Oregon State
Utah
Beavers Fall to No. 7 Utes, Take First Loss of Season
March 02, 2012 | Women's Gymnastics
March 2, 2012
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -
The No. 7 Utah dealt the No. 9 Oregon State gymnastics team its first loss of the season in a hard-fought and tightly-scored competition 196.575-195.600 Friday night at the Utes' Huntsman Center. Senior Leslie Mak led the Beavers with a 39.100 all-around score in a meet that featured up-and-down performances by both teams.
With the its first loss of the season Oregon State falls to 8-1-1 and 4-1-1 in the Pac-12 while the Utes move to 7-1, 3-1.
Oregon State was a bit short-handed when head coach Tanya Chaplin was forced to remove junior all-arounder Makayla Stambaugh from the balance beam and floor exercise lineups after Stambaugh aggravated a lower leg injury during pre-meet warm-ups. Despite the loss of Stambaugh it was those latter two lineups that registered the strongest performances.
“It wasn't the best meet we've had,” Chaplin said. “But I'm proud that this team picked up their performance in the second half of the meet and finished strong on floor and beam. We'll carry that attitude forward. We can't worry about the scores. That is out of our hands. We need to perform a routine that doesn't leave the judge anything to deduct.”
The Beavers opened the meet on the uneven bars, their strongest event where they're ranked No. 4 in the nation, but struggled with two broken routines and scored 48.850 failing to reach the 49-point mark for on the event for the first time this year. Stambaugh tallied 9.825 to lead the way for the Beavers with Olivia Vivian and Brittany Harris pitching in scores of 9.80.
Trailing Utah, which enjoyed a tremendous vault performance, 49.425-48.850 after the opening stanza, OSU went six-for-six on the vault. Kelsi Blalock rocked a huge vault to score 9.875 and was backed by 9.80's from Chelsea Tang and Mak. The Beavers finished the rotation with a team score of 48.900 on the vault and moved up on the Utes, who also struggled on the bars, to trail 98.300-97.750 at the halfway point.
Moving to the floor exercise, where Oregon State is ranked seventh in the nation, the Beavers were without their anchor (Stambaugh) but performed admirably. OSU's tumbling and dance was spot on. However, the Beavers only put up five routines and scored 48.825 their lowest score of the year. Melanie Jones performed a fabulous routine scoring 9.875, the only one to crack the 9.80-mark. Mak and Vivian added scores of 9.775 and 9.75 respectively while Blalock and Harris posted routines of 9.725 and 9.70.
The Beavers were still within reasonable striking distance at 147.150-146.575 going to the final event, the balance beam, where the Utes had just earned solid scores. The OSU gymnasts continued to fight on with strong performances and eclipsed the 49-point barrier for the first time all night. Jones led the way with a score of 9.875, while Mak's flawless routine scored a 9.90 from one judge and 9.80 from the other to settle for a final score of 9.85. Harris notched a 9.825 and Vivian and Tang performed solid routines to score 9.75 and 9.725.
The Beavers are on the road again next week traveling to the University of Denver to face the Pioneers and Texas Women's University in a three-team meet next Saturday, Mar. 10.
Note: Junior Makayla Stambaugh, who had performed in the all-around in all seven meets this season, aggravated a lower leg injury during warm-ups and was only able to compete on bars and vault … The Beavers will return to Salt Lake City in three weeks to compete at the inaugural Pac-12 Championships Mar. 24 … OSU could potentially make a third trip to SLC two weeks later for NCAA Regionals Apr. 7. Regional assignments will be made based on rankings following the Pac-12 Championships.
Team Scores: No. 7 Utah 196.575; No. 9 Oregon State 195.550.
All-Around: 1. Stephanie McAllister (UTAH) 39.375; 2. Leslie Mak (OSU) 39.100; 3. Brittany Harris (OSU) 39.000. Other OSU Scores: Melanie Jones 38.700.
Vault (48.900): 1. Kyndal Robarts (UTAH) 9.975; t2. Tory Wilson (UTAH), Kailah Delaney (UTAH) 9.925. Other OSU Scores: Kelsi Blalock 9.875; Chelsea Tang 9.800; Leslie Mak 9.800; Makayla Stambaugh 9.750; Melanie Jones 9.675; Brittany Harris 9.675 (Exhibition – Cerise Witherby 9.650).
Uneven Bars (48.850): t1. Georgia Dabritz (UTAH), Stephanie McAllister (UTAH) 9.850; ) t3. Makayla Stambaugh (OSU), Hailee Hansen (UTAH) 9.825. Other OSU Scores: Brittany Harris 9.800; Olivia Vivian 9.800; Hannah Casey 9.750; Leslie Mak 9.675; Melanie Jones 9.325.
Balance Beam (48.975): 1. Cortni Beers (UTAH) 9.900; 2. Melanie Jones (OSU) 9.875; 3. Leslie Mak (OSU) 9.850. Other OSU Scores: Brittany Harris 9.825; Olivia Vivian 9.750; Chelsea Tang 9.725; Kelsi Blalock 9.050 (Exhibition – Kailie Ponto 9.200).
Floor Exercise (48.825): 1. Stephanie McAllister (UTAH) 9.950; 2. Georgia Dabritz (UTAH) 9.925; 3. Becky Tutka (UTAH) 9.900. Other OSU Scores: Melanie Jones 9.875; Leslie Mak 9.775; Olivia Vivian 9.750; Kelsi Blalock 9.725; Brittany Harris 9.700.
Players Mentioned
