Photo by: Mark Hoffman
Beavers Ready for Regionals in Illinois
March 27, 2017 | Women's Gymnastics
THE MEET
The No. 8 Oregon State gymnastics team (15-3) is back on the road as the postseason begins. The Beavers will compete at the NCAA Champaign Regional Championships Saturday, April 1 at 2 p.m. PT. The meet will be hosted by the University of Illinois at the State Farm Center and will stream live at www.FightingIllini.com ... the Beavers enter the meet as the second-seed facing No. 5 UCLA, No. 17 Iowa, No. 19 Illinois, No. 22 Eastern Michigan and No. 26 Ohio State ... Oregon State has the Olympic order in Champaign beginning on the vault, then a bye followed by uneven bars and balance beam, then a second bye rotation and finishing on the floor exercise.
QUICKLY
The Beavers concluded the regular season ranked No. 8 ... all four of OSU's lineups are ranked among the top 12 in the nation. The beam lineup is the highest ranked for the Beavers at No. 8 (49.305 regional qualifying score), while the bars (49.265) and floor (49.320) are ranked at No. 10, and the vault lineup is 12th (49.195) ... OSU's roster includes four All-Americans - Erika Aufiero, Dani Dessaints, Madeline Gardiner and Kaytianna McMillan - each of whom were recognized by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coachs/Women (NACGC/W) last week. Gardiner earned first team honors on the beam while McMillan received second team in the all-around and on the floor. Aufiero (bars) and Dessaints (vault) each received second team accolades ... Gardiner and McMillan were announced as two of seven finalists for the AAI Award, annually given to the top senior gymnast in the country ... McMillan was named as the Pac-12 Gymnast of the year following Pac-12 Championships March 18 ... five OSU gymnasts earned Pac-12 All-Conference honors last week. McMillan earned first team honors in the all-around and on the floor, and second team on vault, while Gardiner received first team accolades on the beam and second team in the all-around. Aufiero and Dessaints were first teamers on the bars and vault respectively. Mary Jacobsen earned second team on the vault ... at Pac-12 Championships, Aufiero scored 9.950 on the bars to win the conference title for the first time in her career and Dessaints scored 9.950 to walk away as the Pac-12 co-champion on the vault ... Tanya Chaplin is in her 20th season as the Beavers' head coach and won the 300th regular season win of her career earlier this season at Seattle Pacific.
OSU AT REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Here are some quick hitters about Oregon State's history in the NCAA Regional Championships:
• Oregon State has reached the regional round of postseason competition for hte 43rd consecutive season.
• OSU has won regional titles 10 times with the most recent coming in 2011 in Corvallis.
• 33 OSU gymnasts have combined to win 69 individual regional titles.
• Two current OSU gymnasts already have NCAA Regional titles to their credit - Kaytianna McMillan (beam, 2014) and Madeline Gardiner (all-around, 2015).
• Oregon State has faced only one of the other five teams in the field this season. The Beavers fell to UCLA in a dual in Corvallis (197.325-196.700) but more recenlty defeated the Bruins at Pac-12 Championships (197.400-197.100).
VS. UCLA
OSU meets UCLA at a neutral site for the 56th time this week with the Bruins leading 45-10 in those match-ups. The teams have split their meetings in 2017, with the Bruins winning in Corvallis, while the Beavers took second, ahead of UCLA at Pac-12 Championships two weeks ago. Overall, UCLA leads the all-time series 82-28-1.
VS. IOWA
This match-up is the sixth all-time between the Beavers and Hawkeyes with OSU holding a 4-1 series advantage. The teams have not met since the NCAA Corvallis Regional in 2011, which the Beavers won (197.075) and Iowa finished fifth (193.925).
VS. ILLINOIS
OSU meets Illinois for the fifth time this weekend. The Beavers lead the all-time series 3-1 but have never traveled to Champaign. The last meeting between the teams came in the season-opener in Corvallis in 2010 with the Beavers winning a quad meet 195.625-192.850.
VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN
This will be the second time the Beavers and Eagles have met with OSU holding a 1-0 series lead. The teams last met at a quad meet at University of Washington. OSU finished third, ahead of EMU 195.800-194.475.
VS. OHIO STATE
Oregon State leads the all-time series with the Buckeyes 10-4 with the most recent meeting a 195.200-194.750 season-opening for the Beavers in Columbus in 2014. However, the teams are 3-3 at neutral sites and Oregon State holds just a 4-3 advantage in the postseason.
LAST YEAR AT REGIONALS
Oregon State, which entered the NCAA Athens Regional as the third-seed, hit 23 out of 24 routines and welcomed Kaytianna McMillan to the all-around for the first time all season but finished third, missing out on NCAA Championships in 2016. Madeline Gardiner qualified to the championship round as a individual all-around competitor and Risa Perez tied for the beam title to advance as an event specialist.
OREGON STATE NOTES
Here are some quick hitters about the Oregon State gymnastics team in 2017:
• OSU eclipsed the 197-point mark last week for the fourth meet in a row for the first time in program history. Previously, the Beavers had hit the 197-point mark in three straight meets twice, in 2004 and 2013. Â
• The Beavers have counted only 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' 255 out of 264 (96.6%) routines in 2017 ... in comparison, the Beavers 'hit' 276 out of 290 (95.2%) routines last year.
• The Beavers have gone 24-for-24 five times in 2017. The team accomplished the feat the first time this season in the third meet of the season, against Northern Illinois & Seattle Pacific, and repeated that performance the very next week against UCLA. In 2016, it took until the season's seventh meet to 'hit' all 24 routines.
• Through 11 meets, OSU's senior-laden squad is doing some heavy lifting performing more than half of the team's routines - 150 of 264 (56.8%). The rest of the squad is contributing as follows: juniors 30 of 264 (11.4%); sophomores 47 of 264 (17.8%); freshmen 37 of 264 (14.0%).
• Eighteen of Oregon State's 20 gymnasts earned 3.0 or higher GPA's during fall term.
• In the spirit of the DAM Cancer earlier this season, OSU gymnasts Halli Briscoe, Mariana Colussi-Pelaez, Jaime Law and McKenna Singley, along with OSU women's basketball star, Sydney Wiese, participated in a Haircuts for Cancer event. Colussi-Pelaez and Law were scheduled for the event, while Briscoe and Singley jumped in spur of the moment.
• Three of OSU's freshmen have made their collegiate debuts in 2017 - Destinee Davis, Sabrina Gill and Isis Lowery.
• 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 and each earned NACGC/W Regular Season All-America honors.
• 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.
• 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.
LAST WEEK TIME IN COMPETITION
Oregon State entered Pac-12 Championships as the third-seeded team but executed all evening hitting all 24 routines to score 197.400 and finish second behind Utah. Kaytianna McMillan and Madeline Gardiner led the Beavers with strong performances en route to all-around scores of 39.450 and 39.400 respectively. Erika Aufiero was brilliant on the uneven bars posting a score of 9.950, a score that held up to make her the Pac-12 champion on the bars. Dani Dessaints performed a fantastic vault also scoring 9.950, which eventually led to co-champion status. Along the way, the Beavers set season-best scores on vault (49.325) and in the final rotation on the beam (49.525).
AWARDS SEASON
Here is a list of awards the Beavers have earned this postseason:
• AAI Award finalists - Madeline Gardiner and Kaytianna McMillan.
• NACGC/W Regular Season All-Americans - Madeline Gardiner (first team, BB); Kaytianna McMillan (second team, AA & FX); Erika Aufiero (second team, UB), Dani Dessaints (second team, V).
• Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year - Kaytianna McMillan.
• Pac-12 All-Conference - Kaytianna McMillan (first team - AA & FX, second team - V); Madeline Gardiner (first team - BB, second team - AA); Erika Aufiero (first team - UB); Dani Dessaints (first team - V); Mary Jacobsen (second team - V).
• Pac-12 champions - Erika Aufiero (bars champion); Dani Dessaints (vault co-champion).
SEEKING PERFECTION
OSU has six gymnasts that have 'hit' all of their routines in 2017 include: Madeline Gardiner (40-40), Silvia Colussi-Pelaez (16-16), Taylor Ricci (14-14), Megan Jimenez (13-13), Shireen Khamedoost (8-8) and Destinee Davis (1-1).
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, Utah is ranked No. 4, followed by No. 5 UCLA, No. 8 Oregon State, No. 13 Washington, California is at No. 16, No. 25 Arizona and Stanford is No. 32.
The No. 8 Oregon State gymnastics team (15-3) is back on the road as the postseason begins. The Beavers will compete at the NCAA Champaign Regional Championships Saturday, April 1 at 2 p.m. PT. The meet will be hosted by the University of Illinois at the State Farm Center and will stream live at www.FightingIllini.com ... the Beavers enter the meet as the second-seed facing No. 5 UCLA, No. 17 Iowa, No. 19 Illinois, No. 22 Eastern Michigan and No. 26 Ohio State ... Oregon State has the Olympic order in Champaign beginning on the vault, then a bye followed by uneven bars and balance beam, then a second bye rotation and finishing on the floor exercise.
QUICKLY
The Beavers concluded the regular season ranked No. 8 ... all four of OSU's lineups are ranked among the top 12 in the nation. The beam lineup is the highest ranked for the Beavers at No. 8 (49.305 regional qualifying score), while the bars (49.265) and floor (49.320) are ranked at No. 10, and the vault lineup is 12th (49.195) ... OSU's roster includes four All-Americans - Erika Aufiero, Dani Dessaints, Madeline Gardiner and Kaytianna McMillan - each of whom were recognized by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coachs/Women (NACGC/W) last week. Gardiner earned first team honors on the beam while McMillan received second team in the all-around and on the floor. Aufiero (bars) and Dessaints (vault) each received second team accolades ... Gardiner and McMillan were announced as two of seven finalists for the AAI Award, annually given to the top senior gymnast in the country ... McMillan was named as the Pac-12 Gymnast of the year following Pac-12 Championships March 18 ... five OSU gymnasts earned Pac-12 All-Conference honors last week. McMillan earned first team honors in the all-around and on the floor, and second team on vault, while Gardiner received first team accolades on the beam and second team in the all-around. Aufiero and Dessaints were first teamers on the bars and vault respectively. Mary Jacobsen earned second team on the vault ... at Pac-12 Championships, Aufiero scored 9.950 on the bars to win the conference title for the first time in her career and Dessaints scored 9.950 to walk away as the Pac-12 co-champion on the vault ... Tanya Chaplin is in her 20th season as the Beavers' head coach and won the 300th regular season win of her career earlier this season at Seattle Pacific.
OSU AT REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Here are some quick hitters about Oregon State's history in the NCAA Regional Championships:
• Oregon State has reached the regional round of postseason competition for hte 43rd consecutive season.
• OSU has won regional titles 10 times with the most recent coming in 2011 in Corvallis.
• 33 OSU gymnasts have combined to win 69 individual regional titles.
• Two current OSU gymnasts already have NCAA Regional titles to their credit - Kaytianna McMillan (beam, 2014) and Madeline Gardiner (all-around, 2015).
• Oregon State has faced only one of the other five teams in the field this season. The Beavers fell to UCLA in a dual in Corvallis (197.325-196.700) but more recenlty defeated the Bruins at Pac-12 Championships (197.400-197.100).
VS. UCLA
OSU meets UCLA at a neutral site for the 56th time this week with the Bruins leading 45-10 in those match-ups. The teams have split their meetings in 2017, with the Bruins winning in Corvallis, while the Beavers took second, ahead of UCLA at Pac-12 Championships two weeks ago. Overall, UCLA leads the all-time series 82-28-1.
VS. IOWA
This match-up is the sixth all-time between the Beavers and Hawkeyes with OSU holding a 4-1 series advantage. The teams have not met since the NCAA Corvallis Regional in 2011, which the Beavers won (197.075) and Iowa finished fifth (193.925).
VS. ILLINOIS
OSU meets Illinois for the fifth time this weekend. The Beavers lead the all-time series 3-1 but have never traveled to Champaign. The last meeting between the teams came in the season-opener in Corvallis in 2010 with the Beavers winning a quad meet 195.625-192.850.
VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN
This will be the second time the Beavers and Eagles have met with OSU holding a 1-0 series lead. The teams last met at a quad meet at University of Washington. OSU finished third, ahead of EMU 195.800-194.475.
VS. OHIO STATE
Oregon State leads the all-time series with the Buckeyes 10-4 with the most recent meeting a 195.200-194.750 season-opening for the Beavers in Columbus in 2014. However, the teams are 3-3 at neutral sites and Oregon State holds just a 4-3 advantage in the postseason.
LAST YEAR AT REGIONALS
Oregon State, which entered the NCAA Athens Regional as the third-seed, hit 23 out of 24 routines and welcomed Kaytianna McMillan to the all-around for the first time all season but finished third, missing out on NCAA Championships in 2016. Madeline Gardiner qualified to the championship round as a individual all-around competitor and Risa Perez tied for the beam title to advance as an event specialist.
OREGON STATE NOTES
Here are some quick hitters about the Oregon State gymnastics team in 2017:
• OSU eclipsed the 197-point mark last week for the fourth meet in a row for the first time in program history. Previously, the Beavers had hit the 197-point mark in three straight meets twice, in 2004 and 2013. Â
• The Beavers have counted only 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' 255 out of 264 (96.6%) routines in 2017 ... in comparison, the Beavers 'hit' 276 out of 290 (95.2%) routines last year.
• The Beavers have gone 24-for-24 five times in 2017. The team accomplished the feat the first time this season in the third meet of the season, against Northern Illinois & Seattle Pacific, and repeated that performance the very next week against UCLA. In 2016, it took until the season's seventh meet to 'hit' all 24 routines.
• Through 11 meets, OSU's senior-laden squad is doing some heavy lifting performing more than half of the team's routines - 150 of 264 (56.8%). The rest of the squad is contributing as follows: juniors 30 of 264 (11.4%); sophomores 47 of 264 (17.8%); freshmen 37 of 264 (14.0%).
• Eighteen of Oregon State's 20 gymnasts earned 3.0 or higher GPA's during fall term.
• In the spirit of the DAM Cancer earlier this season, OSU gymnasts Halli Briscoe, Mariana Colussi-Pelaez, Jaime Law and McKenna Singley, along with OSU women's basketball star, Sydney Wiese, participated in a Haircuts for Cancer event. Colussi-Pelaez and Law were scheduled for the event, while Briscoe and Singley jumped in spur of the moment.
• Three of OSU's freshmen have made their collegiate debuts in 2017 - Destinee Davis, Sabrina Gill and Isis Lowery.
• 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 and each earned NACGC/W Regular Season All-America honors.
• 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.
• 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.
LAST WEEK TIME IN COMPETITION
Oregon State entered Pac-12 Championships as the third-seeded team but executed all evening hitting all 24 routines to score 197.400 and finish second behind Utah. Kaytianna McMillan and Madeline Gardiner led the Beavers with strong performances en route to all-around scores of 39.450 and 39.400 respectively. Erika Aufiero was brilliant on the uneven bars posting a score of 9.950, a score that held up to make her the Pac-12 champion on the bars. Dani Dessaints performed a fantastic vault also scoring 9.950, which eventually led to co-champion status. Along the way, the Beavers set season-best scores on vault (49.325) and in the final rotation on the beam (49.525).
AWARDS SEASON
Here is a list of awards the Beavers have earned this postseason:
• AAI Award finalists - Madeline Gardiner and Kaytianna McMillan.
• NACGC/W Regular Season All-Americans - Madeline Gardiner (first team, BB); Kaytianna McMillan (second team, AA & FX); Erika Aufiero (second team, UB), Dani Dessaints (second team, V).
• Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year - Kaytianna McMillan.
• Pac-12 All-Conference - Kaytianna McMillan (first team - AA & FX, second team - V); Madeline Gardiner (first team - BB, second team - AA); Erika Aufiero (first team - UB); Dani Dessaints (first team - V); Mary Jacobsen (second team - V).
• Pac-12 champions - Erika Aufiero (bars champion); Dani Dessaints (vault co-champion).
SEEKING PERFECTION
OSU has six gymnasts that have 'hit' all of their routines in 2017 include: Madeline Gardiner (40-40), Silvia Colussi-Pelaez (16-16), Taylor Ricci (14-14), Megan Jimenez (13-13), Shireen Khamedoost (8-8) and Destinee Davis (1-1).
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, Utah is ranked No. 4, followed by No. 5 UCLA, No. 8 Oregon State, No. 13 Washington, California is at No. 16, No. 25 Arizona and Stanford is No. 32.
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