Season Ends for Beavers with Sixth Place Finish at NCAAs

Friday, April 14

Oregon State

NCAA Championship Finish

Season Ends for Beavers with Sixth Place Finish at NCAAs

April 14, 2017 | Women's Gymnastics

By: Oregon State Communications

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Oregon State gymnastics team ended its season with a sixth finish at the NCAA Championships Semifinals Friday afternoon. The Beavers used a strong finish on the balance beam in their final rotation to close the gap for fourth with an overall score of 196.3625.

Six seniors – Erika Aufiero, Silvia Colussi-Pelaez, Madeline Gardiner, Megan Jimenez, Kaytianna McMillan and Taylor Ricci – performed in their final competition for the Beavers performing 15 out of 24 routines. Gardiner led the Beavers scoring 39.3625 in the all-around, while McMillan posted an all-around score of 39.2750.

"We finished strong on the beam and that's a testament to the attitude and persistence of this squad," head coach Tanya Chaplin said. "We had some very good moments but just didn't put enough together today to advance. We knew this would be a tough field and that you have to be spot on all the way through each routine, but that wasn't us today. When you take deductions on the dismounts it adds up and that was the difference."

The Beavers opened the meet scoring 49.0875 on the floor exercise to tie with Utah for first place. The back half of the floor lineup posted strong scores with Silvia Colussi-Pelaez posting a mark of 9.80. Gardiner performed a beautiful routine to tally a 9.875 and McMillan capped the lineup with a score of 9.90.

In the second rotation, Oregon State moved to vault where Aufiero nailed one of her best vaults of the season from the leadoff spot to score 9.80 and Mary Jacobsen added her own 9.80. Dani Dessaints anchored the lineup with a high amplitude vault to score a team-best 9.8375 giving the Beavers a team score of 49.000.

Following a bye, Oregon State had taken a trailing position at 98.0875 with the uneven bars and balance beam ahead. Gardiner led off with a solid routine to score 9.7875, but the Beavers couldn't outdo her until late in the lineup. Aufiero stepped up in the anchor position to perform a fantastic routine to score 9.8875 to tie for fifth in the session.

Finishing the meet on the beam, the Beavers got right to work with Jimenez leading off with a solid routine to score 9.7875, which Sabrina Gill followed with a 9.80. In the middle of the order, Colussi-Pelaez performed what she later referred to as "the best beam routine of my life" to score a 9.90 and McMillan completed a 9.8625 routine. Dessaints notched a 9.8875 in a beautiful performance and Gardiner closed out the Beavers' scoring with a 9.9125 to tie for fourth in the meet to finish with a 49.3625 on the event.

Team Scores: 1. Oklahoma 197.7250; 2. UCLA 197.500; 3. Utah 197.050; 4. Washington 196.5625; 5. Denver 196.4750; 6. Oregon State 196.3625.
All-Around: 1. MyKayla Skinner (UTAH) 39.6125; 2. Chayse Capps (OU) 39.5750; 3. Madison Kocian (UCLA) 39.550. OSU Scores: Madeline Gardiner 39.3625; Kaytianna McMillan 39.2750.
Vault (49.0000): T1. MyKayla Skinner (UTAH), Chayse Capps (OU), AJ Jackson (OU), Maggie Nichols (OU) 9.9000. OSU Scores: Dani Dessaints 9.8375; Erika Aufiero 9.8000; Mary Jacobsen 9.8000; Madeline Gardiner 9.7875; Kaytianna McMillan 9.7750; Sabrina Gill 9.7500.
Uneven Bars (48.9125): T1. Kyla Ross (UCLA), Nicole Lehrmann (OU), Maggie Nichols (OU) 9.9500. OSU Scores: Erika Aufiero 9.8875; Madeline Gardiner 9.7875; Mary Jacobsen 9.7625; Kaytianna McMillan 9.7375; Mariana Colussi-Pelaez 9.7375; McKenna Singley 9.4500.
Balance Beam (49.3625): 1. Kyla Ross (UCLA) 9.9625; 2. Chayse Capps (OU) 9.9500; 3. Nicole Lehrmann (OU) 9.9250. OSU Scores: Madeline Gardiner 9.9125; Silvia Colussi-Pelaez 9.9000; Dani Dessaints 9.8875; Kaytianna McMillan 9.8625; Sabrina Gill 9.8000; Megan Jimenez 9.7875.
Floor Exercise (49.0875): 1. MyKayla Skinner (UTAH) 9.9625; 2. Madison Kocian (UCLA) 9.9375; T3. Maggie Nichols (OU), AJ Jackson (OU), Angi Cipra (UCLA), Hallie Mossett (UCLA), Baely Rowe (UTAH) 9.9250. OSU Scores: Kaytianna McMillan 9.9000; Madeline Gardiner 9.8750; Silvia Colussi-Pelaez 9.8000; Isis Lowery 9.7625; Erika Aufiero 9.7500; Taylor Ricci 9.5625.