Oregon State Gymnastics recently finished their 2018-19 season on a high. After placing third in the Pac-12 and at the semi-finals of NCAA Championship, the team placed sixth nationally and had four gymnasts awarded the Second Team All-American title.

According to senior all-around performer May Jacobsen, the support and trust on the team this year is what brought them to the next level. Jacobsen added that when each person on the team feels supported, it makes it easier to stay relaxed while performing.

“I think the trust is what clicked this year; trusting in each other, trusting in the coaches and trusting yourself,”  Jacobsen said. “It allowed us to do even better.” 

Junior all-around Isis Lowery said this season was a rollercoaster for the gymnasts. To everyone else in the conference, OSU was seen as the underdogs.

“We talked a lot about writing our own destiny and we did a lot of vision boards,” Lowery said. “We put it in words and then we went out and did it. That’s what I think this team really needed to do because we had all of the pieces, we just needed to put it all together in the right ways.”

Maela Lazaro, a junior bars and beam performer, said though the team didn’t perform their best at every meet, they peaked in their postseason and their rankings began to shoot up.  

“We just peaked at the right moment. It was like perfect timing,” Lazaro said.

According to Jacobsen, her favorite part of the year was the postseason  because in her opinion the postseason meets were some of the most competitive and her team was ready for it.  

“It’s a really cool feeling when you know you’re able to do something but then you actually follow through and perform,” Jacobsen said.

Jacobsen said it was really exciting to finish as high as they did, especially considering it was her senior year. Prior to the format change Jacobsen said she’d always wanted to be apart of a team that placed in the top six, since the last time Beaver Gymnastics placed that high was back in ‘96. Overall, she is proud of everything the team has accomplished this season.

“Mostly I was proud of how our team came together. We peaked at the right time,”  Jacobsen said. “We were so ready for postseason, that’s when the competitors in us really came out and that was at the right time. It’s really cool to see a team work like that.”

According to Lowery, a highlight of the season was the regional tournament at OSU, especially because they were at home performing for their fans. Lowery added that their third place ranking at the regional tournament brought a lot of confidence to the team and propelled them to succeed for the rest of the season. 

“I think regionals was definitely a highlight. After the first rotation in the Pac-12 we just rallied we realized that we can do this,” Lowery said. “We came back and took third, so that was really impressive.”

According to Lowery the fact that they finished on such a high note and made school history shows they can do even more in the future.

“We’re still hungry, we’re ready to get back in the gym and get ready for next season,” Lowery said. “We know that we can go out there and show the world what we got and now they know that Oregon State isn’t just a little team from Corvallis. They came to play and they’re ready to go.”