Wrapping Up the 2012 Gymnastics Season
May 9, 2012
THE SEASON
The Oregon State gymnastics team (20-10-1) concluded the 2012 season at the NCAA Championships for the seventh straight year - the second-longest streak in school history (1987-1996) - where the Beavers finished 12th in the nation ... Three gymnasts - Melanie Jones, Leslie Mak and Makayla Stambaugh - garnered All-America honors. Jones qualified to the Individual Event Finals finishing fourth overall on the floor exercise, the highest finish for an OSU gymnast on the floor since 1993 when Amy Durham won the national title. Mak earned second team All-America on balance beam and floor exercise and Stambaugh earned second team on floor ... Among the highlights for the 2012 season was Leslie Mak earning Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year. Mak is the first gymnast in conference history to get the nod in consecutive seasons; Melanie Jones, Leslie Mak and Makayla Stambaugh each earned All-Pac-12 First Team in the all-around while Olivia Vivian earned first team on uneven bars, and Kelsi Blalock and Brittany Harris were second team on vault and bars respectively.
RETURNING FOR 2013
Oregon State graduates two seniors - Leslie Mak and Olivia Vivian - accounting for seven routines from this year’s squad. Fellow senior Stephanie McGregor, who tore her Achilles’ tendon in December, will return for her fifth year after missing the entire season. In addition, six other scholarship athletes are slated to return to the fold in 2013. The return to health of McGregor and freshman Chelsea Tang, who injured her elbow in January and was limited the rest of the way, bode well for lessening the blow of losing a pair of All-Americans and lessening the expectations of the incoming recruiting class, which includes four freshmen and one transfer.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
OSU returns two gymnasts who have combined for five All-America honors in their careers. All-arounders Makayla Stambaugh and Melanie Jones, each of whom will be back for their senior seasons, will be expected to lead the 2013 squad. Jones earned first team All-American status on the floor exercise in 2012, finishing fourth in the nation. Stambaugh earned second team All-America on the floor, marking the third straight year she’s been recognized on the apparatus. In addition, Stambaugh earned first team on the bars in 2011. It is the first All-America honor of Jones’ career.
FIVE MORE FOR 2013
The Oregon State gymnastics staff has added five gymnasts to the fold for the 2013 season. In November, four high school seniors signed on to join Beaver Nation - Erika Aufiero (Sparks, Nev.), Sarah Marquez (San Jose, Calif.), Nicole Turner (Colleyville, Texas) and Jaime Wright (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho) will arrive on campus for the BRIDGE program in July. Then in early May it was announced that Hailey Gaspar, a senior-to-be, will transfer to OSU from Boise State. Gaspar, an outstanding vaulter who has already experienced success at the collegiate level, is expected to provide immediate help for the vault and floor lineups while adding depth to the beam team as well ... “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.
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.
LAST TIME ON THE COMPETITION FLOOR
Oregon State stumbled on their first event, the floor exercise, but continued to fight on to the end registering the team’s best score of the meet on their last event, balance beam, but it wasn’t enough. The Beavers finished sixth in the evening session and 12th overall, but just .150 points separated 8th from 12th. Three gymnasts - Melanie Jones, Leslie Mak and Makayla Stambaugh - earned All-America accolades, and despite the struggles of the front half of the floor lineup, all three earned their honors on the floor apparatus. Jones scored 9.875 on the floor to advance to the Individual Event Finals where she eventually finished fourth in the nation. Mak added a 9.90 on the beam to finish the meet to earn second team All-America honors. All four of the Beavers’ all-arounders surpassed the 39-point mark with Stambaugh (39.350) leading the way followed by Brittany Harris (39.325), Jones (39.275) and Mak (39.075).
IN THE RANKINGS
All four of Oregon State’s lineups finished the season ranked among the best in the NCAA. The Beavers ended up 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 were ranked among the top 25 in the nation: Leslie Mak finished tied for No. 1 on the beam (9.930), tied for No. 16 on the bars (9.885) and tied for No. 13 in the all-around (39.400); Makayla Stambaugh tied for No. 15 in the all-around (39.390), tied for No. 9 on the floor (9.905) and tied for No. 16 on the bars (9.885). Melanie Jones tied for No. 13 on the floor (9.900) and No. 23 on the beam (9.870); Olivia Vivian tied for No. 9 on the bars (9.895); and Kelsi Blalock tied for No. 20 on the vault (9.905).
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 program, added vault to her arsenal in 2011 and performed in the all-around in all 26 meets the last two seasons. During that time Mak “hit” 103 out of 105 routines, including 51 out of 52 this season. Mak 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 became 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 - 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).
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.
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 was 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 , which was be presented at the national championships banquet, went to Amy Glass.
PAC-12 HONORS OSU GYMNASTS
Oregon State gymnasts garnered “best of the week” status 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.
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. 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.
INDISPENSABLES
In 2012, six Oregon State gymnasts - Kelsi Blalock, Brittany Harris, Melanie Jones, Leslie Mak, Makayla Stambaugh and Olivia Vivian - carried the weight of performing multiple events all season. Mak and Harris each performed in the all-around in all 13 meets, while Stambaugh went in the all-around 12 times and Jones joined the all-around crew for the final eight meets. Blalock (who also performed in the all-around once this year) and Vivian were fixtures in three lineups. Overall, that combination of gymnasts performed 277 out of OSU’s 312 routines this season or 88.8% of the team’s production. Perhaps more amazing is that they “hit” 261 of those routines for a “hit” rate of 94%.
WEEBLES WOBBLE BUT THEY DON’T FALL DOWN
The Oregon State gymnasts were mentally tough throughout the season overcoming adversity whenever the need has arisen. The Beavers have counted a fall only once in 2012, 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.
LOOK WHAT I CAN DO
For the second consecutive season a veteran OSU gymnast unveiled 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. The former Australian Olympic alternate quickly developed into an all-arounder for the last eight meets of the season and set a career-high of 39.425 at Pac-12 Championships. 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, sixth in the nation.
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 Feb. 17-18 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.).
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, 2013 while the regional will take place April 6, 2013.
TO BE THE BEST, YOU’VE GOT TO BEAT THE BEST
Once again the Beavers’ schedule provided tough challenges week-in and week-out. Head coach Tanya Chaplin’s philosophy of competing against the best competition possible each week helps to prepare her squad for the stresses of high caliber competition in the postseason. OSU faced 16 different opponents ranked in the NACGC/W Preseason Coaches’ Poll including 10 of the top 11.
