Aug. 17, 2011

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Head coach Tanya Chaplin announced Wednesday that Mandi Rodriguez has been named to the Oregon State gymnastics team’s staff as its volunteer assistant coach.

Rodriguez, a seven-time All-American, helped lead the Beavers to the NCAA Championships in each of her seasons at OSU from 2007-10. She’ll replace former OSU gymnast Kera Bolen, who recently accepted an assistant coaching position at Rutgers University.

“We are looking forward to having Mandi join our staff this season,” Chaplin said. “Mandi is an excellent coach and mentor to our athletes. She brings a lot of successful competition experience that translates well to our athletes as a coach.”

Rodriguez held the role of undergraduate coach last year while finishing her degree in exercise and sport science. During that time she spent the majority of her time assisting on the vault and uneven bars.

“I’m really excited to stay with this program, which has given me so many opportunities,” Rodriguez said. “I look forward to working with and continuing to learn from the Chaplin’s. I learned so much from a coaching perspective last year and I look forward to continuing to push myself in other areas of coaching this year.”

As a gymnast, Rodriguez tied the OSU record earning All-America status seven times and was named the Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year as a junior in 2009. She was a finalist for the AAI Award, annually awarded to the top senior gymnast in the nation in 2010 and recently was announced as a nominee for the 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year. Rodriguez earned All-American accolades on the vault three times and on the floor exercise and in the all-around twice each. At the 2010 NCAA Championships, Rodriguez finished third overall on the vault in Individual Event Finals – the best finish of her career.

In March, Rodriguez traveled to Guatemala on the first Beavers Without Borders trip where she helped to build a house for a family in need.

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