Photo by: Dave Nishitani/Oregon State Athletics
Beavers Set for Pac-12 Championships
March 14, 2017 | Women's Gymnastics
THE MEET
The No. 10 Oregon State gymnastics team (9-2, 4-2 Pac-12) head back to the Bay Area for Pac-12 Championships hosted by Stanford. The Beavers have qualified as the third-seed and will compete in the second session beginning at 6 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. OSU will begin the meet on the floor exercise. The meet will be televised live by Pac-12 Network with Jim Watson providing play-by-play, Amanda Borden providing analysis and Samantha Peszek reporting courtside.
QUICKLY
Oregon State is ranked in the top 20 on all four events: vault is tied for 14th (49.150 RQS); uneven bars is 10th (49.215); balance beam is tied for 11th (49.245); and floor exercise is ranked 12th (49.255) ... OSU eclipsed the 197-point mark last week for the third week in a row. It is the first time since 2013, the Beavers have hit the 197 mark in back-back-to-back meets ... In the spirit of the DAM Cancer meet recently, OSU gymnasts Halli Briscoe, Mariana Colussi-Pelaez, Jaime Law and McKenna Singley, along with OSU women's basketball star, Sydney Wiese, participated in Haircuts for Cancer. Colussi-Pelaez and Law were scheduled for the event, while Briscoe and Singley jumped in spur of the moment ... Tanya Chaplin is in her 20th season as the Beavers' head coach and won the 300th regular season win of her career earlier this month at Seattle Pacific ... Three freshmen, Destinee Davis, Sabrina Gill and Isis Lowery, have made their collegiate debuts in 2017 ... Erika Aufiero, who missed the entire 2016 campaign, and Dani Dessaints, who suffered a season-ending injury prior to the season's second meet, made their return to competition for the season-opener.
LAST WEEK VS. ILLINOIS-CHICAGO
Oregon State's Senior Day included a moment of perfection Saturday afternoon when senior Kaytianna McMillan scored 10.0 on the unever bars. It marked the first perfect score by an OSU gymnast since 2008 and the first on bars since 2003. McMillan went on to score 9.95 to win the floor title and totaled 39.650 in the all-around to tie for the third-highest score in school history. The Beavers scored 197.475, the fifth-highest score in program history, in dispatching Illinois-Chicago (193.550) reaching the 197-point mark for the third straight week for the first time since 2013. Dani Dessaints scored 9.950 on vault and Madeline Gardiner tallied 9.925 on beam to help Oregon State sweep the awards ceremony.
LAST YEAR AT PAC-12'S
Oregon State rallied in the final rotation to tie for second place at Pac-12 Championships. The Beavers 'hit' all 24 routines and established a season-high on the balance beam scoring 49.525 to close out the meet. Madeline Gardiner scored 39.500 to tie her career-best in the all-around and finished second in the meet. Gardiner and Risa Perez each tallied career-high marks of 9.950 on the beam to tie as Pac-12 champions on the event.
OSU AT PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Here are some quick hitters about Oregon State's history in the Pac-12 Championships:
• Oregon State is one of only four schools - along with UCLA, Stanford and Utah - to have won the Pac-10/12 Championships in the 30-year history of the event.
• The Beavers are seeking their seventh conference title and third since 2010.
• OSU has a 2-1 record against their direct competition this year defeating then-No. 4 Utah as well as Washington and falling to UCLA. All three meets were in Corvallis
• 22 OSU gymnasts have combined to win 44 individual titles over the course of 30 years.
• Fifth-year senior Erika Aufiero is the lone Pac-12 champion having won a team title as a freshman for the Beavers in 2013. Aufiero performed in the bars lineup that night in Corvallis.
• Senior Madeline Gardiner is a Pac-12 champion as an individual. Gardiner scored 9.950 on the beam in the final rotation in 2016 to tie for the Pac-12 individual title.
VS. UCLA
OSU will meet UCLA at a neutral site for the 55th time this week with the Bruins leading 45-9 in those match-ups. UCLA traveled to Corvallis in January with the Beavers coming up short 197.325-196.700 despite hitting all 24 routines. Kaytianna McMillan set a career-high with a 9.950 to win the floor title. McMillan (39.500) and Madeline Gardiner (39.275) finished second and third in the all-around while freshmen Sabrina Gill and Isis Lowery each posted season-bests.
VS. UTAH
Saturday marks the 78th time OSU and Utah have met with the Utes holding a 66-10-1 advantage in the series. Oregon State hosted Utah last month with the Beavers coming out on top 196.550-196.525. OSU led throughout the meet but it the outcome wasn't decided until the final routine when Kaytianna McMillan scored 9.925 on the floor exercise to win by the smallest of margins. OSU 'hit' all 24 routines and McMillan won or tied for top honors on four events (bars, beam, floor and all-around). Erika Aufiero scored 9.85 on the bars and Dani Dessaints added a 9.875 on the beam to tie for those event titles. McMillan was named Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week for her performance against the Utes.
VS. WASHINGTON
Oregon State and Washington met two weeks ago in Corvallis, for the 130th matchup between the two programs, with the Beavers defeating the Huskies 197.325-196.450 to widen the series record to 105-25. Kaytianna McMillan (39.625) and Madeline Gardiner (39.475) went 1-2 in the all-around. Erika Aufiero neared perfecton with a career-best 9.975 on the bars and Dani Dessaints scored 9.95 on the beam to tie Gardiner for the meet-high score. McMillan added the floor title with a 9.925 while Gardiner tied her career-mark of 9.90 on the vault to earn the individual title. The Beavers set season-highs on bars and beam with scores of 49.425.
SEEKING PERFECTION
OSU has six gymnasts that have 'hit' all of their routines in 2017 include: Madeline Gardiner (36-36), Silvia Colussi-Pelaez (14-14), Taylor Ricci (13-13), Megan Jimenez (12-12), Shireen Khamedoost (7-7) and Destinee Davis (1-1).
TEAM NOTES
• The Beavers have counted two falls in 2017, one on bars and one on beam ... both came in a win at Seattle Pacific ... OSU counted just one missed routine in 2016.
• Oregon State has 'hit' 231 out of 240 (96.3%) routines in 2017 ... in comparison, the Beavers 'hit' 276 out of 290 (95.2%) routines last year.
• The Beavers went 24-for-24 for the first time this season in the third meet of the season, against Northern Illinois & Seattle Pacific, and accomplished the feat the very next week against UCLA, for a second time. In 2016, it took until the season's seventh meet to 'hit' all 24 routines.
• Through nine meets, OSU's senior-laden squad is doing some heavy lifting performing more than half of the team's routines - 135 of 240 (56.3%). The rest of the squad is contributing as follows: juniors 27 of 240 (11.3%); sophomores 44 of 240 (18.3%); freshmen 34 of 240 (14.2%).
• Seven out of OSU's 10 opponents on the 2017 schedule were ranked in the preseason Top 36; No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Utah, No. 8 Auburn, No. 10 California, No. 11 Stanford, No. 18 Arizona and No. 20 Washington.
• Eighteen of Oregon State's 20 gymnasts earned 3.0 or higher GPA's during fall term.
THE ROSTER
Here are some quick hitters about the Oregon State gymnastics roster in 2017:
• Only half of the roster competed in a meet for Oregon State last season (Mariana Colussi-Pelaez, Silvia Colussi-Pelaez, Dani Dessaints, Madeline Gardiner, Mary Jacobsen, Megan Jimenez, Shireen Khamedoost, Kaytianna McMillan, Taylor Ricci and McKenna Singley).
• There are six seniors on the squad (Erika Aufiero, Silvia Colussi-Pelaez, Madeline Gardiner, Megan Jimenez, Kaytianna McMillan and Taylor Ricci) who combined to contribute 13 out of 24 routines at last year's regional meet.
• Oregon State returns three All-Americans - Madeline Gardiner (BB - 2014, '15, '16; AA - 2014), Erika Aufiero (UB - 2015) and Kaytianna McMillan (UB - 2016).
• Nine freshmen have joined the squad last fall (Halli Briscoe, Kaitlin Campbell, Destinee Davis, Sabrina Gill, Lena Greene, Jaime Law, Maela Lazaro, Isis Lowery and Alyssa Minyard).
• Of those freshmen, Sabrina Gill, Isis Lowery and Destinee Davis are the only three to have performed a competition routine through the season's first five meets. Halli Briscoe has also performed in exhibition.
• Four of the Beavers' are from the state of Oregon - Kaitlin Campbell (West Linn), Lena Greene (Tigard), Jaime Law (Corvallis) and Kaytianna McMillan (Coburg).
• Six OSU gymnasts are from outside of the United States - Mariana Colussi-Pelaez, Silvia Colussi-Pelaez, Madeline Gardiner, Sabrina Gill and Taylor Ricci are all from Canada, while Isis Lowery is from Australia.
• The Beavers have 21 out of 24 routines returning from 2016 making lineup spots hard to come by.
RQS
Rankings have shifted from scoring average to Regional Qualifying Scores (RQS). A team's RQS is determined by taking the six best scores, three of which must come on the road, dropping the high score and then averaging the remaining scores. This week, after scoring 197.475 against UIC, the Beavers dropped their home score from their home win over Utah (196.550). This week they'll be looking to improve on their score from their road win at Arizona where they scored 196.200.
WHICH WAY DO WE GO?
The Beavers, like every other team in the country, are seeking to qualify to the NCAA Championships and the Super Six. But to reach that goal teams must get through NCAA Regionals. In 2017, regionals will be held at Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Washington and West Virginia. The top two finishers at each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo.
CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS
In the preseason coaches poll, the Pac-12 Conference had seven of its eight teams ranked in the Top 36, which is the number of teams that qualify to NCAA Regionals. Currently, UCLA is ranked No. 3, followed by No. 5 Utah, No. 10 Oregon State, No. 15 Washington, California is tied at No. 16, No. 30 Arizona and Stanford is No. 31.
THREE MORE FOR 2018
In November, two gymnasts signed the National Letters of Intent to join the Oregon State gymnastics program for the 2017-18 academic year. Savanna Force (Reno, Nev.) and Kaitlyn Yanish (Chandler, Ariz.) are scheduled to enroll at Oregon State this coming summer. In addition, Alexis Gonzales (Newport Beach, Calif.) signed an intent to enroll and will also join the OSU gymnastics program in July.
The No. 10 Oregon State gymnastics team (9-2, 4-2 Pac-12) head back to the Bay Area for Pac-12 Championships hosted by Stanford. The Beavers have qualified as the third-seed and will compete in the second session beginning at 6 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. OSU will begin the meet on the floor exercise. The meet will be televised live by Pac-12 Network with Jim Watson providing play-by-play, Amanda Borden providing analysis and Samantha Peszek reporting courtside.
QUICKLY
Oregon State is ranked in the top 20 on all four events: vault is tied for 14th (49.150 RQS); uneven bars is 10th (49.215); balance beam is tied for 11th (49.245); and floor exercise is ranked 12th (49.255) ... OSU eclipsed the 197-point mark last week for the third week in a row. It is the first time since 2013, the Beavers have hit the 197 mark in back-back-to-back meets ... In the spirit of the DAM Cancer meet recently, OSU gymnasts Halli Briscoe, Mariana Colussi-Pelaez, Jaime Law and McKenna Singley, along with OSU women's basketball star, Sydney Wiese, participated in Haircuts for Cancer. Colussi-Pelaez and Law were scheduled for the event, while Briscoe and Singley jumped in spur of the moment ... Tanya Chaplin is in her 20th season as the Beavers' head coach and won the 300th regular season win of her career earlier this month at Seattle Pacific ... Three freshmen, Destinee Davis, Sabrina Gill and Isis Lowery, have made their collegiate debuts in 2017 ... Erika Aufiero, who missed the entire 2016 campaign, and Dani Dessaints, who suffered a season-ending injury prior to the season's second meet, made their return to competition for the season-opener.
LAST WEEK VS. ILLINOIS-CHICAGO
Oregon State's Senior Day included a moment of perfection Saturday afternoon when senior Kaytianna McMillan scored 10.0 on the unever bars. It marked the first perfect score by an OSU gymnast since 2008 and the first on bars since 2003. McMillan went on to score 9.95 to win the floor title and totaled 39.650 in the all-around to tie for the third-highest score in school history. The Beavers scored 197.475, the fifth-highest score in program history, in dispatching Illinois-Chicago (193.550) reaching the 197-point mark for the third straight week for the first time since 2013. Dani Dessaints scored 9.950 on vault and Madeline Gardiner tallied 9.925 on beam to help Oregon State sweep the awards ceremony.
LAST YEAR AT PAC-12'S
Oregon State rallied in the final rotation to tie for second place at Pac-12 Championships. The Beavers 'hit' all 24 routines and established a season-high on the balance beam scoring 49.525 to close out the meet. Madeline Gardiner scored 39.500 to tie her career-best in the all-around and finished second in the meet. Gardiner and Risa Perez each tallied career-high marks of 9.950 on the beam to tie as Pac-12 champions on the event.
OSU AT PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Here are some quick hitters about Oregon State's history in the Pac-12 Championships:
• Oregon State is one of only four schools - along with UCLA, Stanford and Utah - to have won the Pac-10/12 Championships in the 30-year history of the event.
• The Beavers are seeking their seventh conference title and third since 2010.
• OSU has a 2-1 record against their direct competition this year defeating then-No. 4 Utah as well as Washington and falling to UCLA. All three meets were in Corvallis
• 22 OSU gymnasts have combined to win 44 individual titles over the course of 30 years.
• Fifth-year senior Erika Aufiero is the lone Pac-12 champion having won a team title as a freshman for the Beavers in 2013. Aufiero performed in the bars lineup that night in Corvallis.
• Senior Madeline Gardiner is a Pac-12 champion as an individual. Gardiner scored 9.950 on the beam in the final rotation in 2016 to tie for the Pac-12 individual title.
VS. UCLA
OSU will meet UCLA at a neutral site for the 55th time this week with the Bruins leading 45-9 in those match-ups. UCLA traveled to Corvallis in January with the Beavers coming up short 197.325-196.700 despite hitting all 24 routines. Kaytianna McMillan set a career-high with a 9.950 to win the floor title. McMillan (39.500) and Madeline Gardiner (39.275) finished second and third in the all-around while freshmen Sabrina Gill and Isis Lowery each posted season-bests.
VS. UTAH
Saturday marks the 78th time OSU and Utah have met with the Utes holding a 66-10-1 advantage in the series. Oregon State hosted Utah last month with the Beavers coming out on top 196.550-196.525. OSU led throughout the meet but it the outcome wasn't decided until the final routine when Kaytianna McMillan scored 9.925 on the floor exercise to win by the smallest of margins. OSU 'hit' all 24 routines and McMillan won or tied for top honors on four events (bars, beam, floor and all-around). Erika Aufiero scored 9.85 on the bars and Dani Dessaints added a 9.875 on the beam to tie for those event titles. McMillan was named Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week for her performance against the Utes.
VS. WASHINGTON
Oregon State and Washington met two weeks ago in Corvallis, for the 130th matchup between the two programs, with the Beavers defeating the Huskies 197.325-196.450 to widen the series record to 105-25. Kaytianna McMillan (39.625) and Madeline Gardiner (39.475) went 1-2 in the all-around. Erika Aufiero neared perfecton with a career-best 9.975 on the bars and Dani Dessaints scored 9.95 on the beam to tie Gardiner for the meet-high score. McMillan added the floor title with a 9.925 while Gardiner tied her career-mark of 9.90 on the vault to earn the individual title. The Beavers set season-highs on bars and beam with scores of 49.425.
SEEKING PERFECTION
OSU has six gymnasts that have 'hit' all of their routines in 2017 include: Madeline Gardiner (36-36), Silvia Colussi-Pelaez (14-14), Taylor Ricci (13-13), Megan Jimenez (12-12), Shireen Khamedoost (7-7) and Destinee Davis (1-1).
TEAM NOTES
• The Beavers have counted two falls in 2017, one on bars and one on beam ... both came in a win at Seattle Pacific ... OSU counted just one missed routine in 2016.
• Oregon State has 'hit' 231 out of 240 (96.3%) routines in 2017 ... in comparison, the Beavers 'hit' 276 out of 290 (95.2%) routines last year.
• The Beavers went 24-for-24 for the first time this season in the third meet of the season, against Northern Illinois & Seattle Pacific, and accomplished the feat the very next week against UCLA, for a second time. In 2016, it took until the season's seventh meet to 'hit' all 24 routines.
• Through nine meets, OSU's senior-laden squad is doing some heavy lifting performing more than half of the team's routines - 135 of 240 (56.3%). The rest of the squad is contributing as follows: juniors 27 of 240 (11.3%); sophomores 44 of 240 (18.3%); freshmen 34 of 240 (14.2%).
• Seven out of OSU's 10 opponents on the 2017 schedule were ranked in the preseason Top 36; No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Utah, No. 8 Auburn, No. 10 California, No. 11 Stanford, No. 18 Arizona and No. 20 Washington.
• Eighteen of Oregon State's 20 gymnasts earned 3.0 or higher GPA's during fall term.
THE ROSTER
Here are some quick hitters about the Oregon State gymnastics roster in 2017:
• Only half of the roster competed in a meet for Oregon State last season (Mariana Colussi-Pelaez, Silvia Colussi-Pelaez, Dani Dessaints, Madeline Gardiner, Mary Jacobsen, Megan Jimenez, Shireen Khamedoost, Kaytianna McMillan, Taylor Ricci and McKenna Singley).
• There are six seniors on the squad (Erika Aufiero, Silvia Colussi-Pelaez, Madeline Gardiner, Megan Jimenez, Kaytianna McMillan and Taylor Ricci) who combined to contribute 13 out of 24 routines at last year's regional meet.
• Oregon State returns three All-Americans - Madeline Gardiner (BB - 2014, '15, '16; AA - 2014), Erika Aufiero (UB - 2015) and Kaytianna McMillan (UB - 2016).
• Nine freshmen have joined the squad last fall (Halli Briscoe, Kaitlin Campbell, Destinee Davis, Sabrina Gill, Lena Greene, Jaime Law, Maela Lazaro, Isis Lowery and Alyssa Minyard).
• Of those freshmen, Sabrina Gill, Isis Lowery and Destinee Davis are the only three to have performed a competition routine through the season's first five meets. Halli Briscoe has also performed in exhibition.
• Four of the Beavers' are from the state of Oregon - Kaitlin Campbell (West Linn), Lena Greene (Tigard), Jaime Law (Corvallis) and Kaytianna McMillan (Coburg).
• Six OSU gymnasts are from outside of the United States - Mariana Colussi-Pelaez, Silvia Colussi-Pelaez, Madeline Gardiner, Sabrina Gill and Taylor Ricci are all from Canada, while Isis Lowery is from Australia.
• The Beavers have 21 out of 24 routines returning from 2016 making lineup spots hard to come by.
RQS
Rankings have shifted from scoring average to Regional Qualifying Scores (RQS). A team's RQS is determined by taking the six best scores, three of which must come on the road, dropping the high score and then averaging the remaining scores. This week, after scoring 197.475 against UIC, the Beavers dropped their home score from their home win over Utah (196.550). This week they'll be looking to improve on their score from their road win at Arizona where they scored 196.200.
WHICH WAY DO WE GO?
The Beavers, like every other team in the country, are seeking to qualify to the NCAA Championships and the Super Six. But to reach that goal teams must get through NCAA Regionals. In 2017, regionals will be held at Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Washington and West Virginia. The top two finishers at each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo.
CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS
In the preseason coaches poll, the Pac-12 Conference had seven of its eight teams ranked in the Top 36, which is the number of teams that qualify to NCAA Regionals. Currently, UCLA is ranked No. 3, followed by No. 5 Utah, No. 10 Oregon State, No. 15 Washington, California is tied at No. 16, No. 30 Arizona and Stanford is No. 31.
THREE MORE FOR 2018
In November, two gymnasts signed the National Letters of Intent to join the Oregon State gymnastics program for the 2017-18 academic year. Savanna Force (Reno, Nev.) and Kaitlyn Yanish (Chandler, Ariz.) are scheduled to enroll at Oregon State this coming summer. In addition, Alexis Gonzales (Newport Beach, Calif.) signed an intent to enroll and will also join the OSU gymnastics program in July.
Players Mentioned
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's GymnasticsThe Mighty One | The Story of Lauren Letzsch
Sunday, June 08
2025 Gymnastics Banquet Video
Monday, April 28
Jade Carey Press Conference | National Championships
Friday, April 11
250401 Chaplin, Gonzales Regional Pre Presser
Tuesday, April 01
