Oregon State corrects many of the little bobbles that cost it a week ago and defeats California

By Kevin Hampton
Corvallis Gazette-Times

Last week the Oregon State gymnastics team traveled to Florida to take on one of the best programs in the country.

The Beavers met the Gators with a very young lineup, made even less experienced with the absence of Tasha Smith and Yuki Lamb.

The Beavers didn’t exactly come home embarrassed, but they knew there was plenty of work to be done before Friday’s home opener against Pacific-10 Conference opponent California.

It paid off as the Beavers rolled to a 195.400-191.875 win over the Golden Bears.

“They made some big adjustments over this week, trying to clean up,” OSU coach Tanya Chaplin said. “We saw a lot of misses and some sloppy things in Florida and they really worked on that this week, so I was proud of them.”

The meet didn’t start out smoothly for OSU, however. The Beavers had two falls on vault, but Cal had a pair of falls on bars as well.

The Beavers were sharp for the rest of the meet. D’Anna Piro led off the bars with a 9.800 and won the event.

Then the Beavers had a strong effort on beam, with Laura-Ann Chong and Claire Pierce scoring 9.850s, Brooke Barclay finished with a 9.875 and Jami Lanz landed the only 9.90 of the evening.

The Beavers followed the 49.225 on beam with a 49.025 on floor as Kera Bolen scored a 9.875 to take the event title.

“I was really proud of them to pick up the pace, go to bars, hit six-for-six, go to beam and hit six-for-six and we just had the touch on floor,” Chaplin said. “So they did a great job of coming back really strong for such a young team and they did some incredible performances.”

Lanz won the all-around with 39.300 and freshman Mandi Rodriguez was second with 39.000.

Lanz said the Florida meet was a good starting point for the Beavers.

“I think we did a really good job there and when we came back we saw that there was some things we needed to polish and clean up and perfect,” Lanz said. “So when we got in the gym we got it done and I think that showed tonight.”

Rodriguez’s big night came on her first home appearance for the Beavers.

“It was amazing being at Gill for the first time,” Rodriguez said. “My family was here rooting for me and I just went out there and tried to be as confident as I could. The home crowd made such a big difference.”

Rodriguez said the Beavers might have lacked a little confidence at Florida, but pulled together in front of the OSU fans.

With Smith and Lamb out, it was important for Rodriguez and the other young athletes to step up. Fellow freshman Chong finished fourth in the all-around.

Pierce turned in a 9.850 on beam and a 9.800 on floor and Megan Devencenzi scored a 9.775 on floor despite a new routine she has had little time to work on.

“With two of our biggest contributors out, it was definitely a struggle without them,” Rodriguez said. “But I think we did a good job with lineups and it gave a lot of girls a chance to be out there and show what they can do and I think we did a great job.”

Smith and Lamb are week-to-week, but Chaplin will make sure they are ready to go before putting them in the lineup.

Chaplin said both athletes are progressing well.

“They come in our office and say, ‘You know, we could be ready to go next week,’ ” she said. “But they have to be as patient as the coaches are trying to be as well and not push them too fast because it is a long season and we want to have as many bodies strong and healthy at the end of the season (as possible). So if these young women can keep up the pace and start scoring 196 even without those two in, that will make it even stronger when they come back.”