU gymnast to score a 10.0 on bars and the fourth to capture the league title on the event.
DANAE DAZZLING ON BARS: After scoring a 9.95 on bars for three meets in a row, senior Danae Phillips finally reached perfection when she scored a 10.0 to win the event at the Pacific-10 Championships on March 20. Phillips is ranked sixth in the nation on bars and is averaging a 9.898 on the event. She has scored a 9.90 or better in six meets and has scored a 9.80 or higher in every meet but the season opener, when she scored a 9.775 at Arizona. She has won or tied for first on bars seven times this season. Phillips also competes on vault for the Beavers, with her season-high of 9.95 coming against Utah on March 14. She is averaging a 9.686 on the event. Her career-high is a 9.975, set as a sophomore in 1997.
DEGENHARDT KEEPS VAULTING TO VICTORY: Sophomore Lara Degenhardt has won vault 14 times in 23 meets as a Beaver, including seven first-place efforts this season. She notched a near-perfect 9.975 vault for a career-high and a first-place showing against Utah on March 14, and she has scored a 9.90 four other times. Degenhardt is averaging a team-best 9.832 on vault and ranks 11th nationally. Of the nine meets she has not won the vault title, she placed second five times.
ANNETTE AWESOME AT PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS: Sophomore Annette Taylor had her best collegiate performance at the Pac-10 meet on March 20 when she scored a career-high 9.90 on bars to place fourth. Prior to that meet, she had not scored above a 9.75 on the event. She also scored a 9.825 on beam for the second meet in a row to place 11th. Taylor may not have the victories to show for her success, but she does have consistency on her side. While she has never won an event in her collegiate career, she boasts the Beavers second-best average on both bars and beam this season, with no falls on either event. She is averaging a 9.733 on beam, highlighted by a career-high 9.875 at Washington on Feb. 26. Her average on bars is a 9.698 with a career high of 9.90, which she scored against Utah. She has competed on bars and beam in 10 of the 11 meets this year, missing only the Boise State meet when she was out with an illness.
YOUNG STILL GOING STRONG ON BEAM: Junior Corrie Young notched a career-high 9.925 to tie for second place on beam against Utah on March 14, and she followed that up with a fourth-place 9.90 at the Pac-10 Championships on March 20. After scoring a 9.85 at least once in each of her three years at OSU, Young reached the 9.90 mark for the first time in her career. She has won beam four times this season and leads the team with a 9.760 average on the event, which is even more impressive considering that average includes a fall. She is averaging a 9.81 not counting her one fall - a 9.35 at Washington on Feb. 26. The co-captain also competes on vault and had season-bests of 9.775 versus Utah and at Pac-10s to up her vault average to 9.659.
LOPEZ COMPETING AS AN ALL-AROUNDER: Freshman Jerra Lopez has competed as an all-arounder at OSUs last two meets after making the vault lineup for the first time against Utah on March 14. She scored a 38.850 in her all-around debut, highlighted by career-highs of 9.90 on floor and 9.825 on beam. Then, at Pac-10s a week later, she scored a 9.80 on vault but struggled on bars and floor to complete the competition with a 38.200. Lopez leads the Beavers with a 9.775 average on floor this season. She has won the event three times and has scored a 9.80 or better in eight of 10 meets.
SEVERIN'S SUCCESS STORY: Sophomore Katrina Severin had perhaps the best meet of her career against Utah on March 14, and she followed that up with another strong showing at Pac-10s. Against Utah, she had career-highs on two events and came close to a third. She scored a 9.85 or better on all three of her events for the first time this year. She had a career-high 9.85 on vault, and her 9.875 on beam was also a personal best. Severin scored a 9.85 on floor for her best score of the year on the event, just missing her career-high of 9.90. Then, at Pac-10s, she scored a season-high 9.875 on floor and turned in a 9.85 on beam and 9.725 on vault. Prior to the Utah meet, she had been hampered by an ankle sprain for the previous five meets and had struggled on floor because of the injury. She averaged a 9.705 on floor in the first five meets of the season, but then sat out the event at the next two meets to rest her ankle. She has been back in the floor lineup at the last four meets. She struggled in her first routine after sitting out, when she scored a season-low 9.60 at Washington, but she seems to have gotten back in the swing of the things on floor after scoring a 9.875 at the Pac-10 Championships. She is averaging a 9.722 on the event.
BYCHOWKSI AMONG REGION'S TOP BAR PERFORMERS: Sophomore Stephanie Bychowski ranks eighth in the region on bars. She scored a career-high 9.925 to place third at the Pac-10 Championships on March 20, and she has seven other scores of 9.85 or better this season as well. She is averaging a 9.632 after having some falls early in the season. When she hits, though, she can count on a high score. In 10 meets this year, she has scored either a 9.85 or higher or a 9.225 or lower - there is no in-between. In addition to competing on bars in every meet, she has been in the beam lineup the last six meets. Her top score is a 9.775, which she scored against Utah on March 14.
RISS'S PIECES: Sophomore Marissa Bruch has been the Beavers' lead-off performer on floor all season, and she is averaging a 9.650 on the event. She has scored a 9.70 or better in six of 11 meets, highlighted by a career-high 9.825 at the last two meets (against Utah on March 14 and the Pac-10 Championships on March 20).
SONI'S STORY: Freshman Soni Meduna has been following Marisa Bruchs lead lately. Meduna has competed second on floor (just after Bruch), and she has scored a career-high 9.825 at the last two meets (Bruch has also scored a career-high of 9.825 at the last two meets). Medunas previous best was a 9.70 vs. California on February 12. The rookie has competed on floor in seven meets this season and is averaging a 9.536.
THE SCOOP ON SARA: Freshman Sara Carson has been primarily a vaulter for the Beavers this season. She has been in the vault lineup in nine of 11 meets, missing only the Utah meet and Pac-10s. Her best vault score is a 9.70, which she scored at Washington on Feb. 26. She has performed exhibtition routines on bars and beam but has not been in the official lineup in either event so far.
POOR ON FLOOR? NOT ANYMORE: The Beavers are a completely different team on floor compared to last year. Floor was the Beavers weakest event in 1998, when OSU averaged just 47.835, its lowest average of the four events. This season, the Beavers have improved that mark by nearly a point and are averaging a 48.748, their best average among the four events. Seven gymnasts have combined for 40 scores of 9.70 or higher for the season; last year, the Beavers had posted just 21 scores of 9.70 or better on floor entering the NCAA Regional meet. In fact, three Beavers are averaging better than 9.70 for the year. Jerra Lopez leads the team with a 9.775 average on floor, Megan Murphy-Barcroft is second on the team, and Katrina Severin is averaging a 9.722.
CHAPLIN NAMED PAC-10 COACH OF THE YEAR: Tanya Chaplin, in her second year at the helm of the Oregon State gymnastics program, was named Pacific-10 Coach of the Year in a vote by the conference coaches. Chaplins Beavers have posted a 13-6 record this season and finished second at the Pac-10 Championships, where OSU set a school record with a 197.400 score. In just under two years of coaching, her career record stands at 19-9 for the regular season and 31-15 overall. She served as an assistant coach at Washington for seven years before moving to Corvallis. Formerly Tanya Service, she was a six-time All-American and held six school records while competing for UCLA from 1986-89.
TISTU OUT FOR THE SEASON: Senior Bea Tistu tore the Achilles tendon in her left leg while warming up on floor at Arizona on Friday, January 15. She is out for the year.
