Beavers set for Regionals at Penn State - Oregon State University Athletics

THE MEET
No. 12 Oregon State (14-7) returns to the road for the fourth straight meet to compete at NCAA University Park Regional Championships Saturday, Apr. 5 at 1 p.m. PT. The meet will be hosted by Penn State at Rec Hall beginning at 1 p.m. PT and will stream live via the Internet ... Oregon State will begin the meet on the first of two byes, then go to the floor exercise, vault, bye, uneven bars and balance beam.

BEAVER BITES
Earlier this year Chelsea Tang scored a 9.90 on the bars for the first time in her career. She became the eighth gymnast in Oregon State history to record a 9.90 on all four apparatus ... currently the Beavers are using four walkons in their competitive lineup ... the Pac-12 dual meet against California, scheduled for Sat., Feb. 8 was ‘snowed out’ when a winter storm closed the Oregon State campus on Thursday and Friday. It was the second time this season the Beavers were snowed out. Their annual Orange & Black Exhibition, originally slated for Dec. 6, was postponed to Jan. 3 due another snow storm.

OSU IN REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Here are some quick hitters about Oregon State’s history at NCAA Regionals:

Oregon State reached the reional round of competition for th 43rd straight year.
OSU has won regional titles 10 times with the most recent coming in 2011.
Twenty-nine OSU gymnasts have combined to win 65 individual titles over the course of 42 years.
Three current OSU gymnasts already have an NCAA Regional title to their credit.
The Beavers have not faced any of the five teams they’ll face at regionals in 2014 ... in fact, the most recent meeting between the Beavers and any of these teams was in 2012 when they met Florida (at nationals) and New Hampshire (in the regular season).

VS. FLORIDA
Oregon State and Florida meet for the 28th time in history with the Gators holding a 19-8 advantage. The Beavers also trail the series 7-15 in meets at neutral sites. Florida has won the last 10 meetings, including the last meeting which came in the preliminary round of the 2012 NCAA Championships 197.650-196.475. Oregon State’s last win over Florida came at the 1996 NCAA Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala. when the Beavers finished third in preliminaries to advance to the Super Six.

VS. PENN STATE
Oregon State and Penn State meet for the 17th time in history with the Beavers holding a 10-6 advantage. OSU has won the last four meetings dating back to 1995 and last faced the Nittany Lions in a 2010 quad meet at Utah in which the Beavers finished second, ahead of PSU 196.650-195.700. Saturday’s meet marks the third time that Oregon State has made the cross-country trek to the Keystone State, OSU is 0-2 at University Park.

VS. NEW HAMPSHIRE
Oregon State and New Hampshire meet for the third time in history with the Beavers holding a 2-0 series lead. The Beavers are 1-0 at neutral sites against the Wildcats. The two teams squared off most recently in a regular season tri-meet in 2012 when OSU defeated UNH 196.725-193.050.

VS. KENTUCKY
Oregon State and Kentucky meet for the fourth time in history with the Beavers leading the series 3-0. The Beavers are 1-0 at neutral site meets against these Wildcats too. OSU and UK last met in a dual meet in Corvallis in 2010 which the Beavers won 196.650-195.275.

VS. MARYLAND
Oregon State and Maryland meet for the third time in history with both meetings coming at neutral sites and with the Beavers holding the 2-0 advantage. The last time the Beavers and Terrapins faced each other in a regular season quad meet at Michigan State in which OSU triumphed 194.375-191.175.

OREGON STATE QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about the Oregon State gymnastics team following the completion of the regular season:

Oregon State is ranked No. 12 heading into the postseason and are the No. 2-seed at the University Park regional. See page 3 for the preseason top 25 and complete rankings.
All four of OSU’s lineups remain ranked among the top 25 in the nation. Vault is ranked No. 20 (49.140 RQS); uneven bars are ranked No. 11 (49.260); balance beam is ranked at No. 8 (49.195) and floor exercise is tied at No. 19 (49.180).
OSU’s floor team posted a 49.475 mark against Stanford (Feb. 3), the highest floor mark the Beavers have tallied since Feb. 7, 2010 at California when Mandi Rodriguez and Makayla Stambaugh each scored 9.95 and Melanie Jones added a 9.90.
Through 10 meets, Oregon State’s routines have been split fairly evenly throughout the squad with the juniors accounting for the most with 38% (90 out of 240) of the routines performed this year. The seniors are providing 26% (62 of 240), the freshmen 22% (53 of 240) and the sophomores 15% (35 of 240). In comparision, in 2013, the senior class accounted for 53% (151 of 287) of the production while the sophomores provided 23% (65 of 287), the juniors accounted for 18% (53 of 287) and freshmen 6% (18 of 287).
Oregon State has ‘hit’ 96% (231 of 240) of its routines through nine meets. In comparision, the Beavers ‘hit’ 92% (265 of 287) in 2013.
The Beavers’ loss to Nebraska, March 1, marked the first regular season loss in Gill Coliseum for OSU since Jan. 28, 2011. During that span of 15 meets OSU defeated 28 teams and tied one (UCLA - 2012).
Oregon State finished the season on the road with three straight meets to end the regular season. The Beavs finish at Arizona (Mar. 9), at Washington with Seattle Pacific (Mar. 14) and at California for the Pac-12 Championships (Mar. 22).
The Beavers’ lineups have been impacted dramatically in 2014 by a quartet of walk-ons that are currently performing four competition routines. Hannah Casey, who has been in the bars lineup for most of the last three seasons, has moved into the anchor spot while Taylor Keeker performed in the bars lineup in each of the first eight meets of the season. Keeker has also been OSU’s best vaulter most of the season. In addition, Katelyn Ohlrich is in the middle of the balance beam lineup for the second year in a row. Kailie Ponto joined the action recently at Arizona performing in the competition lineup for the first time in her career, scoring 9.85 on the floor. She has posted the team’s high floor score in both meets she’s performed. The quartet has “hit” all 41 of their routines in 2014.
Ten of OSU’s 2014 opponents were ranked in the preseason top 25: No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Utah, No. 9 Stanford, No. 10 Nebraska, No. 17 Arizona, No. 19 Ohio State, No. 20 Washington, No. 22 California, No. 23 Boise State and No. 25 Arizona State.

TANYA CHAPLIN QUICK HITTERS

Tanya Chaplin set the Oregon State record for wins in the Beavers’ home opener with a 196.425-194.850 victory over Iowa State. It was the 318th triumph of Chaplin’s career pushing her into sole possession of first on Oregon State’s all-time list moving past Jim Turpin (1986-97). She also holds the school record with 267 regular season wins and currently has 329 overall.
Chaplin has led the Beavers to conference titles twice in the last four season, winning the 2011 Pac-10 title and the 2013 Pac-12 Championships.
The Beavers won the 2008 and 2011 NCAA Regional Championships under Chaplin’s direction.
She has directed OSU to the NCAA Championships 10 times in her 16 seasons at the helm.

CHELSEA TANG QUICK HITTERS
Chelsea Tang recently earned her second all-conference first team accolades earning First Team All-Pac-12 in the all-around. Here are some quick hitters about Chelsea:

Named as the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week, for the week of Jan. 13-19, for the first time in her career after scoring 39.275 in the all-around earning individual titles on bars and in the all-around.
Has nine total wins including five in the all-around plus two each on bars and beam.
She is tied at No. 21 in the all-around (39.335) and tied for No. 20 in the nation on the balance beam (9.880) ... scored a career-high 39.500 at Arizona.
This season, Tang has scored a 9.90 on the bars and floor for the first time in her career. She became the eighth gymnast in Oregon State history to record a 9.90 on all four apparatus joining an exclusive list that includes Annie Campbell (2000-02, 04), Jami Lanz (2006-09), Lindsay Nelson (2001-03, 05), Chelsea Plourde (2004-05), Tanya Ricioli-Hebron (2000, 02-04), Mandi Rodriguez (2007-10) and Makayla Stambaugh (2010-13).
She has performed in the all-around in all 10 of the Beavers’ meets this year - and 16 straight meets dating back to Feb. 16, 2013 when OSU beat then-No. 4 UCLA 196.725-196.075.
She has ‘hit’ 39 out of 40 routines in 2014 and 98 out of 101 in her career.
Named Pac-12 First Team on the balance beam and qualified to the NCAA Championships as an individual all-arounder in 2013.
Majoring in exercise and sport science with aspirations to be a physician’s assistant.
Her family runs and owns a Chinese restaurant in Eugene - Hong Kong Restaurant.

BRITTANY HARRIS QUICK HITTERS
Brittany Harris is a two-time All-Pac-12 selection on the uneven bars and qualified to the NCAA Championships as an individual all-arounder in 2013. Here are some quick hitters about the senior:

Has one ‘win’ under her belt in 2014; she scored 9.925 on bars against Stanford (Feb. 3, 2014) to tie for the individual title ... Brittany has three individual titles in her career - one on vault (Jan. 14, 2011), one on beam (Feb. 3, 2013).
She was inserted into the floor lineup for the first time at Utah and has been in the all-around for the last five meets and has performed in the all-around 26 times in her career ... scored career-high 39.400 at Arizona (Mar. 9).
Has ‘hit’ 33 out of 35 routines in 2014 and 159 of 166 in her career - the most on the squad.
Majoring in public health and will graduate next June. She plans to go on to grad school after graduation.
Her father, Steve Harris, played five seasons in the NBA for Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers and Detroit Pistons.

MADELINE GARDINER QUICK HITTERS
Madeline Gardiner is one of the most decorated gymnasts ever recruited to Oregon State during the Chaplin era. Here are some quick hitters about the talented freshman:

Has won four event titles in her rookie season - three on beam and one on floor.
Earned Pac-12 all-conference second team on balance beam in 2014.
Performed in the all-around for the first time in her career at Arizona (Mar. 9) scoring 39.400 in her debut.
Has ‘hit’ all 28 routines in her career - one of eight OSU gymnasts that have not ‘missed’ a routine in 2014.
Madeline was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week for the week of Feb. 10-16 after she posted career-bests of 9.95 on floor and 9.875 on beam to win the first event titles of her career ... named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the week of Mar. 3-9 after she won the beam title (9.925) and scored 39.400 in her first all-around performance.
Canadian National Team’s alternate for the 2012 Olympics in London.

KAYTIANNA MCMILLAN QUICK HITTERS
Kaytianna McMillan was a four-time Junior Olympic Nationals qualifier and won the Level 10 national titles on balance beam and all-around in 2013. Here are some quick hitters about the talented freshman:

Won her first event title in her first meet at Gill Coliseum, scoring a 9.90 on the beam against Iowa State (Jan. 25) ... scored 9.875 on bars to tie for event title last week at Washington (Mar. 14).
Has ‘hit’ 16 of 17 routines - her one miss was on the bars at UCLA (Jan. 19).
Kaytianna missed a month of action with a foot injury and returned at Washington (Mar. 14) after a three meets absence. Has performed on bars and beam in the last two meets ... coaches are hopeful to get her back on floor exercise as well.
Kaytianna trained at the National Academy of Artistic Gymnastics - the same gym as other OSU greats Chari Knight, Jami Lanz and current teammate Chelsea Tang among others and OSU head coach Tanya Chaplin.

ERIKA AUFIERO QUICK HITTERS
Erika Aufiero was an All-Pac-12 selection on the uneven bars in 2013. Here is some quick hitters about the sophomore:

Erika is second on the team with seven individual titles in 2014, six on bars and one on vault (9.90 at Washington).
She has scored 9.90 or better on bars four times this year.
Has ‘hit’ all 22 routines in 2014 and is 31-33 in her career.
Only performed on bars as a freshman during recovery from an Achilles injury as a senior in high school.
Has performed in the vault lineup all season with a best of 9.90 at UW.
Inserted in the beam lineup against Nebraska & Arizona State and scored 9.825 in her first competitive performance.
Erika’s sister, Breyanna, is a sophomore gymnast at Utah State. The sisters squared off earlier this year at OSU’s Comfort Suites Invitational.

KELSI BLALOCK QUICK HITTERS
Kelsi Blalock went through Senior Night last year but was granted a fifth-year of eligibility last May after missing most of her freshman season due to an ankle injury. Here are some quick hitters about the senior:

Is fourth on the team with three event titles in 2014 - one on vault (9.875 against Iowa State, Jan. 11) and two on floor (9.875, Iowa State, Jan. 11 & 9.950, Stanford, Feb. 3).
Has ‘hit’ 13 of 17 routines in 2014 with two misses each on beam and floor ... has ‘hit’ 123-136 routines in her career.
Kelsi injured an ankle on her floor routine against Nebraska & Arizona State and missed the last three meets ... she is considered week-to-week and will not compete at regionals.
She is the team’s lone returning All-American after earning the distinction as a NACGC/W Regular Season All-American on vault in 2013.
Graduated in March with a degree in human development and family sciences with aspirations of working with at-risk youth after graduation.

HANNAH CASEY QUICK HITTERS
Hannah Casey continues to be a steadying influence on the Beavers’ bars lineup. Here are some quick hitters about Hannah:

Hannah has won two individual titles in 2014, the first of her career. The first came in the season opener with a 9.875 on bars at Ohio State (Jan. 11) and the other with a 9.90 against Arizona State & Nebraska (Mar. 1).
Moved from the fourth spot in the lineup to the anchor position six meets ago and has set or tied career-highs three times.
Has ‘hit’ all 10 routines in 2014 and 32 of 33 in her career. In all, she has hit 27 straight dating back to Feb. 10, 2012 at UC Davis.
Will graduate with a degree in finance in June and plans to pursue a career as a financial analyst.
She is heavily involved in OSU’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee, in her third year on the executive council. Last summer, she represented Oregon State at the Pac-12 SAAC meetings in San Francisco.

TAYLOR KEEKER QUICK HITTERS
Taylor Keeker had never performed a competitive routine for OSU prior to 2014 and yet was named a team captain before the season started. Here are some quick hitters about the junior:

Taylor, a walkon, could be considered one of the most improved gymnasts in the nation. Prior to this season she had never been in the competitve lineup and performed in the vault and bars lineup in each of the first eight meets.
Has been arguably OSU’s best vaulter most of the season, twice scoring a 9.90 on vault - at UCLA (Jan. 19) and against Arizona State & Nebraska (Mar. 1).
Performed in the bars lineup in the first eight meets with a best of 9.80 which she achieved three times.
Has ‘hit’ all 18 of her routines.
Majoring in human development and family science with an emphasis on childhood development and plans to be a first grade teacher.

CERISE WITHERBY QUICK HITTERS
Junior Cerise Witherby has really come on for the Beavers in 2014. Here are some quick hitters about Cerise:

She has been outstanding in a utility role.
She’s ‘hit’ all 19 of her routines in 2014 and 35 out of 36 in her career. She hasn’t missed a routine since Jan. 19, 2013 at Utah - that’s 28 in a row.
Has led off the floor lineup for the last nine weeks ... set a career-high of 9.85 at the Comfort Suites Invitational (Feb. 15) and matched it at UW (Mar. 14).
She joined the beam lineup eight weeks ago ... scored a career-best and team-high 9.90 at Arizona (Mar. 9).
Cerise has been in the vault lineup twice ... posted a career-high 9.80 at Utah (Feb. 22).

MISCELLANEOUS QUICK HITTERS
Here are some quick hitters about the rest of the team:

Junior Katelyn Ohlrich has firmly established herself in OSU’s beam lineup. This is the walkon’s second season in the lineup and she’s never missed a routine 22-for-22 in her career. She also vaulted once last year and is 23-23 in her career.
Sophomore Nicole Turner has already competed more than twice as many times as she did as a freshman ... has ‘hit’ nine out of 10 routines in 2014 and is 12-13 in her career ... has a career-high of 9.875 on FX.
Freshman Megan Jimenez has performed in the vault lineup nine times and has scored between 9.825 and 9.75 every time.
Junior Kailie Ponto performed in the competition lineup for the first time in her career at Arizona (Mar. 9). K-Po scored 9.85 to tie for the team-high score against the Wildcats ... she led the team with a 9.875 last week at Washington ... she is now 3-for-3 in her career.
Sophomore Jaime Wright began the season in the floor lineup and also performed in the vault lineup ... will miss the rest of the season following a knee injury suffered during warm-ups at Arizona (Mar. 9).
Freshman Taylor Ricci has made three exhibitions, two on vault and one on floor.
Freshman Kana Kobayashi will miss the season due ankle/foot surgery.

CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS
The Pac-12 Conference has seven teams ranked in the Top 25. Utah is 5th, UCLA 8th, Stanford 10th, Oregon State 12th, California 19th, Arizona 21st and Arizona State 24th. Washington ranks 33rd. All eight Pac-12 teams were ranked in the preseason Top 25 ... all eight Pac-12 teams qualified to regionals. Utah, UCLA and Arizona State compete in the Fayetteville regional, Stanford and Arizona in the Baton Rouge regional, OSU in the University Park regional, California in the Minneapolis regional and Washington in the Seattle regional.

TWO FOR 2015
In November, two high school seniors signed the National Letters of Intent to join the Oregon State gymnastics program for the 2014-15 academic year. Danielle Dessaints (Henderson, Nev.) and Shireen Khamedoost (Bountiful, Utah) are scheduled to enroll at OSU this coming summer ... “I’m extremely excited to welcome two outstanding young women to the Oregon State Gymnastics family. I am confident that both will make an immediate impace on our lineup next season,” Tanya Chaplin said.

2015 TICKETS
Seat deposits for new season tickets (2015) are available now by at BeaverTickets.com. Current season ticket holders will receive their renewals during the fall.