Sacramento State recorded its third-highest score of the season with a 193.175 against Cal on March 3 at Hornet Gym. The Hornets are currently ranked 49th in the nation.

Cal State Fullerton (5-9) enters the contest ranked 39th nationally after placing fourth (194.075) on the road to No. 6 UCLA (198.350), No. 3 Michigan (196.775) and No. 9 Minnesota (196.200) on March 3 at Pauley Pavilion.

. San Jose State (11-3) is currently ranked 51st in the nation after defeating a depleted UC Santa Barbara squad 191.150-103.625 on March 2 at Spartan Gym.

Since joining the Division I ranks in 1992, the Hornets are 24-9 all-time against the Spartans and 3-7 against the Titans. Last season, Sacramento State finished 2-1 against SJSU and 1-1 versus CSF.

HEAD COACH KIM HUGHES

After 19 years, head coach Kim Hughes has built a program from the ground up and has solidified Sacramento State as a contender in the NCAA West Region.

With a career record of 164-160-1, Hughes has led the Hornets to consecutive Western Independent Conference championships in 2000 and 2001. He will now lead his program into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 2002.

Hughes also guided Sacramento State to a second-place finish at the National Invitational Tournament in 2000 and gave the program its first Regional bid in 1999 while also being named NCAA Region 1 Coach of the Year.

THE CAL STATE FULLERTON TITANS

Head coach Julie Knight is in her fourth season at the helm of the Titan gymnastics program and has compiled a 35-29 overall record. Knight led the Titans to an NCAA Regional appearance in 2001 and received Big West Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1999.

Last season, the Titans placed second in the Big West Conference Championships and tallied an 11-9 record. CSF also earned its first regional appearance since 1997 and placed sixth at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion.

This season, the Titans are led by senior Joanna Hughes (all-around), junior Kelly Mathiasen (all-around) and sophomore Sharon Snell (all-around). The squad enters the meet with a season-high score of 194.975.

THE SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS

Head coach Wayne Wright begins his first season with the Spartan gymnastics program following the retirement of Jackie Walker after 17 years of coaching with San Jose State. Wright had spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach at Stanford after spending nine years as an assistant at San Jose State.

Last season, the Spartans finished with a 10-7 record and placed second at the Western Independent Championships at Hornet Gym.

This season, the squad is paced by junior Dani Albright (all-around), sophomore Shirla Choy (all-around) and senior Kimmy Cianci (all-around). The squad enters the meet with a season-high score of 193.050.

PREVIOUS MEET RECAP

Sacramento State recorded its third-highest total of the season as the Hornet gymnastics team defeated an injury-plagued Cal squad, 193.175-151.450, on March 3 at Hornet Gym. The Golden Bears competed with only 10 athletes due to injuries and illness.

The Hornets raised their record to 6-4 on the season while Cal fell to 5-6. Sacramento State broke the 193-plateau for the third time this season after recording season highs on vault (48.450) and floor exercise (49.025).

On floor, freshman Stefanie Aeder (9.875), sophomore Binta Coleman (9.825) and freshmen Nirvana Zaher (9.775) and Jessica Hoffman (9.675) each contributed a career high for the event. Aeder, a native of Portland, Ore., placed first in the meet with her score. Hoffman, a native of Escondido, Calif., also recorded a career high on bars with a 9.775. Zaher placed first on beam for the second-consecutive meet with a score of 9.75. The Cairo, Egypt, native recorded a program-high 9.925 on Feb. 22 .

Junior Toni Petersen led all competitors with an all-around score of 38.200. It was the fifth-consecutive meet in which the Fresno, Calif., native led the Hornets in all-around competition. Junior Jenny Diamond placed first on vault with a season-high 9.775 and senior Lori Gillette placed first on bars with a 9.8 to round out the Hornets’ top finishers. Diamond, a native of Murray, Utah, also finished third on floor with a 9.825.

Senior Lara Goold placed second on vault (9.725) and freshman Meloney Greer placed fourth on bars (9.6) to also contribute to the Hornets’ score.

Cal went shorthanded on vault (two competitors) and floor (four competitors) which led to the low team score.

REGIONAL PICTURE

It has come down to the final five meets of the season and Sacramento State is in prime position to qualify for its second NCAA West Regional appearance in program history. The Hornets qualified for their first regional in 1999.

Sacramento State currently sits eighth in the region with a Regional Qualifying Score of 191.690 behind UCLA (196.810), Stanford (196.200), Oregon State (195.215), Washington (193.735), Cal State Fullerton (192.950), Boise State (192.755) and Cal (192.450). Only the top six schools qualify for a trip to Corvallis, Ore., for regional competition.

The Hornets can make a late push for the final spot with team averages of 192 or higher for the rest of the season. The higher average score would allow the squad to drop its low scores from earlier in the season (189.900, Jan. 19, 190.600, Feb. 15, 190.850, Feb. 1) to raise its RQS average. A team’s RQS is registered by taking the top six scores on the season (three home, three away) and removing the top score from the average equation.

CONFERENCE PICTURE

In the inaugural season of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Air Force has established itself as the school to beat in the conference championships on March 23. Air Force will host the event at Cadet Stadium West Gym at 7 p.m..

The Falcons currently own a 193.325 RQS as well as the conference’s highest score of 195.075. The Hornets are second with a 191.690 RQS and the Spartans sit third with a 191.220 RQS. UC Davis (190.505) and UC Santa Barbara (182.815) round out the rest of the conference field.

HORNET NOTABLES

The Hornets will be competing in their first two-meet week of the 2002 schedule. Sacramento State will have its first back-to-back meets on March 15-16...the Hornets have never recorded a score of 193 or higher in three-consecutive meets.