Season Bests, Career Records Guides Beavers Past Bruins and Aggies
CORVALLIS, Ore. – For the first time since the 2013 season, the Oregon State gymnastics team defeated UCLA in the "Dam Worth It" tri-meet on Sunday, Jan. 23 that featured UC Davis, UCLA and the Beavers inside Gill Coliseum.
"I am really proud of everyone today," commented head coach Tanya Chaplin. "Even though we had a few mistakes here and there, they kept fighting. We know we have some things to improve on so we are going to get back in the gym and keep working."
Oregon State cruised away with the win, posting a 197.00 to down the Bruins and the Aggies. The score was the highest total since the 2019 season while UCLA (196.300) finished second and UC Davis (194.700) took third place.
Freshman Jade Carey won the all-around for her second consecutive meet, shattering the previous program-record score of 39.750 that was set by Chari Knight during the 1993 campaign with a 39.800 in front of Beaver Nation. The gold medalist's score is also the highest this season amongst any gymnast in the country.
The Orange and Black posted the top team scores on vault, 49.175; beam, 49.375; and floor exercise, 49.450. All three scores were also the highest this season for the Beavers.
Freshman Karlie Chavez began the first rotation with a personal-best 9.775 on vault to set the tone for the day. Sydney Gonzales followed next with a personal-best this season, scoring a 9.850 while Lauren Letzsch and Madi Dagen tallied 9.775s and Kaitlyn Yanish posted a score of 9.875. Rounding out the scoring was Carey's 9.90 to win the event.
Rotating to bars, Colette Yamaoka posted a season-best 9.70 while Phoebe Jakubczyk and Jenna Domingo scored personal-bests of 9.80s. Though the team had a minor hiccup, Carey performed another beautiful set to snatch the bar title with a 9.95 as the anchor and pushed Oregon State on top after the first half of rotations.
The Beavers delivered in the third event on beam as Jakubczyk got things going with a 9.775 in her debut. Letzsch (9.825) and Domingo (9.925) put together career-highs in the second and third spots while Gonzales stuck a 9.85. Senior Madi Dagen recorded a 9.80 and Carey's score of 9.975 would go on to be the highest beam score of the night, marking her third consecutive event title of the day.
It was Gonzales leading off on the floor for the second consecutive meet this season as the Newport Beach, Calif. native hit a 9.775. Letzsch collected another personal-best in the third spot with a 9.90 to finish second on the event. Yanish added a season-high 9.90 while Carey ended her night strong, scoring a 9.975 to claim the event and give OSU the Pac-12 opening victory.
Oregon State turns its attention to the road with a matchup in Berkeley, Calif. with California on Saturday, Jan. 29. The two will square off at 4 p.m. PT before the Beavers return home for their next two meets, beginning with Arizona State on Feb. 5 for the annual "Dam Cancer" meet.
Season and single-meet tickets for the 2022 Oregon State gymnastics season are available for purchase via HERE and 1-800-GO-BEAVS.
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