Photo by Erin Long

The #9 preseason ranked Oregon State gymnastics team finally showed up last weekend in Fort Worth for the Metroplex Challenge, posting a season-high en route to an upset over #9 ranked Georgia. The Beavers moved up two places in the rankings and are now at #14 nationally this week with more room to climb. 


Melanie Jones. Photo by Erin Long

Senior Melanie Jones was honored with Gymnastike Routine of the Week for her standout floor routine at the Metroplex Challenge. Click here to watch. 


This weekend, the team will face Pac 12 opponent Cal, another team on the rise, in the Bay area. 

Below are the meet notes from OSU:

 

MEET #5

The OSU gymnastics road show continues this weekend when the 14th-ranked Beavers travel to the Bay Area to face No. 20 California this Sunday, Feb. 3 at 2 p.m. Follow the action via Twitter @OregonStateGym. It will be the first time in 2013 that the Beavers have participated in a road dual and will follow a rotation of bars, vault, floor and beam.

THE SERIES

Oregon State leads the all-time series 81-4 including wins in the last 20 straight meetings dating back to 2004 ... The Beavers and Golden Bears met twice in 2012 with the Beavs topping the Bears 196.775-192.350 in a February home tri-meet with UCLA and OSU beating CAL 197.025-193.525 at the Pac-12 Championships held at Utah ... The last victory by California over Oregon State came in a dual at Berkeley Jan. 30, 2004 with the Bears winning 195.675-195.550.

WHAT’S NEW?

Last week in Texas, Kelsi Blalock and Chelsea Tang each performed in the all-around for the first time in 2013. Both gymnasts set career-highs with Blalock scoring 39.425 and Tang reaching the 39-point plateau for the first time in her career checking in at 39.175.

KEEP AN EYE ON

The Oregon State coaches continue the season-long search for the right fit in the second spot of the floor exercise lineup. Through four meets three gymnasts have performed in the #2 spot - freshman Sarah Marquez was in the lineup in the first two meets before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Freshman Jaime Wright made an unexpected appearance at Utah when she was inserted into the lineup during warm-ups. Last week at the Metroplex Challenge it was sophomore Chelsea Tang who scored a career-best 9.675 - also a season-high for the Beavers in that particular slot.

This week it appears that Tang, Wright and freshman Nicole Turner are in the mix as well as senior transfer Hailey Gaspar, who has battled nagging heel and ankle injuries in recent weeks. Gaspar would add considerable experience to the lineup and has a career-best of 9.90 on the floor.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The long series of road trips continues when the Beavers return to the road next week for the last of four straight road trips. OSU travels to Arizona State for a dual meet with the Sun Devils at Wells Fargo Arena Fri., Feb. 8. Also in this string of roadies was a quad meet at Utah (Jan. 19), at the Metroplex Challenge (Jan. 26) and this weekend’s dual at California (Feb. 3).