The Oregon State Beavers Gymnastics team triumphed with a strong showing at a home tri-meet, outscoring the Washington University Huskies and the University of Alaska Seawolves on Monday night. 

The Beavers began the first rotation on vault, the Huskies on uneven bars, and the Seawolves on floor. 

Senior Kaitlin Garcia set the tone, landing an almost flawless vault, and scoring the highest for the Beavers, a new career high, a 9.900. 

Senior Karlie Chavez, who scored the lowest at 9.025, was visibly helped off the floor by associate head coach Michael Chaplin, director of athletic training Deb Graff, and other support staff.

“It wasn’t an easy competition, especially with Karlie (Chavez) going down on the first rotation, so just emotionally, they are teammates, and friends, and sisters,” head coach Tonya Chaplin said, “I’m really proud of how they came back and they fought hard.”

The chainsaws roared as the Beavers continued to power their way through the vault, with senior Jade Carey adding a strong 9.875. 

All three teams wrapped up the first rotation with a final score of 49.125. 

In the second rotation, the Beavers started on bars, the Huskies on beam, and the Seawolves on vault.

Junior Savannah Miller got the Beavers off to a strong start, sticking the landing to the cheers of the crowd and earning a score of 9.775.  

The chainsaw roared once again as Sage Thompson delivered an impressive 9.925. Carey closed out the rotation with a solid 9.900. 

The Seawolves recorded the lowest score of 9.575 on vault, finishing with a total of 48.050. 

The Huskies struggled through their beam routines, with several stumbles, ultimately scoring 48.150. 

The Beavers finished the second rotation with a score of 49.325 on bars before moving to the third rotation, where they competed on beam, the Huskies took to the floor, and the Seawolves headed to bars. 

Huskies junior Caitlin McWilliams got them off to a strong start on floor, scoring a 9.850. 

Carey capped off the third rotation for the Beavers with a solid 9.900, helping them finish with a total of 49.325. 

The Huskies finished with 49.200 and the Seawolves finished with 47.325. 

The teams moved on to the fourth rotation, the Beavers on floor, the Huskies on vault, and the Seawolves on beam.

Junior Savannah Miller soared through the air, executing a flawless double backflip before triumphantly carrying the chainsaw in celebration. The judges awarded her an impressive 9.900.

March 23rd, 2024 was the last time that Miller accomplished a 9.900 on the floor, matching her career high. 

The Huskies saw scores of above 9.700 for their routines, while the Seawolves saw their lowest score of 8.850 on beam by junior Breeann Spain. 

Sophia Esposito sparked the crowd with a near-perfect 9.995, followed by Garcia with a 9.900 and Carey, who also earned a 9.900.

The Beavers finished with 49.550, matching their previous season high on floor. The Huskies tallied with 48.775, and the Seawolves scored 46.750. 

“We did it all for her (Karlie),” Esposito said, in the press conference following the meet.

The Beavers dominated the meet, finishing with 197.325, to the Huskies 195.700, and the Seawolves with 190.775. 

“One of the things we are trying to do is climb each week and get to the next run…” Chaplin said, “No matter where we are, a beam is a beam, a floor is a floor, a vault is a vault, and uneven bars are bars.” 

OSU Gymnastics travel to Denver, Colorado, on Sunday facing off against University of Denver, Texas Women’s University and Ball State.