Makayla Stambaugh was hurt Feb. 12 against Arizona and not year fully healed.
Oregon State freshman gymnastics prodigy Makayla Stambaugh is still recovering from an ankle injury so her status for Friday’s Pacific-10 Conference meet at Arizona State won’t be known until right before the competition.
“I’m feeling better now,” Stambaugh said. “It has been a rough week. There are no major injuries. If I treat my body and rest, I’ll be better.”
Coach Tanya Chaplin thinks Stambaugh can do the vault and uneven bars and is leaning to keep her out of the balance beam and floor exercise. However, if enough progress isn’t made in time Stambaugh may not be used at all.
“She’s doing pretty well,” Chaplin said. “We are trying to watch it so it doesn’t become chronic and pull her from everything. It’s a week by week basis, but what’s important is having her for the postseason.”
Stambaugh was originally hurt in the last home meet Feb. 12. She didn’t think much about it, but had a bad landing in practice to make it worse.
Chaplin wavered about putting her in the all-around Sunday at UCLA. When she banged her knee on the mount of the uneven bars and hurt her foot during the routine they decided to take her out of the floor and beam.
“It was a little mistake,” Stambaugh said. “You don’t think about it because it’s such an easy skill. I just rubbed my knee, pinched the skin.”
More injuries
Kelsi Blalock (ankle) isn’t expected to make the trip to Arizona State. This will be the fourth competition she missed. “She’s getting stronger, but she not quite ready, yet,” Chaplin said.
Leilani Alferos, who has been an alternate in various events, won’t travel due to being in a bicycle accident. A tire fell off. She took a spill and needed stitches.
“They are all things they can all come back from,” Chaplin said of the three who are hurt. “We always have things like this happen. They are things that they can come back from and get stronger from.”
Leilani Alferos was hurt in a bicycle accident and won’t compete this week.
Rankings
Regional Qualifying Scores (RQS) are now being used for team and individual rankings. They are the average of the second-sixth best scores with three road meets included.
After last week’s loss at UCLA the Beavers dropped to No. 7 in the country with an RQS of 196.150. Oklahoma leads with a 196.615.
The Beavers are No. 2 nationally on the floor exercise (49.180) to the Sooners (49.185), No. 7 on the balance beam (48.945), No. 6 on the uneven bars (49.035) and No. 4 on vault (49.145).
Mandi Rodriguez is No. 4 on the all-around (39.370), tied for No. 4 on the floor (9.890) and tied for No. 7 on the vault (9.890). Becky Colvin is No. 10 on the vault (9.885). Laura-Ann Chong is No. 5 on the bars (9.880).
State of the team
Last weekend was a bad one for the Beavers. They lost, Stambaugh was hurt and they dropped four spots in the rankings. However, it wasn’t all that bad in Chaplin’s view.
“We had a few mental things that happened on a few events — just too many steps out on landings or trips on dance,” Chaplin said. “They did get stronger in the meet. After vault and bars, they re-grouped. I’m glad they switch it, and didn’t let the whole competition crumble. It was a good leaning experience. And I’m hoping it was a good wake-up call for us to get in here and get even more determined and go after it.”
There are only 10 active gymnastics due to injuries, and Stambaugh is only half herself this week. Putting a lineup together has the coaches worried. They are very thin with no alternates in some areas.
Short week
Due to a Sunday road meet followed by a Friday road meet, the Beavers have a really short week. There are only two practices.
“We’ve been planning for it so they know what the plan is,” Chaplin said. “I’m not worried, but it’s concerning with the injuries. It’s all about quality this week. We can’t put in a lot of numbers.”
Olivia Vivian and the Beavers have three more road meets ahead.
