No. 13 Beavers Begin Postseason Competition Saturday at Pac-12 Championships
CORVALLIS, Ore. - No. 13 Oregon State is set to begin postseason competition with the Pac-12 Championships this Saturday, March 19 at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. The Beavers compete in the evening session after earning a share of the regular season title, which is slated to begin at 5 p.m. PT. The second session features No. 4 Utah, No. 10 California and No. 14 Arizona State. The meet will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
ROTATING BEAVS
Based on the team's national qualifying score, Oregon State earned the three seed and will begin on beam, while top-seeded Utah will begin on vault, second-seeded California start on bars and fourth-seeded Arizona State on floor. Competing in the first session features No. 16 UCLA, No. 23 Washington, Stanford and Arizona.
BEAVS IN THE RANKINGS
The Beavers dropped down one spot in the rankings after the regular season finale at No. 12 Denver. Despite a higher NQS score (197.040) than last week, the Orange & Black sit at No. 13 heading into the postseason. OSU is tied for ninth on beam, No. 10 on vault, shares sixteenth on floor and is tied for twenty-fifth on bars. Individually, Jade Carey leads the nation in the all-around and is tied for first on bars. Carey also sits at No. 5 on vault and moved up to No. 11 on beam after her Denver performance. Senior Madi Dagen moved up four in the all-around after her Sunday score and is ranked No. 20 with a 39.440 NQS. Dagen and Jenna Domingo are tied at No. 44 on beam.
PAC-12 REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS
For the first time in program history, Oregon State earned a share of the conference regular season title after finishing in a four-way tie for first place with Arizona State, California, and Utah this season. This is the third season the conference has crowned a regular season champion, beginning the tradition in 2020.
WEEK NINE QUICK STICKS
Oregon State closed out the regular season on Sunday afternoon, traveling to the Mile High City, for a quad meet at No. 14 Denver with No. 18 Arkansas and Nebraska … the Beavers posted a 196.875 to finish second while the Razorbacks (196.975) took first after posting a 49.500 on vault in the final rotation … As a team, the Orange & Black scored their highest score on beam this season with a 49.475 in the first rotation … Ariana Young scored on floor for the first time during her Beaver career with a 9.725 after being called upon to enter the lineup as leadoff … Jade Carey took home her ninth all-around (39.800) with her highest road score of the season that was highlighted by four 9.95s, taking home all five event titles … Madi Dagen shared the beam title with Carey, tying a career-best 9.95 … Freshman Lauren Letzsch (9.9.85) and Karlie Chavez (9.825) dropped stunning career-best vaults while freshman teammate and Colorado native Carley Beeman added a 9.775 on bars in front of her home state.
SEASON QUICK STICKS
OSU has hit 205 of 216 routines this season … Gymnasts who have hit every routine are Carley Beeman (8-8), Jade Carey (36-36), Karlie Chavez (9-9), Kaitlin Garcia (2-2), Sydney Gonzales (27-27), and Lauren Letzsch (27-27) … Individual event winners this season are Carey, Madi Dagen, Domingo and Letzsch. As a team this season, Oregon State has scored a 49.00 or higher in 34 of 36 events over the course of nine meets, nearly 95 percent of all events. Their five 197s this season is the first time in a single campaign since 2005.
SCOUTING THE UTES
The Beavers are 1-25 overall against Utah in the postseason … the last time Oregon State defeated Utah was back in 2013 when the Beavers took home Pac-12 Championship title with a 197.850 … OSU scored its best road score of the season at Utah with a 197.150 on Feb. 18 … the Utes have hit the 198-mark in two competitions this season and have five gymnasts ranked in the top seven on beam … the Red Rocks enter Saturday as the only Pac-12 opponent to have at least three gymnasts ranked in the top-seven on each event.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS
Oregon State is a perfect 17-0 against California in the postseason but the Golden Bears are having another breakout season following last year … No. 10 Cal comes into Saturday after posting its second-best team score in school history (197.900) in a win over Iowa … Cal defeated OSU in the Beavers' road opener on Jan 29 (197.350 – 196.575) … Cal is ranked No. 8 on beam, No. 10 on bars, No. 13 on vault and No. 14 on floor … Andi Li leads the squad with a 39.465 NQS.
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
The Beavers hold a slight 8-6-1 advantage over the Sun Devils during postseason competition … Oregon State defeated ASU earlier this season 197.375-196.550 for its annual Dam Cancer meet on Feb. 5 … the Sun Devils are coming off a weekend where they posted a 196.800 on senior day against No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 21 Boise State … ASU is ranked No. 11 on vault, No. 15 on bars and No. 19 on beam … Hannah Scharf leads the Sun Devils with a 39.490 all-around NQS to head into the postseason at No. 12 nationally.
UP NEXT
Oregon State will find out its NCAA Regional destination on Tuesday, March 22 when the NCAA Selection Show airs at 9 a.m. PT on NCAA.com. The four regionals include Seattle, Wash., Auburn, Ala., Raleigh, N.C., and Norman, Okla.
For more information on the Oregon State gymnastics team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/BeaverGym, by Facebook at Facebook.com/BeaverGym or on Instagram at Instagram.com/BeaverGym.
OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).