Gazette-Times reporter

Jami Lanz took the floor during the Oregon State gymnastics team’s pre-meet meeting on Friday and let the Beavers know a 197 was within their grasp.

Cal State-Fullerton was in town and it was the final home meet for the Beavers, who had scored over 196 in four of the past five meets but had yet to break the elusive 197 mark.

The Beavers had it in mind for several weeks and the pep talk gave them a little lift.

“I said, ‘You guys, this is our chance to get the 197. We’re at home, let’s do it here and it will make it that much easier at regionals,’ ” Lanz said.

Then Lanz went out and led the No. 9 Beavers to a 197.100-192.700 win over the Titans before 3,032 fans at Gill Coliseum.

It was the first score of 197 for the Beavers since doing it several times in 2004.

“That was exciting. We have been trying, with our high 196s at Washington and here against UCLA, we were so close,” Lanz said. “We knew we could do it.

“This was our last home meet and we just wanted to go out there and just do it, make it happen and finish with a big bang, with a 197 and from there on carry it with us.”

The Beavers had big scores all evening, with Lanz leading the way. She finished with a career-best 39.625 to win the all-around.

“You could see that she knew exactly where her landings were and that made a huge difference,” OSU coach Tanya Chaplin said. “She’s just been solid for us the last few weeks and it’s great to see that everything came together on the same night.”

Lanz won the beam and floor with 9.925s, but it was a 9.900 on vault that got her started.

“I had a really rough warmup on vault, so I had to put that behind me and (had) a fresh new warmup for one-touch,” she said. “I just remembered what it felt like last week when I stuck my vault and I wanted to do it again so bad, it was so fun.

“I did what I did and I just kept on going through the night.

“I said, ‘This is so much fun I’m not going to change it. I’m going just to keep on going and do what I know how to do.’ ”

The 9.900 wasn’t quite good enough to win the event, however. Tasha Smith matched it and then Mandi Rodriguez hit a 9.950.

It was a personal-best for Rodriguez, who added a 9.825 on bars and beam and a 9.850 on floor.

“It was an amazing feeling,” Rodriguez said of the 9.950. “Going after Jami and Tasha, I didn’t know how I could follow their performances, but I just tried to do my best and whatever happened, happened.”

The 49.225 gave the Beavers a good start toward the 197. They added a 49.150 on bars, but made a big step forward on beam with a 49.375.

After Rodriguez turned in her performance, Laura-Ann Chong scored a 9.850, Brooke Barclay had a 9.875 and Tasha Smith scored a 9.900, setting up Lanz for her 9.925.

Smith scored a 39.500 for second in the all-around.

The Beavers needed a 49.250 on floor to hit 197. When Yuki Lamb scored a 9.825, Rodriguez a 9.850 and Kera Bolen a 9.875 it was close and when Lanz hit her second 9.925, Smith simply needed to avoid a big mistake in her routine.

Rodriguez said there couldn’t have been a better scenario than hitting the 197 at Gill.

“These last few meets our team has been right there,” she said. “A couple of times we had a few mistakes but tonight we just felt on and we knew we were capable of it the whole season and tonight was just the night. It was great.”

Oregon State 197.100, Cal State Fullerton 192.700

VAULT: 1. Mandi Rodriguez, OSU, 9.950; 2. (tie) Jami Lanz and Tasha Smith, OSU, 9.900.

BARS: 1. Jami Lanz, OSU, 9.875; 2. (tie) Keegan Fitzgerald, Mandi Rodriguez, Tasha Smith, OSU, 9.825.

BEAM: 1. Jami Lanz, OSU, 9.925; 2. Tasha Smith, OSU, 9.900; 3. (tie) Brooke Barclay, OSU and Nicole Lim, CSF, 9.875.

FLOOR: 1. Jami Lanz, OSU, 9.925; 2. (tie) Kera Bolen and Tasha Smith, OSU, 9.875.

ALL-AROUND: 1. Jami Lanz, OSU, 39.625; 2. Tasha Smith, OSU, 39.500; 3. Mandi Rodriguez, OSU, 39.450