Five Beavers Named to All-Conference Team

SAN FRANCISCO – Five Oregon State gymnasts were honored on the 2017 Pac-12 Conference Women's Gymnastics All-Conference team announced Tuesday. Erika Aufiero, Dani Dessaints, Madeline Gardiner and Kaytianna McMillan earned first team honors and Mary Jacobsen received second team accolades.

The All-Conference first team consists of the top four all-around competitors, plus the top four competitors in each individual event, including ties, as determined by regional qualifying scores (RQS) after the Pac-12 Championships. The All-Conference second team consists of the fifth through eighth place all-around competitors, plus the fifth through eighth place competitors in each individual event, including ties.

McMillan, who was recently named the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year, earned first team All-Pac-12 in the all-around for the first time in her career. In addition, McMillan, a senior from Coburg, Ore., garnered first team honors on the floor exercise, also a first, and second team on the vault. McMillan, who majors in human development and family sciences, twice earned Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week honors this season as she has collected 24 event titles in 2017 including eight wins in the all-around and nine on the floor. McMillan concluded the regular season ranked No. 9 in the all-around. Previously she has been an all-conference selection on uneven bars (2016) and balance beam (2015).

Gardiner, a senior from Cambridge, Ontario, earned Pac-12 first team on the balance beam and second team in the all-around. In 2017, Gardiner has performed in the all-around in eight meets and has hit all 40 of her routines thus far. This season, the exercise and sport science major, has earned seven event titles on the beam and was named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Gardiner has previously been named first team all-conference in the all-around (2015 and '16) and was second team on the beam in 2014.

Aufiero, a senior from Sparks, Nev., is a first team All-Pac-12 selection on the uneven bars in 2017. She has bounced back from injury that cost her the 2016 season to perform at an all-conference level. Aufiero, who is majoring in finance and accountancy, has previously earned all-conference accolades on vault and bars. Last weekend, Aufiero scored a 9.950 on bars at Pac-12 Championships to earn the conference title.

Dessaints, a junior from Las Vegas, Nev., received the first all-conference award of her career, earning first team All-Pac-12 on the vault. Dessaints, who is majoring in sociology, tied her career-best with a 9.950 on the vault at Pac-12 Championships last week to tie for the event title.

Jacobsen, a sophomore from Puyallup, Wash., was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference second team on the vault. The computer science major, has 'hit' 29 out of 30 routines in 2017 and tallied a career-best 9.90 at Pac-12 Championships last week.

The Beavers travel to the NCAA Champaign Regional Championships hosted by Illinois next Saturday, April 1 at 2 p.m. PT.

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Players Mentioned

Erika Aufiero

Dani Dessaints

Madeline Gardiner

Mary Jacobsen

Kaytianna McMillan

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