Oregon State’s Madeline Gardiner capped a strong freshman gymnastics campaign, tying for third place on the balance beam at the NCAA Championships on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s a huge accomplishment to go up second and put out a performance like that and for that score to hold up so well through the rest of the meet,” coach Tanya Chaplin said.
The random draw did Gardiner no favors as she was slotted into the second spot of the first flight of beam competitors.
Despite having 14 routines following her, the score held true through the first flight and eventually a tie for third overall.
It is the best finish by an OSU gymnast on the beam since Joy Selig won the national title in 1990. Gardiner’s score of 9.8875 is the highest score on beam in the individual event finals since Traci Crover scored 9.90 to finish fifth in 1993.
Gardiner, who qualified to finals after scoring 9.90 to tie for second in Friday’s afternoon semifinal, is the first OSU gymnast to qualify to finals on the beam since Leslie Mak in 2011.
The freshman from Cambridge, Ontario, finished a successful weekend at the NCAA Championships where she earned first-team all-America honors on the beam as well as in the all-around.