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 | Position:
Associate Head Coach
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| Experience:
Eighth Season
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After spending seven season as an assistant coach with Oregon State, Michael Chaplin has been promoted to associate head coach as he begins his eighth season with the Beavers. Chaplin serves as OSU's vault and floor coach and recruiting coordinator.
OSU vaulters have been particularly successful since his arrival. Chaplin led the Beavers to their best-ever finish on vault at the 2001 NCAA Championships, when OSU had two first team All-Americans on the event. Katrina Severin's second-place finish on vault was the best ever by a Beaver, while Lara Degenhardt's sixth place finish was OSU's fourth best. Their performances marked only the second time OSU had had two first team All-American vaulters in the same season (the other was 1988).
Chaplin was named the West Region Co-Assistant Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003, sharing his most recent honor with fellow Beaver 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 Pacific-10 and NCAA Region 1 vault champions came from Oregon State. 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 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 an athlete at UCLA. A two-time All-American and four-year letterwinner, 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 placed 13th 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.
He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from UCLA in 1990. He and his wife, Tanya, have one daughter, Alana, who will turn 8 in January.
