| OREGON STATE BEAVERS |
||
| Seniors | ||
| Halli Briscoe |
UB |
|
| Lacy Dagen (redshirt) |
VT BB |
|
| Destinee Davis |
VT BB FX |
|
| Sabrina Gill |
UB BB |
|
| Lena Greene |
VT UB FX |
|
| Jaime Law |
|
|
| Maela Lazaro |
BB |
|
| Isis Lowery | UB BB FX |
|
| Alyssa Minyard |
UB BB |
|
| Juniors | ||
| Savanna Force |
VT FX |
|
| Lexie Gonzales |
VT BB |
|
| Niya Mack |
VT FX |
|
| Colette Yamaoka |
UB |
|
| Kaitlyn Yanish |
VT UB BB FX |
|
| Sophomores | ||
| Madi Dagen |
VT BB FX |
|
| Alex McClung |
|
|
| Kristina Peterson |
VT BB FX |
|
| Freshmen | ||
| Kayla Bird |
VT UB BB FX |
|
| Jenna Domingo |
UB BB |
|
| Jane Poniewaz |
|
|
FINAL SEASON RANKING
2019 – 6th
2018 – 27th
2017 – 11th
2016 – 14th
2015 – 12th
2014 – 13th
2013 – 16th
2012 – 12th
2011 – 8th
2010 – 8th
THE 2019 STORY
Gotta be good and gotta be lucky. Obviously, the 2019 season was basically the best thing that has ever happened to Oregon State, resulting the program’s best finish since 1996 and a trip to nationals that literally no one saw coming.
Oregon State got to host regionals, Florida fell apart on beam, and the Beavs were right there to say, “Thank you very much” and even snatch a 6th-place national finish…and come really, really close to making the final…after spending the meat of the regular season in the 14-15 ranking zone.
DEPARTED 2019 ROUTINES
Mary Jacobsen – VT, UB, FX
McKenna Singley – VT, BB, FX
Mariana Colussi-Pelaez – UB, BB
Oregon State is not a team that’s hyper-reliant on AAers so any individual departure can only have so much influence on the new squad, but the loss of 7 reliable core-lineup routines (as well as the best vault) is still a lot to grapple with for this particular team that’s not bringing in a ton of new gymnastics.
INCOMING GYMNASTS
Oregon State’s incoming class of three is already down to two with the news that Jane Poniewaz will miss the season with injury. The full replacement of last year’s lost routines cannot happen from this freshman class alone, which means some of those “I did a routine once” juniors and seniors will be called upon to do more in the 2020 season.
2020 PROJECTION
Oregon State’s 6th-place finish last year was a perfect storm but shouldn’t be treated as the team’s standard from 2019 or a truly realistic goal for the 2020 season. Oregon State was ranked in the middle of the teens for most of last season, showing some flashes of 11th-12th gymnastics, which is probably where expectations should begin, with the team hoping to replace the lost routines to get back up to that level, rather than a 6th-place level.
VAULT
2019 Event Ranking: 15
| Lineup locks: Kaitlyn Yanish, Madi Dagen |
| Lineup options: Kayla Bird, Lacy Dagen, Lena Greene, Kristina Peterson, Destinee Davis, Savanna Force, Lexie Gonzales, Niya Mack |
Oregon State has not been flush with vault options in recent years, and the quest to stay competitive without boasting the same number of 10.0 starts as other top teams is likely to continue in 2020, especially with the departure of Jacobsen’s Tsuk meaning there are no absolutely sure-thing 10.0 starts on this roster.
The top returning vault scores belong to fulls from Yanish and Madi Dagen, which will return to the lineup, but Oregon State is going to need to get as many of its “maybe pile” 10.0 starts working as possible. Kayla Bird had a possible Y1.5 in JO, Lacy Dagen has a Y1.5 that we saw a bit at the end of last season, there’s the handspring pike 1/2 from Lena Greene that usually makes some appearances and needs to make more in 2020, and Kristina Peterson is training an intriguing round-off full-on back pike, which is a 10.0 start but notoriously difficult to score into the 9.8s for (Morgan Lane says hi) because of amplitude expectations.
I don’t expect we’ll see all of those possible 10.0s come to fruition, especially not at the start of the season, but a few of them will need to become real to help make sure OSU isn’t just shuffling its way through with 9.750s and 9.800s for fulls—of which there should be enough to fill out a lineup.
BARS
2019 Event Ranking: 20
| Lineup locks: Sabrina Gill, Halli Briscoe, Isis Lowery, Alyssa Minyard |
| Lineup options: Colette Yamaoka, Lena Greene, Jenna Domingo, Kayla Bird, Kaitlyn Yanish, Jaime Law |
Bars, somewhat surprisingly, brought Oregon State’s lowest event ranking last season, and there’s reason to be concerned about how the team gets a formidable six out there in 2020 without Jacobsen and MCP.
Thankfully, Isis Lowery had an “I do bars now” moment in 2019, which was vital and will be so again this year to give the team three solid returning scores from Gill, Briscoe, and Lowery—along with the routine from Minyard, which should come back into the lineup after she missed 2019. So at least the list is solid in spots 3-6.
Colette Yamaoka has made the lineup in recent seasons, and while she’s probably not getting out of the 9.7s on most occasions, her score will be necessary again since OSU will need to try to make fetch happen a little bit to fill out this lineup. The most exciting prospect to me is Jenna Domingo because she has the difficulty and amplitude, but we’ll have to see whether the form comes along to get the scores. Both Domingo and Bird could come in, but OSU is also trying to bring Lena Greene along to provide the lineup another option.
Right now, the beginning of the lineup looks a little too 9.7y to be excited about Oregon State’s bars scores, and the team is definitely going to need another Lowery moment where someone new comes through with a bars routine to make up a full, conference-competitive lineup.
BEAM
2019 Event Ranking: 16
| Lineup locks: Maela Lazaro, Madi Dagen, Sabrina Gill |
| Lineup options: Alyssa Minyard, Isis Lowery, Lexie Gonzales, Jenna Domingo, Lacy Dagen, Kristina Peterson, Destinee Davis, Kaitlyn Yanish, Kayla Bird |
Oregon State has turned beam into a strength in recent seasons, and I’m most comfortable with the slate of returning routines on this piece—though probably least comfortable projecting the lineup because there are legitimately twelve options for those six positions.
Lazaro, Madi Dagen, and Gill return as the stars of last season’s lineup, so I’d expect them to be back in the fold. For people like Lowery and Davis and Lacy Dagen, consistency will tell the story of whether they get into the lineup this year because we’ve certainly seen them show the ability in past seasons.
The same is true for Lexie Gonzales, whom I’m most rooting to carve out a spot for herself in the lineup because form, even though the one time she got a chance last season, she scored 9.200. Kristina Peterson is another who has the chops on beam—as well as some original, memorable work—to break her way into the lineup, and both Domingo and Bird will be contenders here. Domingo’s routine is probably the more complete (Bird has the acro but not the dance elements), so I’d rank Domingo’s as the more likely, but in all, Oregon State should be able to play around with options to find a high-scoring lineup. The telling part will be whether the cleanest routines can earn their positions or if consistent routines with lower peak scores need to be used to get through with a hit.
FLOOR
2019 Event Ranking: 10
| Lineup locks: Kaitlyn Yanish, Isis Lowery, Savanna Force |
| Lineup options: Madi Dagen, Destinee Davis, Kristina Peterson, Niya Mack, Kayla Bird |
Despite losing some essential final-lineup routines from last year, Oregon State’s floor lineup looks to be in OK shape—if not nearly as replete with options as the beam lineup is. Kaitlyn Yanish and Isis Lowery are two of the best floor workers in NCAA and should continue that run in the 2020 season, and Savanna Force had some very strong scores here and there last season, which she should be able to continue this time around. This reliable returning floor core will do the heavy lifting without having to rely on as-yet-unproven routines to come through for big numbers.
But they will have to come through for something. Madi Dagen didn’t make the floor lineup every week last season, but she’ll need to do so in 2020 because on paper, floor should be her best event. Hopefully Destinee Davis is healthy enough this year to provide regular floor routines, but it’s also time for someone like Niya Mack to come through on floor because her ability is greater than the momentary flashes we’ve seen during her first two years—and the team needs her this time.
Otherwise, Kayla Bird has an option, and the team will work to get a routine out of Kristina Peterson. There are certainly some unsettled positions and potential 9.7s in the first half of the lineup right now, but also less pressure on those positions because even if they end up being a little 9.800, the returning back half of the lineup is strong enough to save the rotation.