Beavers Sign Portland Gymnast
April 20, 2000
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Elaine Yoder has signed a letter of intent to attend Oregon State University and compete for the gymnastics team, coach Tanya Chaplin announced Thursday.
Yoder, an all-arounder from Portland (Wilson HS), recently placed second on beam, floor and all-around at the 2000 USAG Region 2 Level 10 competition to earn to a spot at the upcoming Junior Olympic Level 10 Championships.
"It has been a joy to recruit Elaine. She has incredible enthusiasm for the sport of gymnastics and for Oregon State University, two ingredients that I think are going to make her very successful here at OSU," Chaplin said. "Our coaching staff feels that her gymnastics ability is still untapped, and we are expecting big things from Elaine on all four events during her career."
The 5-3 Yoder trains at Creative Gymnastics under coach Dimitri Bilozertchev, a two-time Olympic gold medalist for the former Soviet Union. In addition to Yoder's three second-place finishes at the 2000 regional competition, she won the floor exercise title at this year's Level 10 state championhip meet.
She has qualified for the Junior Olympic Level 10 meet the past two years, also earning a trip in 1999.
OSU GYMNASTICS SIGNEE
Elaine Yoder, 5-3, all-arounder, Portland, Ore. (Wilson HS/Creative Gymnastics)
