Gymnastics Hosts Annual Shanico Inn-vitational
March 3, 1999
THIS WEEK: The 13th-ranked Oregon State gymnastics team (4-5) begins a six-week home stretch when the Beavers host the annual Shanico Inn-vitational at 7 p.m., Friday, March 5. This year's field features the host Beavers, as well as Michigan State, Southeast Missouri and Seattle Pacific. The Beavers are home for the remainder of the season until the NCAA Championships at Utah from April 22-24.
OSU VS. THE SHANICO FIELD: OSU is 20-3 all-time against Seattle Pacific and 3-0 all-time against Michigan State. The Beavers have never faced Southeast Missouri in gymnastics. The last time OSU competed against MSU was in 1997, when the Beavers headed out to East Lansing. The Beavers defeated the Spartans, 194.375-193.025. Seattle Pacific was last in Corvallis for the 1998 Shanico Inn-vitational, where the Falcons placed fourth.
LAST WEEK: Oregon State scored a season-high 195.600 at Washington last Friday in OSU's most recent meet. That mark was the seventh best score in the program's history. The Beavers won or tied for first on three events as well as the all-around competition. Lara Degenhardt and Megan Murphy-Barcroft tied for first on vault with a 9.825 score, while Danae Phillips turned in a 9.95 to win bars. Murphy-Barcroft also scored a career-high 9.975 on beam to place first on that event, and her 39.475 all-around score tied for first place as well. OSU had season-high team scores on vault, bars and beam.
MURPHY-BARCROFT JOINS ELITE RANKS: Senior Megan Murphy-Barcroft finished with a career-best 39.475 all-around score to tie for first at Washington last week. That puts her in an elite group, joining seven-time All-American Chari Knight as the only Beaver to score that high in the all-around. Murphy-Barcroft set three other career-highs en route to the 39.475. She placed first on beam (9.975) and vault (9.825), with career-highs on both events. She also turned in a career-best 9.825 on bars. She scored a 9.85 on floor. Murphy-Barcroft ranks 22nd nationally as an all-arounder.
PHILLIPS CONTINUES TO SHINE ON BARS: Senior Danae Phillips scored a 9.95 on bars for the second time this season when she won the event at Washington last Friday. She is averaging an impressive 9.872 on bars and ranks sixth nationally on the event. Her 9.95 tied her career-high, which she set against California on Feb. 12. She has scored a 9.80 or better in every meet but the season opener, when she scored a 9.775 at Arizona. She has won or tied for first on bars in four meets this season.
DEGENHARDT RETURNS TO WINNING WAYS: Sophomore Lara Degenhardt won vault in both of Oregon State's meets last week. She tied her career-high with a 9.90 at Nebraska and scored a 9.825 to tie for first at Washington. Degenhardt is averaging a team-best 9.800 on vault and is tied for 10th nationally. In 20 meets at OSU, she has won vault 12 times (including five victories this season) and finished second five times. In addition to tying her career-high on vault at Nebraska, Degenhardt also set a new career best on bars with a 9.80 to tie for fourth place at NU. She tied for fifth place with a 9.80 on floor at the same meet.
TAYLOR QUIETLY MAKING HER MARK: Sophomore Annette Taylor may not have the victories to show for it, but she does have consistency on her side. Taylor boasts the Beavers' second-best averages on both bars and beam this season, with no falls on either event. She is averaging a 9.707 on beam, highlighted by a career-high 9.875 at Washington last week. Her average on bars is a 9.661 with a career high of 9.725, which she has scored six times, including twice this season. Taylor also tied her career-best score of 9.75 on floor at Nebraska on Feb. 22 and is averaging a 9.588 on the event. She has competed on bars and beam in seven of the eight meets this year, missing only the Boise State meet when she was out with an illness. Taylor has competed on floor in six meets.
LOOK OUT FOR LOPEZ: Freshman Jerra Lopez continues to shine on floor for Oregon State. The freshman scored a career-high 9.875 to lead the Beavers on floor at Washington and has now scored a 9.80 or higher on floor in the last seven meets. She is averaging a team-best 9.803 on the event, and she has placed first three times this year. She also competes on bars and beam with career-highs of 9.80 on both events.
BYCHOWKSI MOVES INTO NATIONAL RANKS: Sophomore Stephanie Bychowski has earned a spot in the Top 25 on bars for the first time this season after the rankings switched over to the RQS format. Bychowski is tied for 20th on the event. She scored a career-high 9.90 against California on Feb. 12, and she has three 9.85s and a 9.875 this year as well. In addition to competing on bars in every meet, she has been in the beam lineup the last three meets. Her top score is a 9.625, at Nebraska on Feb. 22.
RISS'S PIECES: Sophomore Marissa Bruch came through with two strong floor routines on the road last week. She registered a career-best 9.775 at Nebraska and follwed that up with a 9.75 at Washington. She has scored a 9.70 or better in four meets this season and is averaging a 9.606 on the event. She also performed an exhibition beam routine at UW and posted a season-best 9.325.
CARSON SCORES CAREER-HIGH: Freshman Sara Carson scored a career-high 9.70 on her vault at Washingon on Feb. 26, bettering her previous best of 9.675. Carson is averaging a 9.441 on vault. She performed an exhibition routine on bars for the first time this season at Washington. She scored a 9.425.
A LOOK AT SOUTHEAST MISSOURI: The Otahkians head into Corvallis with two weeks of rest after not competing since Feburary 21. The last time out, Southeast Missouri scored a 194.125 in a three-way meet, good for second place behind Illinois (194.300) but ahead of Missouri (193.375). Malia Roberts won two events for SEMO, with a 9.925 on bars and a 9.90 on floor, and she finished second in the all-around with a 39.125.
A LOOK AT MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans (11-7) took first place at the Fox Run Invitational in Durham, NH, on Sunday. MSU scored a 193.775 to defeat New Hampshire, Texas Womens and Ball State. Carolyn Hecht won the all-around with a 39.100, and Melissa Green and Polly Kiker tied for first with a 9.825 on floor. Elisabeth Forshier had a 9.875 on vault to win the event. Hecht is tied for 10th in the nation on beam and is tied for 13th as an all-arounder.
A LOOK AT SEATTLE PACIFIC: The Falcons (3-10) are coming off a 190.550-189.125 loss to Sacramento State last week. Georgianne Smith tied for first with a 9.75 on bars for Seattle Pacific's top score of the meet, and she was also third on beam (9.575). Lisa Smith placed second on vault (9.60), and Kim Carey was third on floor (9.675).
VAULTERS TURN IN SEASON-HIGH: Oregon State turned in a season-best 48.775 on vault at the Washington meet and also turned in a 48.75 at Nebraska, with the higher scores coming as the Beavers began performing more difficult vaults. Seniors Danae Phillips and Megan Murphy-Barcroft and sophomores Lara Degenhardt and Katrina Severin are all working on 10.0 value vaults. Degenhardt and Murphy-Barcroft tied for first place at Washington with 9.825 scores, a career-high for Murphy-Barcroft. OSU also got a season-high 9.75 from Corrie Young and a career-high 9.70 from Sara Carson. Severin scored a 9.675 for OSU's fifth score in the season-high performance. Degenhardt, who tied her career-high with a 9.90 vault at Nebraska, leads OSU with a 9.80 average this season, followed by Murphy-Barcrofts 9.722 average.
BEAVERS COME THROUGH ON THE ROAD: OSU tallied a 49.125 on bars at Washington for the team's best score of the year on that event. It also was the first time this season the Beavers did not have to count a fall on bars on the road. Prior to the meet at UW, the Beavers were averaging a mere 47.444 on bars on the road compared to 48.983 at home. Danae Phillips led the way with a career-high 9.95 at UW, followed by Stephanie Bychowski with a 9.875. Megan Murphy-Barcroft scored a career-best 9.825, and Lara Degenhardt added a 9.775. Annette Taylor contributed a 9.70 to the season-high effort. Prior to the UW meets, the Beavers had road woes on bars all year -- four Beavers fell on bars at Arizona, three at Boise State, two at Stanford and two at Nebraska. OSU has had just two slip-ups at Gill Coliseum and did not have to count either in the team score.
YOUNG MAINTAINS TEAM'S TOP AVERAGE: Junior Corrie Young had a rare fall on beam at Washington last week, when she scored a 9.350 after her first fall of the season. Despite the fall, she is still averaging a 9.714 on the event, for the team's best average on beam. Prior to the fall, she had won or tied for first in OSUs last three meets, including a career-high 9.85 at Nebraska. She also scored 9.80s in her two wins against Arizona State and California.
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 are averaging a 48.581, their best average among the four events. Seven gymnasts have combined for 26 scores of 9.70 or higher through eight meets this season; after eight meets last year, the Beavers had posted 16 scores of 9.70 or better on floor. Jerra Lopez leads the team with a 9.803 average on floor. Katrina Severin is second on the team with a 9.688 average and was back in action on floor against Washington after sitting out two meets to rest her ankles.
BEAVERS REBOUND FROM BEAM STRUGGLES: After scoring high 47's on beam for two meets in a row, OSU had a season-high of 48.775 at Nebraska on Feb. 22 and then bettered that mark with a 48.95 at Washington four days later. Megan Murphy-Barcroft just missed a perfect 10.0 when she scored a career-high 9.975 to place first at Washington. Annette Taylor also had a career-best mark when she placed third with a 9.875. Jerra Lopez chipped in a career-high 9.80, and Katrina Severin scored a 9.75 after falling in her previous two outings. Stephanie Bychowski added a 9.55 for OSUs other score. The Beavers are ranked 15th nationally on beam.
HEAD COACH TANYA CHAPLIN: Tanya Chaplin is in her second year at the helm of the Oregon State gymnastics program. Her regular season record stands at 15-9 in a year and a half worth of head coaching. She completed her first year as head coach at OSU with an 11-4 regular season record and went 18-9 including all post-season action. 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.
