The Barometer Online

Issue date: 5/5/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Curtis Barnard CURTIS BARNARD | THE DAILY BAROMETER Senior Jami Lanz performs on balance beam during a 2009 home meet. Lanz was an All-American Second Team honoree on beam her junior year at OSU.

By Casey Grogan

The Daily Barometer

Actual records are hard to come by, but to some of Jami Lanz's teammates, she is the only person in the history of collegiate gymnastics to accomplish what she has in her four-year career at Oregon State.

"I feel like she is the only person who has ever done it in history," sophomore Jen Kesler said. "I have no idea, but that's amazing, doing two events and knowing how my body feels after every meet and thinking that she does that every meet. Even with sickness and injuries, she's always fought through."

Since winter 2006, the Beavers have competed in 56 meets, including four trips to the NCAA Championships. In each meet, the Beavers compete on four different apparatuses: vault, bars, beam and floor. Over a 56-meet stretch, Oregon State would have performed on 224 separate events.

This is routine for a team, but one individual accomplishing the feat is something to be applauded. More than deserving of a round of applause is Lanz, who accomplished it as of the NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Neb.

Even Oregon State gymnastics coach Tanya Chaplin, who competed at UCLA with a teammate who accomplished a similar feat, is amazed by what Lanz strung together over four years in Corvallis.

"I know that Nebraska had a young woman, Shelly Bartlett, many years ago," Chaplin said. "My roommate in college competed in every meet, but there was one meet where she didn't compete the all-around. To compete all-around in every meet is very rare."

As a freshman, Lanz dealt with heel and ankle injuries, only to shake them off week after week to compete in the all-around for OSU. The Eugene native had an All-American year her sophomore season, earning second-team honors on the uneven bars.

"After my freshman year, I set that goal for myself," Lanz said. "People would say 'wow Jami that's really great, not many people have done that.' I knew I wanted to be that gymnast that did it all four years. I knew I could do it, but it was about how tough could I be."

After two seasons of collegiate gymnastics, it is impressive that Lanz made it that far without injury or illness taking their toll. Spending most of her junior season as the No. 1 gymnast in the nation on the balance beam, Lanz felt she might have hit her peak.

"I felt I peaked last season," Lanz said. "This season it was a different mentality. It was striving to be better, striving to overcome small challenges and my body starting to want to give up on me."

After a second year as an All-American, this time on beam, Lanz began her final season as an Oregon State gymnast.

The aches and pains her body felt were evident at points during the 2009 season, as Lanz struggled on certain apparatuses, many of which fans had grown accustom to seeing her score highly. Lanz was lucky enough to continue her season without injury, but was hit with a bug partway through the year.

Battling through illness, Lanz competed at a home meet visibly under the weather.

"I was up and felt great sometimes," Lanz said. "I felt like death other times with sickness, but it was my own pride of how tough I could be. It was 'if you want to be tough, then show it.'"

Through all this, Lanz went on to score a career-high 9.925 on bars during the season and earned her third career All-American honors.

Beyond the great individual accomplishment, Lanz feels there was much more to her collegiate career than 224 straight performances.

"I felt like this wasn't my best year, but I'm very proud of what I've been through my last four years here," Lanz said. "I can't say enough how much I've appreciated what Oregon State gymnastics has offered me. I became a stronger person, a stronger leader, a stronger gymnast and it has really molded me to be the person that I am today. This is an experience no one can understand until you live it."

Not only did Lanz compete in 224 separate events spread between four apparatuses and 56 meets, she also was an All-American on three of the apparatuses.

At the annual season-end banquet, the gymnastics team honored Lanz by presenting her a career achievement award. Lanz is not only in the record book for her streak, but is third all-time among OSU gymnasts with 48 individual event titles.

"To have that consistency, that drive and that motivation, it is so inspirational," Kesler said.



Casey Grogan, sports editor

sports@dailybarometer.com

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