Beavers Sweep on Senior Night

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The No. 14 Oregon State closed out the regular season and celebrated Senior Night with a first place finish Saturday against San Jose State, Lindenwood and Seattle Pacific. Sophomores Madeline Gardiner and Kaytianna McMillan led the Beavers with all-around scores of 39.450 and 39.400.

The Beavers scored 197.075 en route to the win, using a near-record score of 49.675 on the floor exercise to push them passed the 197-point mark for the second time this season.

“I can't be upset with tonight's performance. We weren't perfect and there were some mistakes but they stayed focused and did what they needed to,” head coach Tanya Chaplin said. “I'm proud of them for keeping it up tonight and throughout the week especially going into finals week. We are excited to start postseason which is right around the corner and we are building for it. Our biggest thing though tonight was to celebrate our seniors' careers and stay in the moment.”

Chelsea Tang, one of five seniors performing in their final meet at Gill Coliseum, returned to the all-around lineup for the first time since early January and McMillan performed on all four events for the first time in her career. But it was Gardiner who won the all-around and the balance beam titles. Junior Erika Aufiero added a pair of event titles on her two events, the vault and uneven bars as well.

Opening the meet on the vault, OSU was led by a pair of 9.925's from Aufiero and senior Taylor Keeker. McMillan pitched in a 9.850 on the first vault of her career. Gardiner tallied a 9.825 and Megan Jimenez scored 9.800 to give the Beavers a first rotation score of 49.325.

Heading into the second stanza, the Beavers led with San Jose State in second at 48.850. Aufiero and McMillan posted meet-high scores of 9.875 on the bars while Gardiner and Tang each posted marks of 9.850. Silvia Colussi-Pelaez chipped in a 9.800 and OSU had a season-high for the second meet in a row with a score of 49.250.

With the margin at 98.575-97.725 in favor of OSU over second place Lindenwood, the Beavers moved to the balance beam where scoring was tight throughout the evening. Gardiner once again paced Oregon State with a meet-high 9.850. Senior Cerise Witherby scored 9.800 in the leadoff spot and junior Risa Perez scored 9.775.

OSU still held a commanding lead 147.400-146.275 over Lindenwood moving to the final rotation. Following a fall to start the lineup, five consecutive Beavers scored 9.925 or better. Perez and Tang topped the chart with scores of 9.950 while McMillan, Gardiner and Witherby each tallied scores of 9.925.

“Of course you are hoping to post a high score but we went into tonight's meet saying 'cherish the moment,'” Keeker said. “Tonight was our last meet in Gill with this team and I think it's something you really have to be in the moment with every routine and every event. Obviously we have postseason to look forward to but I think this was definitely a special night.”

Oregon State travels to Salt Lake City to participate in the Pac-12 Championships hosted by the University of Utah, Saturday, Mar. 21. Both sessions of the meet will air live on Pac-12 Networks with the first session scheduled for 1 p.m. PT and the second session at 6 p.m. PT.

Team Scores: No. 14 Oregon State 197.075; San Jose State 194.675; Lindenwood 194.125; Seattle Pacific 193.225.

All-Around: 1. Madeline Gardiner (OSU) 39.450; 2.Kaytianna McMillan (OSU) 39.400; 3. Cami Guyer (SJSU) 39.050. Other OSU Score: Chelsea Tang (OSU) 38.650.

Vault (49.325): T1. Erika Aufiero (OSU), Taylor Keeker (OSU) 9.925; T3. Kaytianna McMillan (OSU), Rachel Heinl (SJSU) 9.850. Other OSU Scores: Madeline Gardiner 9.825; Megan Jimenez 9.800; Chelsea Tang 9.675 (Exhibition – Dani Dessaints 9.725).

Uneven Bars (49.250): T1. Kaytianna McMillan (OSU), Erika Aufiero (OSU), Courtney Heise (LU), Maddie Herr (SJSU) 9.875. Other OSU Scores: Madeline Gardiner 9.850; Chelsea Tang 9.850; Silvia Colussi-Pelaez 9.800; Taylor Keeker 9.775 (Exhibition – Dani Dessaints 9.275).

Balance Beam (48.825): 1. Madeline Gardiner (OSU) 9.850; 2. Cerise Witherby (OSU) 9.800; 3. Risa Perez (OSU) 9.775. Other OSU Scores: Kaytianna McMillan 9.750; Silvia Colussi-Pelaez 9.650; Chelsea Tang 9.175 (Exhibition – Katelyn Ohlrich 9.650).

Floor Exercise (49.675): T1. Chelsea Tang (OSU), Risa Perez (OSU) 9.950; T3. Madeline Gardiner (OSU), Kaytianna McMillan (OSU), Cerise Witherby (OSU) 9.925. Other OSU Scores: Nicole Turner 9.125 (Exhibition – Jamie Radermacher 9.900).