Beavers Set to Cross the Country (again) in Pursuit of Super Six
April 16, 2012
THE MEET
The Oregon State gymnastics team (20-5-1) concludes the 2012 season, April 20-22, at the NCAA Championships at Duluth, Ga. hosted by the Gwinnett Center and Georgia Tech ... The meet will be held at the Arena at the Gwinnett Center ... Competition begins Friday with the semifinal rounds of team competition; Oregon State is the fifth seed in the evening session beginning at 6 p.m. ET. The top three finishers in each session moves on. ... The excitement continues Saturday with the Super Six team finals and concludes Sunday with the Individual Event Finals ... This is the 23rd trip to the NCAA Championships for Oregon State and 26th national championships appearance (including AIAW) ... The Beavers’ trip to Duluth marks the seventh straight appearance at the NCAA Championships ... Oregon State will be vying for its third-ever Super Six appearance and first since 1996.
MEDIA
The 2012 NCAA Championships will be televised by ESPNU via tape delay Wednesday, May 2 at 5:30 p.m. PT ... The talent will be Kathy Johnson-Clarke (play-by-play) with Bart Conner and Suzanne Yoculan providing analysis ... Saturday’s Super Six and Sunday’s Individual Event Finals will have live video at ESPN3, which is ESPN’s live multi-screen network, a 24/7 destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually and accessible online via WatchESPN.com ... Live stats and a live webcast of the entire competition will be available at www.NCAA.com ... As always, fans are also encouraged to follow the Beavers via Twitter - @OregonStateGym.
FOLLOWING THE BEAVERS
The Beavers have their own Facebook (OregonStateGymnastics), YouTube channel (osgym) and Twitter feed (@OregonStateGym) which are frequently updated with all of the latest news and happenings surrounding the squad.
ROTATION ORDER
For the second meet in a row Oregon State begins the meet on a bye before the floor exercise. OSU will follow fourth-seeded Arkansas all evening while second-seeded Alabama will follow the Beavers. This rotation draw means the Beavers will finish the meet on the balance beam while Ohio State will be on the vault, Alabama on the uneven bars and Florida on the floor exercise. Georgia and Arkansas will finish on a bye. See the table on page 1 for more details.
LAST TIME ON THE COMPETITION FLOOR
The second-seed of the Auburn Regional, Oregon State survived the regional round of competition to qualify for its seventh straight berth at the NCAA Championships. OSU used a strong performance on the uneven bars (fourth rotation) to squeeze past Michigan and held on in the final rotation on the balance beam holding off the Wolverines and, host, Auburn for second place, 196.450-196.325-196.100. Senior Leslie Mak scored 9.925 to win the beam title in the final routine of the meet to send the Beavers back to nationals. Mak and fellow senior Olivia Vivian tied for the regional title on the bars with scores 9.90. Mak finished tied for second in the all-around (39.425) while Melanie Jones (39.275), Brittany Harris (39.150) and Makayla Stambaugh (39.125) each joined her on the plus-side of the 39-point mark for the fourth time this season.
LAST YEAR AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
In 2011, Oregon State had a solid, but not spectacular, performance at the NCAA Championships. The Beavers posted the meet’s highest score as a bars lineup (49.400). But the Beavers finished fifth in the session with just one-tenth of a point separating them from an elusive trip to the Super Six. Leslie Mak had an excellent meet scoring 39.350 in the all-around to tie for third. Jen Kesler tallied a season-high 9.90 on the bars to tie teammates Makayla Stambaugh, Olivia Vivian and three others for first on the event to advance to the Individual Event Finals. Then-freshman Brittany Harris and then-sophomore Kelsi Blalock (who was practically a freshman after missing most of her first year due to injury) performed well in their first meets on the a podium with each hitting all three of their routines. Blalock just missed becoming an All-American on the vault with a team-leading 9.875 while Harris tallied her biggest score of 9.85 on the bars. Stambaugh posted a pair of 9.90’s on bars and floor to advance to compete in Event Finals ... Four gymnasts - Kesler, Mak, Stambaugh and Vivian - reached Individual Event Finals, the most for OSU since four accomplished the feat in 1994. Kesler finished second on the bars, Stambaugh was third and Vivian sixth on the event. Stambaugh added an eighth place finish on the floor and Mak was 10th on the beam.
RETURNING TO NATIONALS
Oregon State once again returns an experienced group to the NCAA Championships. Six current OSU gymnasts competed at Cleveland, Ohio in 2011 competing 19 out of 24 routines. It should be noted that Stephanie McGregor who performed on vault and bars in Cleveland is out for the season due to injury. It should also be noted that junior all-arounder Melanie Jones missed the 2011 championships after suffering a calf injury during warm-ups ... In addition, five gymnasts were also in the competitive lineup at the 2010 championships meet at Gainesville, Fla. making up 13 routines ... Further, Leslie Mak performed three events (and McGregor vaulted) as a freshman at the 2010 championships in Lincoln, Neb.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
OSU returns three gymnasts who have combined for six All-America honors. Makayla Stambaugh has earned first team All-American recognition on the floor exercise in each of her two previous NCAA Championships appearances (12th in 2010 & 8th in 2011) and earned first team honors on the bars in 2011, finishing third at Individual Event Finals. Leslie Mak is a two-time first team All-American after earning honors in the all-around and on beam (10th) in 2011. Olivia Vivian earned All-America recognition for the first time in 2011 and finished sixth on the uneven bars.
IN THE RANKINGS
All four of Oregon State’s lineups finished the regular season ranked among the best in the NCAA. The Beavers are ranked 15th on vault (49.135 RQS), tied for No. 7 on the uneven bars (49.235), No. 6 on the balance beam (49.200) and No. 8 on the floor exercise (49.265). In addition, several OSU gymnasts are ranked among the top 25 in the nation: Leslie Mak is tied for No. 1 on the beam (9.930), tied for No. 16 on the bars (9.885) and is tied for No. 13 in the all-around (39.400); Makayla Stambaugh is tied for No. 15 in the all-around (39.390), tied for No. 9 on the floor (9.905) and is tied for No. 16 on the bars (9.885). Melanie Jones is tied for No. 13 on the floor (9.900) and is No. 23 on the beam (9.870); Olivia Vivian is tied for No. 9 on the bars (9.895); and Kelsi Blalock is tied for No. 20 on the vault (9.905).
BEAM QUEEN
For the second year in a row, Leslie Mak was ranked tied for No. 1 in the nation on the balance beam as the regular season closed (and the final set of national rankings were released). This is the third time this season Mak has been ranked in teh top spot, although she is currently tied with Megan Ferguson of Oklahoma, with a regional qualifying score of 9.930 ... in 2011, Mak spent five weeks ranked No. 1 in the country.
PAC-12 GYMNAST OF THE YEAR
Following the Pac-12 Championship meet Leslie Mak was announced as the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year. After earning Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year honors in 2011, Mak is the first gymnast in conference history to earn the honor in consecutive years. The award is determined by a vote of the conference’s head coaches. Mak, who was an outstanding three event athlete for the Beavers in her first two years in the prograym, added vault to her arsenal in 2011 and has performed in the all-around in all 25 meets the last two seasons. During that time Mak has “hit” 99 out of 101 routines, including 47 out of 48 this season. mak has won 20 individual titles in 2012 - ranking ninth in OSU single season history - and 53 in her career - ranking fourth in OSU history in wins ... Mak is the second gymnast in school history to earn Gymnast of the Year honors twice joining Chari Knight (1992 & ‘94) ... Three other gymnasts in conference history - all from UCLA - have earned two GOY honors (not in consecutive seasons) including OSU head coach Tanya (Service) Chaplin (1987 & ‘89), Jill Andrews (1988 & ‘90) and Leah Homma (1995 & ‘97).
ALL-PAC-12 TEAM
Six Oregon State gymnasts were part of the All-Pac-12 team when the awards were announced recently. OSU’s all-conference gymnasts are Kelsi Blalock, Brittany Harris, Melanie Jones, Leslie Mak, Makayla Stambaugh and Olivia Vivian ... OSU gymnasts earned three out of six all-around spots on the first team with Jones, Mak and Stambaugh each getting the nod. It is the first all-conference award for Jones, while Mak earned first team in the all-around for the second straight year after earning first team All-Pac-10 on beam in 2010 and on bars in 2009. It was Stambaugh’s first all-around award after receiving first team recognition on the floor the two previoius years and first team on bars in 2011. Vivian earned first team on bars for the second year in a row and also was recognized on beam last year. Blalock earned second team honors on the vault - she previously earned first team on the event in 2011. Harris garnered second team all-conference on the bars, it is her first all-conference award.
ALL-ACADEMIC
Leslie Mak and Olivia Vivian were recognized for their work in the classroom when the Pac-12 All-Academic team was announced last week. Mak received second team status for the third straight year. Vivian, who was recognized for the third time as well, was named honorable mention.
MAK A FINALIST FOR AAI AWARD
OSU senior Leslie Mak has been named one of six finalists for the AAI Award as announced by American Athletic, Inc. ... the AAI Award recognizes the most outstanding senior female gymnast in the country and is voted on by every NCAA head coach ... The field has been narrowed to six finalists including: Mak, Kat Ding of Georgia, Megan Ferguson of Oklahoma, Amy Glass of Boise State, Jaime Pisani of Arkansas and Geralen Stack-Eaton of Alabama ... the award will be presented at the national championships banquet Thursday evening, April 19.
PAC-12 HONORS OSU GYMNASTS
Oregon State gymnasts garnered “best of the week” statu six times in 2012. Leslie Mak earned Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week awards twice and Makayla Stambaugh once, while Mak twice earned Pac-12 Special Performance of the Week honors and Melanie Jones once ... Mak, who ultimately became the first athlete in conference history to repeat as Gymnast of the Year in consecutive years, earned GOW (Jan. 9-15) following the Beavers’ season opening upset of then-No. 4 Oklahoma after scoring 39.400 in the all-around ... Mak added SPOW (Jan. 16-22) honors the following week after tying her career-high of 9.95 on the beam in a win at then-No. 13 Arizona ... Mak received her second GOW award (Feb. 6-12) of the season after she added a second 9.95 on beam and scored 39.675 in the all-around - the second-highest score in OSU history - in a tri-meet at UC Davis. In addition, Jones received the first SPOW (Feb. 6-12) of her career for scoring a career-high 9.95, including a 10.0 from one judge, on the floor exercise ... Stambaugh received her only GOW of the season (Feb. 13-19), and the third of her career, following OSU’s Pink Out. Stambaugh led the Beavers scoring 39.425, including a 9.925 in the meet’s final routine on the floor to secure a tie against then-No. 7 UCLA ... Mak tied her career-high for the third time this season scoring 9.95, including a perfect 10.0 from one judge, on the beam against UCLA to hear her second SPOW (Feb. 13-19) of the season, and the fifth of her career.
INDISPENSABLES
In 2012, six Oregon State gymnasts - Kelsi Blalock, Brittany Harris, Melanie Jones, Leslie Mak, Makayla Stambaugh and Olivia Vivian - have carried the weight of performing multiple events all season. Mak and Harris have each performed in the all-around in all 12 meets, while Stambaugh has gone all-around 11 times and Jones joined the all-around crew seven meets ago. Blalock (who has performed in the all-around once this year) and Vivian are fixtures in three lineups. Overall, that combination of gymnasts have performed 254 out of OSU’s 287 routines this season or 88.5% of the team’s production. Perhaps more amazing is that they have “hit” 239 of those routines for a “hit” rate of 94%.
WEEBLES WOBBLE BUT THEY DON’T FALL DOWN
The Oregon State gymnasts have been mentally tough this season overcoming adversity whenever the need has arisen. The Beavers have counted a fall only once in 2012, 13 weeks ago at Arizona (Jan. 20) when they had two falls on the balance beam and two other less than stellar routines. Despite the struggles early in that lineup veterans Olivia Vivian and Leslie Mak recovered to preserve the road win. Vivian “hit” her routine immediately following back-to-back falls to set up Mak for one of her best routines of the year which netted a score of 9.95.
MAK AND “MACK” ATTACK IS BACK
Leslie Mak and Makayla Stambaugh (“Mack”) have been teaming up to beat the competition for more nearly three years and both rank among the top 10 in event titles in OSU history. Recently both members of the Mak Attack were named to the All-Pac-12 First Team in the all-around. In 2011, Mak won 22 event titles, which tied for sixth on OSU’s single season list. Overall, Mak has tallied 53 event titles - including 20 this season, which is ninth - in her career, good for fourth in OSU history. Meanwhile, Stambaugh, a junior, has notched 32 wins in her career - including 11 this season. - to move into eighth in the OSU record books.
LOOK WHAT I CAN DO
For the second consecutive season a veteran OSU gymnast is unveiling a new talent ... and not just a new skill but an entirely new event! Melanie Jones had not trained much on the uneven bars at Oregon State due to previous injuries. That is until this autumn. Jones, who OSU coaches say is a phenomenal gymnast on the bars, returned to the apparatus this fall and it didn’t take long for her to join the lineup. Now the former Australian Olympic alternate has been an all-arounder for the last six meets and set a career-high of 39.425 at Pac-12 Championships. Most recently Jones was picked as an All-Pac-12 First Team member in the all-around ... In 2010, Leslie Mak returned to the vault runway for the first time in four years and performed in the all-around all season eventually earning Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year honors.
PACKING GILL
As is usual during gymnastics season in Corvallis, fans arrived at Gill Coliseum in droves in 2012. The Oregon State gymnastics performed before 20,486 fans over the course of five home meets - an average of 4,097 per meet. Currently Oregon State unofficially ranks sixth in the nation in average attendance.
PINK OUT SUCCESS
Oregon State’s annual Pink Out was once again a success in 2012. This year’s Pink Out involved three separate, but related, events beginning with Friday night’s Pink Out gymnastics meet, Saturday morning’s Pink Out Breakfast and Silent Auction, and Saturday afternoon’s Pink Out women’s basketball game. The breakfast and silent auction were put on by the booster clubs of each program. In all, the eighth annual Pink Out events raised $9,309 for a local breast cancer organization - The Corvallis Clinic Foundation’s Project H.E.R. (Help. Enlightenment. Resources.).
TO BE THE BEST, YOU’VE GOT TO BEAT THE BEST
Once again the Beavers’ schedule will provide tough challenges week-in and week-out. Head coach Tanya Chaplin’s philosophy of competing against the best competition possible each week will help to prepare her squad for the stresses of high caliber competition in the postseason. OSU is slated to face 14 opponents over the course of the season leading up to the Pac-12 Championships and the postseason. Of those opponents eight were ranked in the NACGC/W Preseason Coaches’ Poll and three others received votes.
2012 E-MAGAZINE
Fans, have you seen the 2012 OSU Gymnastics e-magazine? Check out the interactive magazine by following this link: www.iamorangemags.com.
LOOKING FORWARD TO 2013
In addition to the usual home slate, next season Oregon State will host the Pac-12 Championships and NCAA Regionals in 2013. The conference meet will be March 22 while the regional will take place April 6.
FOUR MORE FOR 2013
In November, the Oregon State gymnastics staff put the finishing touches on the 2013 recruiting class with the announcement of four gymnasts joining Beaver Nation. Erika Aufiero (Sparks, Nev.), Sarah Marquez (San Jose, Calif.), Nicole Turner (Colleyville, Texas) and Jaime Wright (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho) will join the program for the 2013 season and are scheduled to enroll at OSU in September ... “This is an exciting group of young women that combine to make a great class. They are an outstanding fit for our program and have the potential to have an immediate impact on the program,” Tanya Chaplin said.
