Michael Chaplin Hometown: Albuquerque, N.M. Position: Associate Head Coach Experience: 14th Year Alma Mater: UCLA '90

Associate head coach Michael Chaplin recently completed his 14th season at Oregon State. After spending his first seven seasons at OSU as an assistant coach, Chaplin was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2005 season. Chaplin serves as OSU's vault and tumbling coach and is the Beavers' recruiting coordinator.

OSU's vaulters have had a wealth of success since his arrival. Chaplin coached the Beavers to some of their best-ever finishes on vault at the 2001 and 2007 NCAA Championships. On both occasions two Beavers earned first team All-America honors on the event. In 2001, Katrina Severin's second-place finish on vault is the best ever by an Oregon State gymnast, while Lara Degenhardt's sixth place finish is OSU's fifth best performance. In 2007, Mandi Rodriguez vaulted to a fifth place finish while Tasha Smith finished 11th. Those performances marked only the second and third times OSU has had two first team All-American vaulters in the same season.

Chaplin helped lead the Beavers to a second straight eighth place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2011 as well as NCAA Regional and Pac-10 Conference titles. One of Chaplin's greatest projects came last season when he added Leslie Mak to the vault lineup after she had stopped working the event four years prior. Mak went on to win a Pac-10 title in the all-around and was named Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year. His leadership also helped Makayla Stambaugh earn All-America First Team honors on the floor exercise for the second year in a row. Stambaugh ended the Individual Event Finals with an eighth place finish.

In 2010, Rodriguez reached event finals for the third time in her career finishing third overall - the second-best vault finish in OSU history - in earning the ninth All-America honor under Chaplin's instruction. On the floor exercise, Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, Stambaugh, also reached event finals finishing 13th. In addition, Becky Colvin earned All-Pac-10 honors on the vault.

In 2009, Rodriguez and Jami Lanz earned the seventh and eighth All-American honors under his supervision. Rodriguez, who advanced to event finals for the second time in her career, finished seventh overall. In addition, Rodriguez and Tasha Smith also became the third and fourth gymnasts to earn All-America honors on the floor exercise since his arrival at OSU. Rodriguez also became the fourth gymnast to win the Pac-10 title on vault and fifth to win on floor under his tutelage.

Chaplin was named the West Region Co-Assistant Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003, sharing his most recent honor with former Oregon State assistant Dick Foxal. In 1999, the Beaver vaulters tied the school record with a 49.475 at the Pacific-10 Championships and ranked 10th in the nation as a team. Three of his vaulters scored a 9.925 or better that year, and the Pac-10 and NCAA Region 1 vault champions came from OSU.

The 2003 vault team was ranked among the nation's best. Six vaulters competed a 10.0-valued vault, and the Beavers scored a 49.00 or better nine times after doing so just twice in 2002.

Chaplin arrived at OSU after spending three years as an assistant coach at Seattle Pacific, where he primarily coached bars and vault. During his three years, SPU had two national champions on bars and one on vault. In 1997, SPU won the USAG Division II national championship, making Chaplin part of a second national championship team.

Chaplin earned his first national championship as a student-athlete at UCLA. A two-time All-American and four-year letterman, he was a member of UCLA's 1987 national championship team. In 1989, he was the Pac-10 champion on the still rings and finished fifth in the nation on the event. During his collegiate career, Chaplin also made the U.S. Senior National team and represented the United States in meets in England, Brazil, China and against the former Soviet Union. Chaplin was an alternate on the 1987 World Championship team and he place 13th in the all-around at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials.

In 1990, Chaplin began coaching men's and women's gymnastics at the club level. In 1992, he served as gymnastics program director and head men's coach at the Tacoma/Pierce County YMCA. During his three years at the YMCA, he had several athletes qualify for the U.S. Junior National championships.

In high school, Chaplin trained at Gold Cup gymnastics in his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M., and was a member of the U.S. Junior National team his junior and senior years.

Chaplin, a native of Albuquerque, N.M., graduated from UCLA in 1990 with a degree in political science. His wife, Tanya, is also heading toward her 15th season as head coach at OSU. The Chaplin's have one daughter, Alana.