Sacramento State won its second MPSF title by recording the program’s second-highest mark with a 194.925 on March 29. San Jose State (194.500) and Seattle Pacific (193.000) finished in the top three while Air Force (192.050), UC Davis (189.650) and Alaska Anchorage (187.300) rounded out the rest of the field.

Sophomores Jessica Hoffman and Nirvana Zaher and freshman Kimiye Narasaki will represent the program this weekend at Bank of America Arena. Hoffman and Zaher will compete as all-arounders while Narasaki performs as a vault specialist. Zaher and Hoffman became the first multiple all-arounders to represent Sacramento State at a west regional competition since Natalie Cadondon and Rebecca Seebirt in 1996.

HEAD COACH KIM HUGHES

In his 21st year at the helm of the Hornet gymnastics program, 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 and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

With a career record of 187-178-1, Hughes led the Hornets to a first-place finish at the 2003 MPSF Championships with the squad’s second-highest score in program history (194.925), including event champions on vault and bars. Hughes also led the Hornets to a program-best Regional Qualifying Score of 194.070 during the 2001 season and the highest national ranking (40th) to end a season. He has also sent three individual qualifiers to NCAA West Regionals for the second-consecutive season.

Hughes has directed Sacramento State to four-consecutive conference titles including successive Western Independent Championships in 2000 and 2001, and the squad’s first Div. I sanctioned title in school history (MPSF) last season. In 2002, Sacramento State also recorded program highs with consecutive meets above 193 (four), most scores over the 194-plateau (four) and most scores over the 193-mark (eight) in a season. For his efforts, he was named MPSF Women’s Gymnastics Coach of the Year. Among his other accomplishments, Hughes 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.

Hughes earned his first Coach of the Year Honors in 1984 when the Hornets were a member of the Div. II Northern California Athletic Conference. A graduate of Chico State in 1976, Hughes joined the Sacramento State women’s gymnastics program in 1977 and was named head coach in 1981. During his tenure, Hughes also guided the Hornets to Div. I status in 1992.

A LOOK AT THE LATEST ACTION

Sacramento State recorded its second-consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation crown and its fourth-consecutive conference title (two Western Independent crowns in 2000 and 2001) as the Hornets tallied a season-high 194.925 on March 29 at the Hornets Nest.

On event scoring, Sacramento State captured vault (48.550) and bars (48.975) while San Jose State placed first on beam (49.050) and floor (49.350).

Individually, sophomore Nirvana Zaher tied for first on vault with San Jose State’s Danielle Albright with a score of 9.775. Junior Binta Coleman tied for first on bars with San Jose State’s Shirla Choy with a 9.900. For Coleman, a native of Elk Grove, Calif., the mark was a career high and placed her tied for fifth in the program record book for the event. On beam, San Jose State’s Amberly Klein placed first with a mark of 9.875. The Spartan’s also took home the floor title with Dani Albright’s 9.975.

Senior Jenny Diamond tied for third on vault (9.750) and floor (9.925), freshman Kimiye Narasaki tied for second on beam with a career-high 9.825, and Zaher placed third all-around with a career-high 39.150 to round out the Hornets in the top three. For Diamond, a native of Murray, Utah, her floor score was a personal-best mark and also tied her for the program record with Toni Petersen (2000) and Andi Arnold (1999). Diamond was also voted 2003 MPSF Women’s Gymnast of the Year prior to the meet.

Also placing in the top 10 for the Hornets were sophomore Jessica Hoffman (tied for sixth, with a personal-best 9.700) on vault and (tied for fifth, 9.800) on bars, sophomore Meloney Greer (tied for seventh, 9.775) on bars, freshman Trista Condren (tied for sixth, 9.700) on vault, Diamond (tied for seventh, personal-best 9.800) on beam, sophomore Stefanie Aeder (tied for eighth, career-high 9.875), and Zaher (tied for seventh, career-high 9.775) on bars, (tied for 10th, 9.725) on beam and (tied for eighth, career-high 9.875) on floor.

BARS GET NEW MARK

Sacramento State’s score of 49.975 not only set new standards for the program, but eclipsed a team mark that had not been broken for four seasons. The Hornets’ mark moved past the previous score of 49.250 which was set during the 1999 season (3/27).

Individually, Binta Coleman not only recorded a career-high mark of 9.900, but also moved herself into the program record book for the event. Coleman is now tied for fifth all-time and is the first Hornet to post the mark since the 2001 season (Wendy Baisdon).

Jessica Hoffman and Nirvana Zaher tied their personal-best marks on the event with scores of 9.800 and 9.775, respectively. Meloney Greer (9.775) and Kimiye Narasaki (9.725) also posted scores above 9.700 to help the squad.

JESSICA HOFFMAN (ALL-AROUND)

Hoffman, a native of Escondido, Calif., finished with an RQS of 38.130 in her first season as an all-arounder. She led the Hornets in all-around competition in three meets this season.

Hoffman recorded career highs on every event this season including an all-around score of 38.600. The sophomore tallied a score of 9.700 at the MPSF Championships on March 29. She also recorded a personal-best mark of 9.825 on bars and 9.800 on floor. On beam, she finished with a mark of 9.675 on two occasions this year.

KIMIYE NARASAKI (VAULT)

Narasaki, a native of Richmond, Calif., completed her first season with the program with an RQS of 9.745 on vault.

Narasaki tallied a personal-best 9.900 on Jan. 18 and became the first Hornet to record at least a 9.900 on the event since Rebecca Seebirt in 1997. The freshman also recorded a score of at least 9.800 on the event in three meets this season.

NIRVANA ZAHER (ALL-AROUND)

A native of Cairo, Egypt, Zaher finished with a Regional Qualifying Score of 38.500 in her first season of all-around competition.

Zaher finished with a career-high 39.150 at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on March 29 and the mark placed her third in the program record book for the event. Zaher also earned her second-consecutive MPSF event title with a 9.775 on vault. The sophomore led the Hornets in all-around scores in six of 14 meets this season, including the past five competitions.

HORNET NOTABLES

Sacramento State has recorded its season-high score in the last meet of the season each of the past three years...the Hornets have been the only conference champion in the existence of women’s gymnastics in the MPSF.