Melanie Jones Ties for Fourth on Floor in Event Finals
April 22, 2012
DULUTH, Ga. - Junior Melanie Jones finished tied for fourth on the floor exercise at the NCAA Championships Individual Event Finals Sunday afternoon. It is the best finish on the floor for an OSU gymnast since 1993.
Jones performed a near-flawless floor routine, including changing her first tumbling pass to a 2½ punch front full, to earn a score of 9.925. It was Jones' first appearance in the Individual Event Finals.
"Mel did a fabulous job, I'm really proud of her," head coach Tanya Chaplin said. "She's done a wonderful job for us this season and put in a lot of hard work and it is great to see that pay dividends today."
Jones, who earned first team All-Pac-12 honors this season, took tremendous strides for the Beavers in 2012. After competing mostly on two events during her first two seasons, Jones returned to training on the uneven bars for the first time in more than a year and regained her form on the vault earning spots in both lineups and competing in the all-around for the final nine meets of the year. She established or tied career-highs on the bars (9.85), beam (9.90) and floor (9.95) as well as recording a best of 39.425 in the all-around.
"I was a little nervous having to wait until the last event, but this was such a great experience," Jones said. "I got hurt at regionals and nationals last year, so just to compete this year was a big deal for me."
For the first time in Oregon State history three gymnasts All-America honors on the floor exercise.
In all the Beavers totaled four All-America accolades in 2012 - Jones (first team, floor exercise), Mak (second team, balance beam & floor exercise) and Stambaugh (second team, floor exercise).
NOTE: The last OSU gymnast to finish fourth or better on the floor in Event Finals was Amy Durham in 1993, when she won the national title.
Vault Results
1. Kytra Hunter (UF) - 9.8750
2. Diandra Milliner (ALA) - 9.8250
3. Kat Ding (UGA) - 9.8125
4. Marissa Gutierrez (ALA) - 9.8063
5. Marissa King (FLA) - 9.7875
6. Janelle Giblin (NEB) - 9.7625
7. Lindsey Cheek (UGA); Rheagan Courville (LSU) - 9.7313
9. Kailah Delaney (UTAH) - 9.7000
10. Georgia Dabritz (UTAH) - 8.7938
Uneven Bars Results
1. Kat Ding (UGA) - 9.9875
2. Sami Shapiro (STAN) - 9.9000
3. Olivia Courtney (UCLA) - 9.8875
4. Brie Olson (OKLA) - 9.8750
5. Vanessa Zamarripa (UCLA) - 9.8500
6. Mackenzie Caquatto (UF), Aisha Gerber (UCLA) - 9.8250
8. Alaina Johnson (UF) - 9.4875
Balance Beam results
1. Geralen Stack-Eaton (ALA) - 9.9375
2. Megan Ferguson (OKLA) - 9.9250
3. Katie Matusik (ARIZ) - 9.8875
4. Ivana Hong (STAN), Amanda Spinner (STAN) - 9.8750
6. Katherine Grable (ARK) - 9.8625
7. Sara Stone (OKLA), Samantha Peszek (UCLA), Ashley Preiss (ALA) - 9.8500
10. Emily Wong (NEB) - 9.8250
11. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs (UCLA) - 9.7750
12. Jaime Pisani (ARK) 9.6875
Floor Exercise results
1. Kat Ding (UGA) - 9.9500
2. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs (UCLA), Geralen Stack-Eaton (ALA) - 9.9375
4. Kytra Hunter (UF), Melanie Jones (OSU) - 9.9250
6. Ashanee Dickerson (UF), Vanessa Zamarripa (UCLA), Jessie DeZiel (NEB) - 9.9000
9. Megan Ferguson (OKLA), Jaime Pisani (ARK) - 9.8625
11. Rachel Updike (MIZZOU) - 8.4375
Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. Former Student-Athletes are invited to join the Varsity O Facebook Page for upcoming Alumni events.
Follow Oregon State Athletics On YouTube.
