Droegemueller Wins Bars at NCAA West Qualifier
SEATTLE, Wash. -- Senior All-American Deanne Droegemueller scored a 9.975 on bars to place first on the event at the NCAA West Regional to advance to the NCAA Championship, but Oregon State failed to qualify as a team for the second year in a row.
The Beavers scored a 193.250 to finish fifth at the meet. Washington placed first with a 196.150, while UCLA finished second with a 195.100. Stanford was third, and Boise State was fourth. Washington automatically advanced to the NCAA Championship, while UCLA will likely get in as an at-large team, although it will not know officially until Monday.
Droegemueller's 9.975 tied her career high, set two weeks ago when she won the event at the Pac-10 Championship on March 21. Already an All-American on beam, Droegemueller will look to become an All-American on bars on April 16 at the NCAA meet in Los Angeles.
Droegemueller's score was OSU's top mark of the night, followed by senior Amy Slack's 9.95 on bars just missed first place. She finished second only to Droegemueller, while freshman Stephanie Bychowski scored a 9.825 to place 10th.
The impressive bar performance capped off a meet filled with ups and downs. The Beavers started off with their second best score of the year on beam, but then followed that up with a floor rotation that saw no Beavers hit their routines.
Oregon State started off with a 48.950 on beam, led by junior Megan Murphy's 9.875 third-place routine. Junior Bea Tistu (9.825) and senior Deanne Droegemueller (9.80) also turned in strong showings on beam.
"It was incredible to start off like that at regionals," said head coach Tanya Chaplin. "We just didn't do our job on floor."
On floor, the Beavers struggled to a 46.750 for their third lowest score of the year on that event. Sophomore Corrie Young came away with the team's highest mark at 9.60. Murphy scored a 9.575 but no other Beavers scored above a 9.225 as every gymnast either stumbled or fell on at least one of their tumbling passes.
Freshman Lara Degenhardt vaulted to a team best 9.80, while Young put together a 9.75 vault on OSU's third event. In all, the Beavers scored a 48.375 on the rotation.
Murphy scored a 38.800 all-around and will have to wait to see if her score will allow her to travel to UCLA as an at-large competitor. She finished seventh at regionals, although four of the six gymnasts ahead of her were from Washington and UCLA. Two Boise State gymnasts also finished ahead of her. The top 12 all-arounders from across the country whose teams did not advance will earn spots at the NCAA Championships.
While the Beavers ended their season as a team, Chaplin was pleased with the way the Beavers kept together and finished the meet on a positive.
"They came back stronger than ever (after floor), and that's the true test of what this team is all about," said Chaplin. "These guys have worked so hard for this. We wanted it for everyone, but especially the seniors."
