4.03.2013

PAC 12 Championships

I’ve mentioned previously how one of our favorite things to do here in Oregon is attend gymnastics meets at Oregon State University.  The majority of the family are “Beaver Believers”, and Oregon State is a perennial gymnastics talent.  We try to go to as many home meets as we can.  A couple weeks ago, they got to host the PAC 12 Conference championship.  Mom, Dad, Nathan and I were lucky enough to get tickets and attend. 

1-DSC_02281-DSC_02081-DSC_02201-DSC_0148

The PAC 12 is a really tough gymnastics conference.  Nationwide, UCLA is ranked 6th, Utah 9th, OSU 10th, and Stanford 11th.  We had the opportunity to see some very talented gymnasts and amazing performances.

1-DSC_0118

1-DSC_0153-0011-DSC_01871-DSC_01771-DSC_0219

It seemed like every team brought their A-game. Stanford fell off pace after the first rotation, but UCLA, Utah, and OSU were all vying for the lead to the very end.  Utah’s gymnasts were incredible – I think they stuck every landing that night!  They were like machines, they were so consistent.  UCLA and Utah started out incredibly strong, but OSU stayed right on their heels and started to make up ground on the third rotation.  We saw some great performances from the Beavers, several of which garnered 10’s from some of the judges!  Every time a 10 went up, the crowd would roar their approval.

1-Mar 2013

One of the big individual performance of the night came from one of the UCLA gymnasts, Vanessa Zamarippa, who scored a perfect 10 (meaning her four scores combined averaged to a 10.0) on the vault.  I have never seen a perfect 10 before, so it was pretty cool to see what a perfect routine looks like!

The best part of the meet was the fourth rotation.  By then, OSU had passed UCLA by a slim margin, but still trailed Utah.  Utah was on beam, UCLA on vault, and OSU on bars.  The Beavers had to not only overtake Utah, but they had to hold off UCLA on one of their strongest events.  The Beavers rose to the occasion and brought the crowd to their feet with an school record-setting bar rotation that included scores of 9.925, two 9.950’s, and a 9.975.  Combined with a few slight wobbles from Utah on the beam, the Beavers easily took over the lead and got a standing ovation from the home crowd.

1-DSC_0233

After attending every home meet this season, it was so rewarding to watch this team bring home the PAC 12 championship!  We can’t wait to cheer them on at the NCAA Regional this weekend.  Go Beavs!

No comments: