March 24, 2009

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -

Five Oregon State gymnasts were recognized for the 2009 Pacific-10 Conference Women’s Gymnastics All-Conference teams, announced today by Commissioner Tom Hansen, Tuesday. All-conference veterans Jami Lanz and Mandi Rodriguez led the list for the Beavers while Laura-Ann Chong, Jen Kesler and Leslie Mak each earned the first All-Pac-10 awards of their career.

The All-Conference first team consists of the top six all-around competitors, plus the top three competitors in each individual event not among the all-around selections. Individuals may earn All-Conference honors in multiple individual events. The team is determined by a combination of 50 percent regional qualifying score (not including her score at the Pac-10 Championships) and 50 percent Pacific-10 Conference Championships score. The All-Conference second team consists of the next 10 individuals not honored on the first team.

Rodriguez, who was recently named as the Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year, has also earned first team All-Pac-10 in the all-around for the first time in her career. The junior from Baldwin Park, Calif., was a first team selection on the vault and floor exercise in 2008 and was all-conference on the vault in 2007. Rodriguez currently ranks No. 1 in the conference in the all-around and on floor exercise and is No. 2 on the vault while ranking fifth nationally on the vault and floor and seventh in the all-around. Last week at the Pac-10 Championships, Rodriguez scored 9.95 on the floor to secure the conference championship and shared the vault title with a 9.90.

Lanz, a senior from Eugene, Ore., received first team status in the all-around for the fourth straight year. Lanz scored 9.85 on three events at the conference championship meet last weekend to finish eighth in the all-around.

Receiving All-Pac-10 recognition for the first time are Chong, Kesler and Mak. Kesler, a sophomore from Kenmore, Wash., and Mak, a freshman from Toronto, Ontario, each received first team honors on the uneven bars. Mak ranks No. 4 in the nation on the event and Kesler ranks No. 8. Chong, a junior from Coquitlam, B.C., earned second team honors on the balance beam.

All of OSU’s gymnasts, including Rodriguez, Kesler and Mak’s Pac-10 title winning performances, can be seen on FSN NW Thursday, March 26 at noon and again Friday, March 27 at 8 p.m.

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