Oregon State
Boise State
No. 8 Beavers Lower Boom on Broncos, Remain Unbeaten
February 24, 2012 | Women's Gymnastics
Feb. 24, 2012
Complete Results
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CORVALLIS -
The No. 8 Oregon State gymnastics team bested No. 16 Boise State 196.875-195.375 Friday night at Gill Coliseum in front of 3,546 fans. The win over the Broncos is the sixth over a top 25 team in 2012. Senior Leslie Mak won three events and all-around with a score of 39.500.
With the victory Oregon State remains unbeaten this season with a record of 8-0-1, while the Broncos fall to 6-4. The win marks the 15th in a row over Boise State dating back to 1999.
In the opening stanza, the Beavers tied their season-high on the vault for the third straight week setting a tone of excellence early on. Freshman Chelsea Tang, who has battled an elbow injury since the early weeks of the season, performed an outstanding vault to open the meet for the Beavers tying her career-high with a 9.825. Following solid scores of 9.80 and 9.825 from Mak and Brittany Harris, reigning Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week Makayla Stambaugh nailed her vault to score a personal-best tying 9.875. Kelsi Blalock quickly matched Stambaugh's effort with a 9.875 of her own to tie for the event title and give the Beavers a team score of 49.200 to establish an early lead on the Broncos.
"That was probably the best we've done this year on vault," associate head coach Michael Chaplin said. "We stuck some vaults at UC Davis but that event is something we've really had let develop this year. That's part of the cycle you go through during the season, trying to make a little progress every meet and keep pushing on."
"I have always had a negative attitude towards vault because it has always been the hardest event for me," Stambaugh said. "But I have really worked hard on improving my attitude and I think that has helped my performance. I feel more confident at it and now I am able to go for those finer details."
Holding a slim lead 49.200-49.075 heading into the second rotation, the Beavers looked to one of their strengths to put some distance on the Broncos. Hannah Casey led off with a solid routine to score 9.775 and Harris added a 9.80. Stambaugh performed a beautiful routine to score 9.875 drawing the ire of the crowd, which thought the performance merited a higher mark. Mak and Olivia Vivian followed with stellar turns tallying back-to-back 9.90's to tie for the event lead giving OSU a team score of 49.250 on the event.
With the Broncos performing well on their best event, the vault, the Beavers only slightly opened the gap to 98.450-98.175 at the mid-point in the meet. In the third rotation, Stambaugh scored 9.725 to lead off the beam team, then routines by Blalock and Harris earned consecutive scores of 9.80. Melanie Jones negotiated a strong beam routine to score 9.85 and Vivian delivered a 9.825 to set up Mak, OSU's beam anchor. Mak deftly worked the apparatus to the tune of a 9.90 to win the event. The Beavers' six-for-six beam performance widened the gap, as the Broncos were short-handed with only five floor exercise performers and had two out-of-bounds miscues hinder their efforts.
Oregon State carried a 147.625-147.025 lead into the final event, the floor exercise, where it rarely falters. Friday was no exception with Blalock and Harris posting scores of 9.775 and 9.80 respectively to get things started for the Beavers' floor corps. Jones performed a riveting routine to score 9.875 and Mak and Stambaugh tallied matching scores of 9.90 to tie for the event title and secure victory for the Orange and Black.
"It is reassuring for us to know that tonight's meet could have been better, yet the scores keep increasing," Mak said. "It's nice to know that we can do better, or not have a so-good day and still get a good score."
The Beavers will travel to the Mountain Time Zone each of the next two weeks first going to Utah to face the No. 5 Utes next Friday, Mar. 2, and then to face the University of Denver Saturday, Mar. 10.
Team Scores: No. 8 Oregon State 196.875; No. 16 Boise State 195.375.
All-Around: 1. Leslie Mak (OSU) 39.500; 2. Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) 39.375; 3. Brittany Harris (OSU) 39.225. Other OSU Scores: Melanie Jones 39.125.
Vault (49.200): 1. Makayla Stambaugh (OSU), Kelsi Blalock (OSU) 9.875; t3. Ciera Perkins (BSU), Amy Glass (BSU) 9.850. Other OSU Scores: Chelsea Tang 9.825; Brittany Harris 9.825; Leslie Mak 9.800; Melanie Jones 9.725 (Exhibition - Cerise Witherby 9.675).
Uneven Bars (49.250): t1. Leslie Mak (OSU), Olivia Vivian (OSU) 9.900; t3. Makayla Stambaugh (OSU), Brittany Potvin-Green (BSU) 9.875. Other OSU Scores: Brittany Harris 9.800; Hannah Casey 9.775; Melanie Jones 9.675 (Exhibition - Taylor Keeker 9.625).
Balance Beam (49.175): 1. Leslie Mak (OSU) 9.900; 2. Melanie Jones (OSU) 9.850; 3. Olivia Vivian (OSU) 9.825. Other OSU Scores: Kelsi Blalock 9.800; Brittany Harris 9.800; Makayla Stambaugh 9.725 (Exhibition - Chelsea Tang 9.050).
Floor Exercise (49.250): t1. Leslie Mak (OSU), Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) 9.900; t3. Melanie Jones (OSU), Ciera Perkins (BSU) 9.875. Other OSU Scores: Brittany Harris 9.800; Kelsi Blalock 9.775; Olivia Vivian 9.300.
Players Mentioned
