The Barometer Online

Issue date: 3/9/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Curtis Barnard Freshman Leslie Mak performs a split jump on the balance beam in Friday night's Salbasgeon Suites Invitational. Mak scored career highs of a 9.925 on beam and a 9.975 on bars.

Senior Jami Lanz had been waiting all year for last Friday's gymnastics meet while trying to forget the fact that it would be her last at Gill Coliseum.

Lanz and many of her teammates were brought to tears at the end of the meet as No. 9 Oregon State acknowledged the large senior class they are set to lose at season's end. In the weeks coming up to the Salbasgeon Suites Invitational, Lanz and her teammates were prepared to serve as magicians, and Gill Coliseum would be their stage.

"I don't know why and I don't know how but every year this is the most magical meet," Lanz said. "It is a meet to have fun and to celebrate careers. Every year we create magic and I hope that everyone else in years to come gets to experience that magic for years to come."

Oregon State's final act of the night was putting up the nation's third highest score of the season with a final point total of 197.500. The Beavers out-scored both opponents in the tri-meet, as No. 22 Washington posted a 192.925 and Seattle Pacific mustered only a 187.975.

OSU's opening act came on the vault, as they showed a greater mastery of skills on the event than they had all year long. Oregon State started out with four strong vaults that ended with only small steps on the landing. Oregon State's anchors stuck their landings as Lanz and junior Mandi Rodriguez earned scores of 9.900 and 9.925, respectively.

"We had a lot of stuck landings," Rodriguez said. "I think the combination of our energy and our performances sparked the judges and they were obligated to give us those scores."

The vault would be a sign of things to come as the Beavers posted their season high on the event with a score of 49.225. Oregon State swept the top six positions on the vault as junior Whitney Watson and freshman Stephanie McGregor finished with career high vaulting scores.

Act two took the Beavers to the uneven parallel bars, where the gymnasts treated the crowd of 4,187 to quite the show as freshman Olivia Vivian got the ball rolling score-wise with a personal best 9.850. Oregon State improved with each gymnast as Lanz, in the third position, posted a career-high 9.925, which would be matched shortly after by sophomore Jen Kesler.

Continued...

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