Taya Etzell
Senior and two-time Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey performs her balance beam routine at the triple meet against Washington and Alaska in Gill Coliseum on Feb. 10, 2025. Carey secured the highest score on beam for the Beavers this meet with a 9.900.
Over the past decade, women’s intercollegiate sports have finally begun to get the national recognition it deserves.
Last season, the Oregon State women’s basketball team cemented their spot in program history with an incredible run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Division 1 basketball tournament.
The OSU women’s gymnastics team made it to regionals; while Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey qualified for nationals and finished second overall on the floor and all-around, third on the beam, and eighth on the vault.
Carey is one of two gymnasts who are being celebrated on International Women’s Day, March 8, with her own Barbie. Carey is alongside Olympic teammate Jordan Chiles.
Back in 2022, the OSU softball team had an underdog playoff run and qualified for the NCAA Softball College World Series, where they finished the season with a top-ten ranking.
Despite recent OSU women’s sports program success, we cannot dismiss the women who came before them and paved the way for these young athletes.
THE PAST
Jean Saubert who attended school in the 1960s is Oregon State’s first woman to win a medal in the Olympics. She participated in the 1964 Olympics located in Innsbruck, Austria.
Saubert brought home a silver in the giant slalom and a bronze in the slalom.
Joan Heeter and Shirley Lagastee were OSU’s most accomplished multi-sport athletes. They attended school in the late 1960s.
Lagastee participated in five sports at OSU and was a three-time All-American in Track and Field.
Heeter was on the 1968 and 1969 undefeated women’s basketball teams and part of the 1968 track and field NCWSA Regional Championship Team.
In 1979, Kathy Weston was an All-American track and field star. She holds the record in the 800 meters and set the record for the 400 meters, but currently sits in second place.
Oregon State Gymnastics is historically the university’s most accomplished women’s sports program; appearing in 49 straight postseasons, collecting seven individual national titles, and eight conference championships.
In 1982, Mary Ayotte-Law became only the second OSU gymnast to earn a national title. She won the Regional all-around in all four seasons, finished her OSU career with seven top-10 finishes at Nationals, and held three school records.
Joy Selig was the school’s most decorated gymnast. She is a seven-time All-American and earned the NCAA national title on the balance beam twice, in 1989 and 1990, and on the floor exercise in 1990.
Although the gymnastics program is recognizably the most successful, the OSU women’s basketball team should not be overlooked.
Aki Hill was named head coach of the women’s basketball team in 1978 and coached for 17 seasons. She currently remains the school’s most winningest coach with 274 wins.
Carol Meken was one of the stars during the Hill era. Meken was the program’s first All-American and holds the record for career field goal percentage (.692) and points scored in a single game (51).
The torch was passed to the Sweedish native, Tanja Kostic, who was named Pac-10 player of the year twice and held the records for scoring (2,349), scoring average (21.2), rebounds (1,001), and free throws made (608).
After her time concluded at OSU Kostic played internationally and in the WNBA.
Felicia Ragland played from 1999 to 2002 and is one of only two players in the program to have their jersey retired in the rafters at Gill Coliseum.
In the more recent era of women’s basketball, Sydney Wiese and Marie Guilich made their mark in Beaver history by making it to the final four in 2016.
Wiese is the Pac-12 career three-point record-holder and has returned to Gill as an assistant coach.
The German giant, Guilich earned All-Pac Defensive Team honors her senior year. She was drafted 12th overall in the 2018 WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury and is currently a member of the Olympic German National team.
Basketball is not the only program to produce Olympians, Amy Martin was selected for the 2000 Olympic games as a member of the United States women’s eight rowing team.
Martin competed for OSU from 1994 to 1996, earning Most Valuable Oarswoman and first-team All Pac-10 acclaim twice.
Alina Hagstrom was selected as an alternate in the last two olympic games, and during her time at she became the program’s most decorated rower.
Hagstrom earned Pac-12 All-Conference honors twice, was a USRowing Gold Medalist in 2018, and participated in the U23 World Championships.
In women’s soccer, Jodie Taylor competed with the school from 2004 to 2007 and holds the first place spot in six statistical categories. She was a former Portland Thorn, a member of the England National Team, and earned herself International Player of the Year in 2017.
Bridgette Skiba graduated from OSU in 2021 and sits fifth in career solo shutouts. Skiba now plays for the Lexington Sporting Club in the United Super League.
In 2006 and 2007, OSU softball’s Cambria Miranda received first-team All-American honors.
Miranda holds numerous records at OSU, including, home runs (16) in a single season and most triples in a single game (2).
Rachel Rourke received All-American and is one of two OSU volleyball players to achieve this honor. She holds the record for career kills with 1,920.
THE PRESENT
The ladies who lead this generation of stars are Dawn Shockley the head coach of the women’s golf team since 2016, Tanya Chaplin has been the head coach of the women’s gymnastic team since 1998, and Laura Berg the head coach of the women’s softball team since 2013.
One of OSU’s most notable stars is 2020 and 2024 gold medalist Jade Carey. During her time at OSU, Carey completed the GymSlam, which means she has recorded a perfect 10 on every event.
In 2022 and 2023 earned Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year and has 117 event titles, which is the most in program history.
On August 7th, Carey was welcomed back to Corvallis with a parade to celebrate her accomplishments at the 2024 Olympics. She announced her return to Oregon State for her final season of eligibility.
Giulia Clerci has been a member of the OSU women’s rowing team since 2022 and is a member of team Italy.
In 2023 she captured gold at the U23 World Championships in lightweight quadruple sculls and 2024 was a silver medalist with Team Italy at the World Championships.
Oregon State’s youngest stars are members of the women’s golf and volleyball teams.
Raya Nakao is a sophomore from Kaneohe, Hawaii, and played in all 12 golf tournaments during her freshman year. Nakao had a scoring average of 72.05 which is the best in program history.
Nakao opened the spring 2025 season finishing under par for the 18th time in her career.
Another Hawaiian native, Emma Lilo cemented herself in the Beaver record books her first year at OSU. She is ranked seventh in volleyball program history for assists in a season by freshman with 718.
Lilo was ranked eighth in assists in the West Coast this past season.
On Feb. 22, the Oregon State women’s basketball team celebrated their senior night with a win against the University of San Diego.
Guard AJ Marotte is one of the few remaining teammates of the incredible Elite Eight team from the 2024 season.
That season broke the program’s single-season attendance record with a total of 103,110, Gill Coliseum’s post-season record with 7,227 in the Sweet 16 match against Nebraska, single-game student ticket record with 2,369, and had three straight home games with 8,000 or more fans at each game.
Marotte finished her last season in the top 20 for points scored in the West Coast Conference.
“This program is super special and I love playing as far as I can with this team,” Marotte said. “I’m happy to be here and I love that women’s basketball is getting the attention it deserves.”