The Barometer Online

Issue date: 1/9/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Jeff Wick Junior Mandi Rodriguez and teammate Whitney Watson tied for first as individuals on the vault in Cancun, Mexico. The Beavers compete for the second time this season against Brigham Young, tonight in Provo, Utah.

A talented group of freshmen gymnasts have gotten their feet wet in the world of Pac-10 gymnastics with an opening meet in Cancun. This week the freshmen and their teammates get one more taste of the road before returning to Corvallis for their first home meet.

The No. 9 Beavers (2-1) are set to meet the Brigham Young Cougars (0-3) tonight in Provo, Utah for their second straight road meet before their home opener against Cal and No. 12 Arkansas.

"We started off very strong, and that was one of our strongest first meets, especially an away meet," junior Mandi Rodriguez said. "We are going to have a lot of strong routines to put in lineup and we still have people fighting for spots in lineup. It should really pay off in Provo."

At the Cancun Classic last week, a second place overall finish was earned by OSU, as juniors Whitney Watson and Rodriguez tied for the vault individual title.

A trio of freshmen looks to continue their early success now that the first meet jitters are out of the way. Earning lineup spots for the freshman class has been Leslie Mak, Stephanie McGregor and Olivia Vivian.

"It was good to experience being against other schools and seeing how they are," Mak said. "It will be cool because we saw BYU when we were in Mexico, so we know what we are up against."

Mak broke into the OSU lineup on three of the apparatuses on the trip to Cancun, while McGregor competed in vault and floor exercise, and Vivian, a 2008 Olympian for Australia, competed on the uneven bars. Vivian was cleared late in November, causing her to work through winter to catch up with her teammates.

In Mexico, Oregon State finished second behind No. 5 Stanford on vault and beam. Watson and Rodriguez, who claimed a tie for the individual title with a score of 9.825, led the vault lineup.

On beam, senior Jami Lanz and junior Laura-Ann Chong led OSU with matching scores of 9.825 and were part of a five-way tie for second place on the apparatus.

Continued...

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