OSU Comes Up Short in Super Six Bid
Athens, Ga. – The Oregon State gymnastics team travelled to Georgia this week with high hopes and visions of reaching the Super Six, but the Beavers came up short scoring 195.475. Three gymnasts earned All-American honors as OSU finished sixth in the first session of the team preliminaries on Thursday afternoon.
For OSU, the season ends with a record of 22-9 on the season and a second straight sixth place finish in their session of the team preliminaries.
The Beavers achieving All-American status are on vault (first team), on bars (second team) and on beam (second team). Lamb has qualified for Individual Finals Saturday night on the vault.
The Beavers, who opened the meet on the floor exercise, faltered early. Following a season-high 9.725 by OSU’s first competitor, sophomore , the Beavers suffered a pair of uncharacteristic out-of-bounds deductions by juniors and . and Lanz led the Beavs with scores of 9.85 and 9.825 respectively. Despite posting its lowest floor score since early February (2/10 at California), the Beavers settled into a tie for second with Alabama, behind Arkansas (49.125 on bars) and ahead of Oklahoma (48.775) with Florida and LSU on bye.
Moving immediately to vault, the Beavers sought to close the gap on the GymBacks. Lamb, a senior seeking her first career All-America honor, nailed a beautiful Yurchenko with a half-twist to score 9.875, the highest vault score of the meet to that point. Lanz quickly followed with an excellent vault to score 9.825 but when Smith’s knees touched down breaking the momentum. Rodriguez, Beavs’ other returning All-American on vault, finished the event for OSU but landed a tad off-balance to score 9.8.
Following a bye rotation, Oregon State returned to the arena in sixth place trailing third place Alabama by .575. The Beavers quickly went to work on the uneven bars with six solid performances. Bolen led off for the Orange & Black with a score of 9.775 and followed with an excellent routine and a score of 9.8. Chong continued in the progression of scores with a 9.825 and Rodriguez added a 9.8 after a step on the dismount. Lanz continued the comeback effort for the Beavers with an outstanding performance and a score of 9.825. Kesler, anchoring the bars team, came through with a 9.9. When all was said and done, the Beavers had caught Arkansas for the first time on the day and had closed the gap on Oklahoma by two-tenths.
Ending the day on the balance beam, Oregon State was presented a challenge needing a stellar performance on an apparatus that was judged tightly throughout the day. Lamb started things with a steady performance and a score of 9.725. Following a fall, Chong corrected the Beavers’ course with a 9.7 and Smith followed with a 9.8 but it was too little, too late. had a brilliant routine going before a couple checks and wobbles left her with a score of 9.7. Lanz finished the scoring for the Beavers with an outstanding routine that drew a low score of 9.825.
Oregon State Notes
This is the third straight season that OSU has reached the NCAA Championships and 19th overall.
Team Scores: Florida 196.900; Alabama 196.650; LSU 196.575; Oklahoma 196.075; Arkansas 195.825; Oregon State 195.475
All-Around: 1. Melanie Sinclair (Florida) 39.525; 2. Susan Jackson (LSU) 39.500; T3. Ashley Reed (Florida), Amanda Castillo (Florida) 39.425.
Vault: T1. Kayla Hoffman (Alabama), Michelle Stout (Arkansas) 9.900; T3. (OSU), Susan Jackson (LSU) 9.875. Other OSU Scores (48.725): 9.825; 9.800; 9.625; 9.600; 9.450.
Bars: T1. Melanie Sinclair (Florida), Ashleigh Clare-Kearney (LSU) 9.950; T3. Summer Hubbard (LSU), Kassi Price (Alabama) 9.925. OSU Scores (49.150): 9.900; 9.825; 9.825; 9.800; 9.800; 9.775.
Beam: 1. Emily Parsons (Nebraska) 9.875; T2. Ashley Reed (Florida), Melanie Sinclair (Florida), Brandi Personett (Penn State), Susan Jackson (LSU) 9.850. OSU Scores (48.750): 9.825; 9.800; 9.725; 9.700; 9.700; 9.150.
Floor: T1. Morgan Dennis (Alabama), Corey Hartung (Florida), Amanda Castillo (Florida) 9.925. OSU Scores (48.850): 9.850; 9.825; 9.775; 9.725; 9.675; 9.625.
