The Barometer Online

Issue date: 11/30/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Tzu-Ying Chen Jami Lanz, last year's Co-Freshman of the Year, will shoulder a heavy responsibility this year as the Beavers have no seniors returning on a squad that placed in the top 12 in the nation last spring at the NCAA Championships in Corvallis.

The Oregon State women's gymnastics team is hungry.

One year after competing in the NCAA Gymnastics Championships, the Beavers' taste of national competition has left them hungry for a bigger piece of the pie.

Last season, the 2006 NCAA Championship was hosted by Oregon State, who was also a contender. The Beavers finished third last season at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships and earned a spot at nationals by pulling off a surprising victory over Stanford. But OSU's title hopes were cut short in the second session when the Beavers failed to make the super six.

With the loss of last season's seniors, Chrissy Lamun and Angela Morales, experience and leadership will fall on the shoulders of all team members.

"We all work hard and we all want to be the top one," said junior Courtney Dennison. "We work hard and motivate everyone else to do the same thing."

The team will be hosting an exhibition this Friday in Gill. The Orange and Black Intrasquad Meet will allow the gymnasts to experience performing their skills and routines on the competition floor, rather than the softer landing mats at the training facility.

"We are really looking forward to starting off real strong," said head coach Tanya Chaplin. "This week, it is a great way to get out in front of the public again and have an exhibition to start working on the little things. Then we will have a month to clean things up before Florida."

"For the upcoming intrasquad meet our goal as a team is to push for line ups and compete against one another while still keeping that team atmosphere," said sophomore Jami Lanz. "See where we are and where we need to keep building."

This year's team will feature five freshmen, four of which are training in all-around competition. The good news for the Beavers is that of the 16 gymnasts on the 2007 Oregon State team, 11 are returning. And two of the returnees are some of the best in the Pac-10: All-American Tasha Smith, and Lanz, the 2006 Pac-10 Co-Freshman of the Year.

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