2003 Gymnastics Season Recap
April 22, 2003
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Even though the Oregon State gymnastics team missed qualifying for a fourth-consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships by the narrowest of margins, the 2003 Beavers still had plenty of success this season.
Seven of the 11 gymnasts who competed this year won at least one individual title, with the most notable being the perfect performances on display at the Pacific-10 Championships when two Beavers won Pac-10 titles. Senior All-American Elizabeth Jillson added to an already impressive resume with her first career 10.0 to claim a share of the conference title on bars. Freshman Chrissy Lamun looked like a seasoned veteran on floor exercise, also scoring a 10.0 to tie for the Pac-10 title on that event. Jillson, who placed in the top five on bars at the 2001 and 2002 Pac-10 meets, became the fourth Beaver to score a 10.0 on bars and the fifth to win a Pac-10 title on the event. Lamun is the third Beaver to score a 10.0 on floor and the first OSU freshman to score a 10.0 on any event. She was the fifth OSU gymnast to win a Pac-10 title on floor and the second OSU freshman to win a conference title on any event. Both Jillson and Lamun were named to the Pac-10 All-Conference Team as well, with the team being determined by a combination of regular season and Pac-10 Championship performances.
Two other Beavers also received Pac-10 Conference honors during the season, with all-arounders Lindsay Nelson and Tanya Ricioli combining to earn Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week recognition three times in 2003. Ricioli started off the honors upon leading the Beavers to an upset of No. 1 UCLA on January 24. Her floor score of 9.875 clinched the win on the final routine of the night. She captured her second Gymnast of the Week honor for her role in the March 7 meet against Denver and Seattle Pacific, in which she captured four first-place finishes. She had a career-high 39.575 to win the all-around, and she also placed first on bars, beam and floor.
It was Nelson's turn to shine on February 21 as she led the Beavers to an upset of No. 3 Utah, earning her own Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week honors. She won the all-around title with a career-high 39.575 and had a pair of 9.925 on vault and bars in that meet to become only the second Beaver to score a 9.90 on all four events at least once in her career.
Nelson's 9.925 on bars against the Utes also helped OSU set a school-record 49.500 as a team in that meet. Jillson led the way by tying her then-career-high of 9.95, while Heidi Goehring, Meghan Jones, and Lamun also had personal-bests of 9.875.
The record didn't stand for long, though, as the team broke it a little over a month later at the Pac-10 Championships. Led by Jillson's 10.0, the Beavers posted a 49.525 at the conference meet. Lamun and Th?r?se Videan had career-highs of 9.90, and Ricioli (9.875) and Nelson (9.85) also counted their scores in the record-setting rotation.
Dick Foxal, who coached the bars team, and vault coach Michael Chaplin were named NCAA West Region Assistant Coaches of the Year, and it's easy to see why. Foxal's bars team was ranked as high as seventh in the nation during the regular season, scoring a 49-plus in 10 of the 13 meets. Chaplin's vault team was significantly improved from last season. Six different Beavers competed a 10.0-valued vault at least once in 2003, and five vaulters scored a 9.90 at least once this season. The Beavers were ranked among the nation's top 15 on the event and reached the 49.0 mark nine times this season after doing so just twice in 2002.
From the start, the team knew it had the potential to be one of the best Oregon State has had.
The Beavers started the year off in Hawaii, where OSU trained with No. 1 UCLA for several days before officially opening the season with a January 2 dual meet. While the Bruins won the meet, the result was a sign of good things to come. OSU's score of 195.675 set a school record for a season opening meet. Ricioli's 39.525 all-around score also set an OSU record for a season opener.
After leaving the warm sun of Hawaii, the Beavers had to face cold weather back east, where OSU competed with Auburn and host Michigan State. Not only did the Beavers come from behind to beat both teams, but OSU hit 24-for-24 for the first time since 1996 in the process. Ricioli won the all-around and bars title, while Nelson took top honors on vault.
Next up was a trip to desert, where the Beavers counted three falls in a loss to Arizona. Individually, Angela Morales had a successful return home, as the rookie won the vault title with a 9.90 in front of her hometown crowd. Nelson (bars) and Lamun (floor) also captured first-place honors.
OSU finally had a chance to compete at home on January 24, and the Beavers rebounded from the Arizona meet in a big way in a rematch with top-ranked UCLA. The Beavers did not have to count a fall, while the Bruins saw the meet slip away with several falls on beam as OSU walked away with a 195.775-195.475 upset of the nation's No. 1 team.
It was off to Stanford the next week, and the Beavers scored a season-high 196.275 to defeat San Jose State and Seattle Pacific despite losing to the Cardinal. Highlighted by individual wins from Lamun (floor) and Ricioli (floor and all-around), it was the first time the Beavers had ever scored a 196 in a meet held in January. In fact, prior to the 2003 season, OSU had scored a 195 only twice in January, but the Beavers topped the 195 mark in four of its five January meets in 2003.
After competing on the road in four of their first five meets, OSU finally had a three-week homestand in store.
First up was No. 6 Arizona State. Five Beavers captured individual titles as OSU went on to post a 196.375-195.750 win over the Sun Devils. Jillson won her first bars title of the year, while Heather Justus took first on vault for her first career win on any event. Ricioli placed first on beam, and Morales and Lamun tied for first on floor.
A week later, OSU posted what was the fourth best score in school history at the time - a 197.025 - to defeat Cal on Valentine's Day. The Beavers went 23-for-24, hitting everything but one floor routine, and counted only one score below 9.80 in the team totals. Ricioli won the floor and all-around titles, and she tied Elaine Yoder for top honors on beam. Jillson tied her career-high of 9.95 on bars to win the event for the second week in a row.
OSU's next competition was with No. 3 Utah, and that task appeared to get more difficult when the team learned just hours before the meet that Ricioli was sick and would not compete. The Beavers didn't let the news affect them, though. Led by Nelson's award-winning 39.575 performance, the team hit 23 of 24 routines for the second week in a row while Utah had three falls on beam as OSU came out ahead, 196.900-196.325. In addition to Nelson's all-around title, the Beavers got a first-place performance out of Jillson, who had a 9.95 for the second consecutive week to win the event for the third straight meet.
It was back on the road again the next week, with the Beavers taking a drive up I-5 to compete at Washington. The Huskies won the four-way meet, but OSU had a season-high road score of 196.475 to defeat Boise State and Sacramento State. Nelson's 49.475 gave her the all-around title for the second week in a row.
After a brief trip north to Washington, OSU hosted the annual Shanico/Days Inn-vitational, with Denver and Seattle Pacific in town for OSU's final home meet. OSU won the meet with a season-best 197.050 to go undefeated at 6-0 in Gill Coliseum for 2003. In addition to Ricioli's four wins, two other Beavers had first-place routines. Jillson's 9.90 on bars tied Ricioli for first as the senior finished out her home career with a win in her final home meet, and Morales made it a Beaver sweep of event titles after placing first on vault.
The Beavers closed out the regular season with a dual meet at Brigham Young on March 15. Lamun had a 9.95 to place first on floor, and Jones, Morales and Videan all had career-highs of 9.90 on vault, but aside from those performances, there were few highlights from the meet. OSU had to count three falls en route to a 195.325 - its second-lowest score of the year.
The team had the following week off from competition, giving the Beavers some time to bounce back before the Pac-10 Championships. OSU headed to UCLA ready to contend for the conference title, but two falls on beam in the first rotation put the Beavers out of contention for the team title. Still, the Beavers refocused and came back to post season-highs on their three remaining events and ended up with two individual champions in Jillson and Lamun. Even with counting a fall, OSU finished with a 196.750, good for fifth place and the team's best road score of the year.
Upon returning to Corvallis, the Beavers learned they'd be traveling to Columbia, Mo., for the NCAA South Central Regional Championships with a trip to the NCAA Championships on the line. OSU did all it could at regionals, not counting a fall after hitting 23-for-24 to score a 195.850. Ending on a bye, though, meant the Beavers had to wait to see if their score would hold up for second place as Iowa finished out the meet on floor. In the end, the Hawkeyes narrowly edged the Beavers by .025 to leave OSU in third place. While the Beavers didn't advance to nationals, OSU did have several strong performances at regionals. Nelson had a 9.90 on bars to place third, and she was sixth in the all-around. Ricioli's 9.90 on floor was good for a fourth-place tie, and Lamun tied for fifth on beam with a 9.85.
The overall regional outcome was disappointing, but the team is already looking ahead to next year, which could be an even more successful one for the Beavers. The team loses only one routine from this year's lineup, with Jillson being the only senior on the team. While losing an All-American is never easy, the Beavers need to replace only Jillson's bar routine. That doesn't mean the rest of this year's lineup will be the one OSU uses next year. In addition to returning 23 of 24 routines from regionals, the Beavers gain eight potential routines to throw in the mix for lineup spots next season. Annie Campbell, who was the team's top all-arounder in 2002, will be back next year after redshirting this season while recovering from an achilles tendon tear that sidelined her the week before the 2002 NCAA Championships. In addition to Campbell, the Beavers also will gain incoming freshman Chelsea Plourde, a former elite gymnast who could make an impact on several events as a rookie.
