On Friday afternoon in Corvallis, Oregon, the Beavers had a lights-out beam rotation, but it just wasn’t enough to seal the deal and punch their ticket to the regional final on Sunday night. And they had to do it all, for better or for worse, at home in front of a crowd that could fight with fans of the Syracuse Orange over who bleeds the orangest.
Fifth-year senior Lauren Letzsch and senior Ellie Weaver left it all on the floor. Weaver, who has not yet made a decision on whether or not a fifth year is in the cards for her, looked every bit of the pro that she is in the final rotation, sweeping what could’ve been a balance check into flashy choreography, unbothered and focused.
She started her beam routine after the OSU section loudly booed their displeasure with Kaylee Cheek’s low score from the judges. If fan bases could manifest a 10.0 based on vibrant colors and boos, Oregon would be national champions every year.
Letzsch, like Weaver and most of the Beavers’ beam lineup, worked steadily, slowly, and methodically. After her layout gainer full, Letzsch held the stick. For one second. Another second. And then a few more, before turning, saluting to the judges, and celebrating with her teammates, the sisters she’s never had.
In talking about her five-year journey and how lucky she is to have started and ended her career as an Oregon Beaver, she’s thankful and credits “this group of girls that I can lean on, that I can go to when I’m hurting, when I need it” as the ones who have helped her shine so brightly during her time at OSU.
But, perhaps even more importantly, Weaver and the team went out there and did it not just for themselves, but for their little selves. “I couldn’t have asked [for] more for myself or for the team to just go out there, do the gymnastics that we get to do. We talk a lot about being our little-self-proud, the little Ellie proud.”
Going out there and doing just that, head coach Tanya Chaplin commented, set the foundation for the next season, work that will have a ripple effect and carry forward: “I think that fight that they showed here today and that heart that they showed here today can carry us far next year,” she said.
There’s no doubt that both future Beavers and the current Little Beavers will be well taken care of.
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Article by Allison Freeman
