Gymnastics Ties Up 2011 Season with Awards Banquet
May 4, 2011
CORVALLIS -
The Oregon State gymnastics team, which finished eighth at the NCAA Championships for the second straight year, tied up all the loose ends of the 2011 season with its annual season-end banquet Sunday evening. The event was conducted as an opportunity for the team and coaches to recognize and be recognized by family and boosters and to look back on the many accomplishments achieved in the 2011 season.
For the second year in a row, Stephanie McGregor was honored with the Joy Selig Award, an award that annually goes to the gymnast who most distinguishes herself academically and athletically and exemplifies courage and leadership, both on and off the competition floor. In addition to being a scholar in the classroom, the bioengineering major, is involved in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). The junior from Calgary, Alberta led off in the vault and uneven bars lineups throughout the season and established a career-high of 9.875 on the bars. Her solid performances, especially on the bars, helped her squad to finish the year ranked No. 1 in the nation on the apparatus helped set up three of her teammates for All-American honors.
Junior all-arounder Leslie Mak, the other half of the Beavers’ “Canadian Connection,” received Most Valuable Gymnast honors. Mak, from Toronto, Ontario, took a huge step forward for the Orange & Black earning the Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year Award. Mak, who has long been outstanding on three events, added vault to her repertoire in 2011 after not performing on the event for four years and set career-highs of 9.875 on vault, 9.95 on beam, and 39.525 in the all-around. She won 22 event titles during the season, which ties for sixth in OSU single season history, including the Pac-10 titles in the all-around and on the balance beam and tied for the Pac-10 title on the uneven bars. Mak finished the season by earning All-America First Team honors on beam and in the all-around.
McGregor was also recognized as the team’s Outstanding Scholar. Claiming the award for the third straight year, McGregor studies Bioengineering and studies within OSU’s Honors College. Last month, she received Pac-10 All-Academic first team honors for the second time in her career.
Brittany Harris, a freshman from Tulsa, Okla, received OSU’s Newcomer of the Year award. Harris was outstanding for the Beavers in 2011. Harris was a regular in the bars and beam lineups posting season-highs of 9.875 and 9.90 respectively. But perhaps it was Harris’ versatility that proved most valuable to the Beavers. Harris was called upon several times to fill lineup slots on vault and floor exercise where she showed vast improvement as the season wore on exhibiting glimpses into the future. Harris set personal-highs of 9.875 on vault and floor and scored 39.375 in the all-around. The 2011 season was certainly a good start to her career but she could easily slide into the all-around on a regular basis in the years to come.
Senior Becky Colvin was chosen for the team’s Most Inspirational Award, an award voted on by her teammates. Colvin, a team co-captain, has battled through injuries throughout her career but once again posted a strong season earning All-Pac-10 Second Team honors on the vault for the second straight year. She set a season-high of 9.90 on the vault in 2011 and had a career-best of 9.925 in 2010.
Oregon State coaches, families and boosters concluded the festivities by saying good-bye to two seniors, who have finished their gymnastics careers at OSU. The seniors are: Colvin and Jen Kesler, a three-time All-American on the bars. In 2011, Kesler finished second at the NCAA Championships on the bars earning first team All-America honors for the first time in her career.
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