< Back | Home

Kera Bolen and the Beavers will be home for the first time in a month this Friday when they host the Salbasgeon Invitational.

Gymnasts return home after four weeks away

No. 10 Beavers have tough test in Gill: No. 7 Utah Utes boasts three outstanding gymnasts

By: Samantha Redmond

Posted: 3/14/07

No. 10 Oregon State gymnastics returns to Gill Coliseum this weekend for the Salbasgeon Invitational. The Beavers will take on No. 7 Utah, as well as Washington and Seattle Pacific.

The Beavers are coming off a four-meet winning streak after a victory over BYU and Utah State. Although the Beavers failed to hit the 196 point, they were able to come back and compete well after two unexpected falls on the beam.

"What was promising was the fight that they had through the rest of the meet," coach Tanya Chaplin said." They came back - they didn't throw the rest of the meet away. They came back even stronger."

Oregon State will encounter tough competition this weekend when they compete against Utah. The Utes are strong on the bars (No. 4), the vault (No. 5) and the beam (No. 9). They also host an arsenal of nationally ranked gymnasts, including No. 18 Kristina Baskett - who is seventh in the nation on the bars and fifth on the beam - as well as No. 16 Ashley Postell.

Utah's seven-time All-American Nicole Ford, who has scored a 9.9 or better on every event this season and has a season best of 39.625 in the all-around, is questionable on the floor and vault due to an ankle injury.

"We need to just keep doing what we've been training in practice," Megan Devencenzi said. "[We need to] do our best possible with the least amount of deductions."

No. 28 Washington, a Pac-10 rival for the Beavers, is also capable of a strong performance against OSU. The GymDawgs' Ashley Houghting has shown solid performances all season on the vault and has 14 career wins on that event. She also went on to claim the all-around title in Washington's last meet against Minnesota. Washington is currently No. 26 on the floor and No. 17 on the vault. Oregon State has had two victories in the past month against Seattle Pacific, their third opponent of the night.

"Opposed to other years, we have a lot more difficulty," Devencenzi said. "Everyone is training harder skills and routines, and I feel like we are a lot more consistent than in the past."

Once again, the emphasis for the Beavers this weekend will be to pay attention to details, including their ability to hit handstands and stick landings. The invitational on Friday will be one of the Beavers' last two regular meets, both of which are at home. The Beavers have two and a half weeks before they take the floor at the Pac-10 Championships.

"I like the energy and desire level of this team," Chaplin said. "Some teams go through this - in the middle of the season they start to dip because they get tired. I really don't see that. They still have that intensity and drive. They are getting excited about the postseason."

Oregon State has proven that it can compete well outside of Corvallis. Now the Beavers will have two meets home in a comfortable atmosphere to clean up their routines. The Beavers have found the consistency that they lacked at the beginning of the season, and any major deductions as of late can be attributed to minor errors and uncharacteristic falls. However, they will need to be on top of their game and post technically sound routines to earn a win over Utah.

"We will be focusing a lot on our details and cleaning everything up," Yuki Lamb said. "At this point in the season, we are all being really confident in our gymnastics. And everything is getting good, so we are just looking at getting back those little tenths."

The Beavers are currently ranked among the top 15 in the nation on all four events. The teams will hit the floor Friday at 7 p.m. in Gill Coliseum.