GYMNASTICS CONTINUES HOMESTAND AGAINST SOUTHERN UTAH ON FRIDAY NIGHT
2/3/2012
OPENING PASS
• Coming off a season high 194.750, the Sacramento State gymnastics team will return to action on Friday, Feb. 3, when it welcomes Southern Utah to the Hornets Nest for a Western Athletic Conference showdown.
• Livestats for the meet can be accessed through Hornetsports.com. Video of nearly all of Sacramento State’s routines can be seen on the team’s Facebook page.
• This week’s meet will be themed “Stick it to ALS” as the meet will raise awareness for the disease. Last week, the Hornets hosted their annual “Think Pink” meet which helped raise money for cancer treatment at Mercy Hospital.
• Sacramento State enters the meet with a 2-4 overall record following its 194.750-193.000 win over San Jose State on Jan. 27. The score was the highest for the Hornets in the month of January in school history.
• SUU is 2-2 with losses in its first two meets against Missouri and BYU before winning a tri-meet against Utah State and Boise State on Jan. 27.
• As a team, the Thunderbirds are one of the top squads in the nation on bars. Southern Utah is 13th nationally with an average of 48.583. Alyssa Click leads the team, averaging 9.842, which places her 15th in the nation and second in the region.
THE LAST TIME OUT
Sacramento State scored a season high en route to earning a 194.750-193.000 victory over San Jose State, Friday night at the Hornets Nest. The score was the highest in the month of January in school history and the second highest in the last three seasons.
CAREER HIGHS FALL
Sacramento State set or tied 11 individual career highs in the win over the Spartans. Senior Emiko Ono started the wave with a 9.825 on vault which helped her record her first career win. Ono then tied her personal best on bars with a 9.750 to place third. Freshman Kalliah McCartney recorded bests on bars (9.725) and beam (9.875).
McCartney was one of four Hornets to set career highs on beam. Fellow freshmen Kayla Wonderly (9.700) and Dallas Smith (9.600) also had their best score as did sophomore Kailey Hansen (9.825).
TO THE FLOOR
Behind four additional career highs, Sacramento State scored a season best 49.125 on floor which was the eighth best in program history and the highest since scoring 49.275 against Cal State Fullerton on March 18, 2005. Sophomore Kaila Kilwein began the rotation with a 9.825 and was immediately followed by Smith's 9.725. A 9.800 from Katie Osaki gave Sacramento State a solid first half of the rotation and junior Cayla Beutler continued the momentum with a 9.875.
Hansen closed out the meet in grand fashion, scoring 9.900 to win for the fifth time in her career and the second time this season. Hansen's score beat her previous best of 9.875 and included a 9.95 from the head judge and a 9.85 from Judge 2.
BATTLE OF BEAM CHAMPIONS
In 2010, Cayla Beutler (then Boyce) established herself as one of the top beam workers in the WAC. The then-sophomore won six times during the season in her 12 routines, including a tie for first at the conference meet. This season, it has been McCartney who has worked her way to the top of the standings. The Vancouver, Wash., native has been victorious in three of the four meets this season on beam. Her average of 9.794 ties her for 46th place nationally and ninth in the region. McCartney is also second in the WAC behind SJSU's Thomasina Wallace, who finished second last week with a 9.850.
