Rodriguez, Smith, Lanz Earn All-American Honors; Two Qualify for Individual Finals

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The eighth-ranked Oregon State gymnastics team came up short in its quest for a Super Six berth, but sophomore Tasha Smith and freshman Mandi Rodriguez attained their individual goals of qualifying for individual finals at the NCAA Championships at the Utah’s Jon M. Huntsman Center Thursday afternoon.

“We were better prepared for this meet than last season,” said head coach Tanya Chaplin. “But at this meet you have to do more than just make your routines. You need to really impress the judges.”

Along with qualifying for individual finals, Smith and Rodriguez earned first team All-American status. In addition, Jami Lanz finished as a second team All-American.

Georgia, ranked second in the nation entering the competition, took first with a score of 197.600, while No. 1 Florida finished just behind with a score of 197.400. Joining the Bulldogs and Gators in the Super Six was No. 6 Nebraska (196.625). No. 10 Oklahoma finished fourth (196.250) and No. 3 Alabama were fifth (196.125). The Beavers finished sixth with a final score of 195.100.

Needing to get off to a strong start to give themselves momentum in the early going, OSU got exactly what it needed as the Beavers’ vault team showed calm and poise as the only team in the first rotation to “hit” all six of its routines. Brooke Barclay set a career-high (9.825) on OSU’s first vault to get the Beavs started before steps on landings for the next three vaulters cost the Beavers a couple tenths of a point. Smith and Rodriguez wrapped up the rotation with “sticks” and a pair of 9.900s. Oregon State finished the rotation in second place with a score of 49.150.

“I want them to compete on all of the events the way they came out and performed on vault,” said Chaplin. “It was exciting to see them nail those vaults. We need to do that everywhere. We had some upgrades (in skills) and hit those. But we had some stumbles by some of our most consistent performers. You have to build your scores and when there is a stumble in the middle it stops that momentum and every tenth of a point counts at this level.”

Oregon State was unable to capitalize on its strong start and following a bye, the Beavers struggled mightily on the uneven bars including a fall and only one score above 9.700 on the event when Lanz led “hit” for a score of 9.850. As a team the Beavers could muster just 48.525 reached the halfway point with lots of ground to make up and in sixth place.

The Beavers moved immediately to the balance beam where the jitters from the previous apparatus followed. Smith again led the Beavers with a score of 9.850 and Barclay, who had her best meet to date, added a solid 9.800 to the scoring column. However wobbles and a fall left OSU with a team score of 48.675.

Following their second bye, OSU came out with nothing to lose and seemed to regain their spark. But another fall and an out-of-bounds penalty took its toll on the Beavers team score (48.750). As usual, Smith delighted the crowd as OSU’s floor anchor but came up just short of individual finals with a score of 9.875.

“I’ve watched this team grow and they are a much stronger team than last year. We’re already excited for next year with everybody returning and the addition of a couple incredible freshmen coming in. We’re ready to get back to the gym and start making the corrections and improvements we’ll need next year.”

Smith and Rodriguez compete again Friday at 7 p.m. in the individual finals session with the chance to become national champions on the vault.

Team Results

1) Georgia 197.600

2) Florida 197.400

3) Nebraska 196.625

4) Oklahoma 196.250

5) Alabama 196.125

6) Oregon State 195.100

VAULT Results

1) Courtney Kupets (Georgia) 9.950, Emily Parsons (Nebraska) 9.950

2) Savannah Evans (Florida) 9.900, Amanda Castillo (Florida) 9.900, Megan Dowlen (Georgia) 9.900, Marcia Newby (Georgia) 9.900, Tiffany Tolnay (Georgia) 9.900, Michele Zabawa (Nebraska) 9.900, Brittney Koncak-Schumann (Oklahoma) 9.900, Kiara Redmond (Oklahoma) 9.900, Tasha Smith (Oregon State) 9.900, Mandi Rodriguez (Oregon State) 9.900

BARS Results

1) Courtney Kupets (Georgia) 9.950

2) Melanie Sinclair (Florida) 9.925

3) Terin Humphrey (Alabama) 9.900, Katie Heenan (Georgia) 9.900

BEAM Results

1) Corey Hartung (Florida) 9.925

2) Melanie Sinclair (Florida) 9.900, Amanda Castillo (Florida) 9.900, Terin Humphrey (Alabama) 9.900, Grace Taylor (Georgia) 9.900, Courtney Kupets (Georgia) 9.900, Tricia Woo (Nebraska) 9.900

FLOOR Results

1) Courtney Kupets (Georgia) 9.950

2) Savannah Evans (Florida) 9.900, Ashley Reed (Florida) 9.900, Corey Hartung (Florida) 9.900, Morgan Dennis (Alabama), Tiffany Tolnay (Georgia) 9.900, Emily Parsons (Nebraska) 9.900, Kiara Redmond (Oklahoma) 9.900

All-Around Results

1) Courtney Kupets (Georgia) 39.750

2) Amanda Castillo (Florida) 39.550

3) Tiffany Tolnay (Georgia) 39.500

OSU: VAULT: 49.150, BARS: 48.525, BEAM: 48.675, FLOOR: 48.750

VAULT: Tasha Smith 9.900, Mandi Rodriguez 9.900, Brooke Barclay 9.825*, Jami Lanz 9.775, Yuki Lamb 9.750, Megan Devencenzi 9.725

BARS: Jami Lanz 9.850, D’Anna Piro 9.700, Keegan Fitzgerald 9.675, Laura-Ann Chong 9.650, Mandi Rodriguez 9.650, Tasha Smith 8.850

BEAM: Tasha Smith 9.850, Brooke Barclay 9.800, Courtney Dennison 9.750, Laura-Ann Chong 9.675, Mandi Rodriguez 9.600, Jami Lanz 9.250

FLOOR: Tasha Smith 9.875, Mandi Rodriguez 9.800; Kera Bolen 9.775, Megan Devencenzi 9.750, Jami Lanz 9.550, Yuki Lamb 9.175

All-Around: Mandi Rodriguez 38.950, Tasha Smith 38.475, Jami Lanz 38.425

* Personal Record