Aufiero Nears Perfection, Beavs Beat Huskies

Sunday, March 5

Corvallis, Ore.

12:00 PM

Oregon State

197.325

196.450

Washington

Photo by: Karl Maasdam/Oregon State Athletics

March 05, 2017 | Women's Gymnastics

Meet Results Results

By: Oregon State Communications

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State gymnastics team surpassed the 197-point barrier for the second meet in a row and posted a season-high team score on Sunday in a 197.325-196.450 victory over No. 17 Washington in its final Pac-12 meet of the season.

The ninth-ranked Beavers (8-2, 4-2 Pac-12) scored 197 or higher in back-to-back meets for the first time since the 2013 season, delighting the Gill Coliseum crowd of 2,876. They also improved their season-high score for the second straight meet; their previous best (197.125) came in a victory at Stanford on February 24. The 197.325 ties the eighth-highest team score in program history.

"We have some lower home scores, so it's nice to be able to drop those," OSU coach Tanya Chaplin said. "As long as we can continue to [score in] that 197 range, that allows us to count the 197 we just got on the road.

"That makes a big difference and will help us continue to stay where we need to in the rankings."

OSU swept the individual events and senior Kaytianna McMillan claimed the all-around with a career-best 39.625, tying for the sixth-highest all-around score in OSU history. She took first on floor (9.925); tied for second on bars (9.90); placed third on vault (9.875) and tied for third on beam (9.925). Her previous all-around best was 39.575.

"It is incredible, it is an amazing feeling, and all of our hard work we are doing is really paying off," McMillan said. "Last weekend we had a season high as well, so just being able to build off of that has been incredible."

Senior Erika Aufiero neared perfection, got a 10.0 score from one judge and set a PR of 9.975 while winning the bars. Her former high was 9.925.

"I try not to look at the scores, they just set the foundation," Aufiero said. "We try to focus on what we can control, so when I know they hit it, it just gives me that extra boost of confidence. It helps to take the pressure off one another, when we each hit.

"Being in a calm state of mind really helps me. I don't focus on the scores I just focus on doing the best of my ability. The judges control the scores and I control my gymnastics.

"As long as I go up there and know I gave 100 percent, that is all I can ask for, and I hope the judges are on the same page. At the end of the day I just want to know that I did my best."

Senior Madeline Gardiner tied for first on vault with a personal-best 9.90 and tied for first on beam with a 9.950. She was fifth on bars (9.850), tied for eighth on floor (9.775) and was second in the all-around at 39.475, a whisker short of her PR of 39.500.

Junior Dani Dessaints tied Gardiner for top honors on beam with a PR of 9.950, and tied for fourth on vault (9.850). Silvia Colussi-Pelaez (9.900) and Isis Lowery (9.850) went 2-3 on floor; McKenna Singley PRed (9.875) while placing fourth on bars and Mary Jacobsen tied Dessaints for fourth on vault.

The Beavers hit 23 of 24 routines but did not count a fall. They posted season-high 49.425s on bars and beam and their No. 2 score on vault (49.250) and their No. 5 score on floor (49.225).

"There were good performances on every event," Chaplin said. "Across the board, they really did a good job. There were highlights and there were some little rough edges here and there.

"What was good to see is that they kept fighting. They didn't let a mishap or missed routine prevent them from going out and finishing strong and making all five of the rest of the routines count."

OSU concludes the regular season at 2 p.m. March 11 with the annual Senior Day meet, against Illinois-Chicago at Gill Coliseum. The Pac-12 Championships follow on March 18.

Team Scores: No. 9 Oregon State 197.325; No. 17 Washington 196.450.
All-Around: 1. Kaytianna McMillan (OSU) 39.625; 2. Madeline Gardiner (OSU) 39.475; 3. Joslyn Goings (WASH) 39.275.
Vault (49.250): T1. Madeline Gardiner (OSU), Haley Roy (WASH) 9.900; 3. Kaytianna McMillan (OSU) 9.875. Other OSU Scores: Madeline Gardiner 9.900; Kaytianna McMillan 9.875; Dani Dessaints 9.850; Mary Jacobsen 9.850; Erika Aufiero 9.775; Shireen Khamedoost 9.775 (Exhibition – Taylor Ricci 9.725).
Uneven Bars (49.425): 1. Erika Aufiero (OSU) 9.975; T2. Kaytianna McMillan (OSU), Madison Copiak (WASH) 9.900. Other OSU Scores: McKenna Singley 9.875; Madeline Gardiner 9.850; Shireen Khamedoost 9.825; Mary Jacobsen 9.125 (Exhibition – Mariana Colussi-Pelaez 9.800).
Balance Beam (49.425): T1. Dani Dessaints (OSU), Madeline Gardiner (OSU) 9.950; T3. Kaytianna McMillan (OSU), Hailey Burleson (WASH) 9.925. Other OSU Scores: Megan Jimenez 9.800; Sabrina Gill 9.800; Silvia Colussi-Pelaez 9.775 (Exhibition – Destinee Davis 9.775).
Floor Exercise (49.225): 1. Kaytianna McMillan (OSU) 9.925; 2. Silvia Colussi-Pelaez (OSU) 9.900; T3. Isis Lowery (OSU), Alexandra Yacalis (WASH), Hailey Burleson (WASH) 9.850. Other OSU Scores: Madeline Gardiner 9.775; Erika Aufiero 9.775; Mary Jacobsen 9.675 (Exhibition – Taylor Ricci 9.775).