W. Gymnastics: Card hangs tough, but falls to Oregon State

Feb. 2, 2010, 1:36 a.m.

As the opening month of the Stanford women’s gymnastics season came to a close, the team hoped to capitalize on the major success of its first four meets in last weekend’s matchup with Oregon State and Seattle Pacific. Yet after traveling to Corvallis on Friday, the Card defeated Seattle Pacific (188.100) but fell short of the No. 6 Beavers, 196.225-195.775. Before a crowd of 6,143 at Gill Coliseum, Stanford pushed Oregon State to the end of the final rotation, but was unable to come through with the victory.

W. Gymnastics: Card hangs tough, but falls to Oregon State
The No. 5 Cardinal forced No. 6 Oregon State to the end of the final rotation on Friday, but ultimately fell to the Beavers. Stanford Senior Carly Janiga, above, scored 9.80 or above in the vault, bars and beam. (JEFFREY BASINGER/The Stanford Daily)

Now 3-2, the team still holds a winning record and a current No. 5 ranking, mostly due to its upset of then-No. 1 UCLA on Jan. 24. The win over the Bruins served as an extreme confidence builder, yet it was not sufficient to help the Card realize its potential against the Beavers, who maintained their undefeated record and achieved their seventh win of the season.

Stanford’s first rotation score of 49.050 on the bars trailed OSU’s 49.125 vault, giving the home team an early advantage. This slight deficit held the Cardinal back from gaining the lead for the remainder of the meet, yet the team had multiple opportunities to steal the top spot, one of which occurred in the meet’s final rotation. Oregon State was forced to count a fall on the floor, giving Stanford the hope of a clutch come-from-behind win, but OSU senior Mandi Rodriguez capped off the competition with a 9.90 to clinch the victory for the opposition.

Junior Shelley Alexander achieved Stanford’s single individual victory of the night, scoring a 9.90 to tie for first place on the vault. In fact, vault has consistently been the team’s strongest event, so the Cardinal looks to focus on improving scores elsewhere, especially the balance beam.

More individual highlights included strong performances from senior Allyse Ishino, sophomore Nicole Pechanec and senior Carly Janiga, who each scored 9.8-plus in multiple events. Ishino hit a 9.80 on vault, as well as 9.85 on bars and beam. Janiga went 9.875 on bars for her top score among the four events, and Pechanec achieved solid scores of 9.825 on bars and 9.85 on floor. None of these was enough, however, to put the Cardinal ahead at any point in the meet.

Part of the difficulty can be attributed to the challenge posed by competing on the road, especially since Stanford has become so comfortable in its home gym at Burnham Pavilion. Risks taken during performances on the Farm in front of a supportive crowd have generally yielded promising results and high scores, yet that has not always been the case in the opposing team’s gym.

“We took some steps on beam and had some pretty solid routines, but there were some deductions here and there,” said head coach Kristen Smyth. “We have to be undeniable when we go on the road, or in any arena. We can’t make the mistakes that allow judges the opportunity to make deductions.”

Though the loss was certainly a disappointment, Smyth remains pleased with the experience her team gained from the demanding first four weeks of competition.

“This has been an extraordinarily challenging four weeks,” Smyth said. “To come within a tenth of a point of the national champions on the road, beating UCLA and coming to Oregon, we know we have to put out our best effort. There are obviously places they can improve, but this month has served us very, very well as we go forward. It has been a great experience and a great confidence builder.”

“We’re not even close to our potential, which is exciting,” Smyth continued. “There’s so much to add and improve upon.”

Thus, expectations are high that the team will be able to quickly bounce back from the loss to OSU and regain its previous momentum.

Stanford returns home for next Sunday’s four-way meet with San Jose State, Washington and Sacramento State in Burnham Pavilion. The events begin at 2 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion.

Login or create an account

Apply to The Daily’s High School Summer Program

Priority deadline is april 14

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds