Following three meets away from home over the past two weeks, the Sacramento State gymnastics team will host Seattle Pacific on Friday, Jan. 23, at the Hornets Nest. The meet against the Falcons will begin at 7 p.m.

The Hornets are currently 2-4 overall after recording a 192.650-190.850 victory at Seattle Pacific last Saturday. The total team score was the highest for the squad this season. The previous night, Sacramento State finished third in the a three-team meet hosted by No. 4 Washington. The Huskies won the meet with a team score of 195.850 while Cal took second (193.600).

As a team, the Hornets are 2-1 in their last three home openers. Sacramento State has scored above 190.000 in all three meets, including a 193.575 against Cal State Fullerton in 2001 and a 193.925 against Boise State in 2002.

Seattle Pacific is 0-1 following its loss to the Hornets in its first meet of the season.

Sacramento State leads the all-time series, 22-16.

• Head Coach Kim Hughes

In his 24th 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 186-178-1, Hughes has led the Hornets to back-to-back MPSF Championships. He also directed Sacramento State to consecutive Western Independent Championships in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, Sacramento State 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. Those statistics helped Hughes earn the MPSF Coach of the Year award.

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 honor 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 Balancing Act

After two rough showings on beam to start the year, Sacramento State bounced back to record a 48.575 on the apparatus Saturday night at Seattle Pacific. That mark is 2.1 points better than the previous season high and is tied for the fifth-best score in program history.

Helping lead the way on beam was junior Nirvana Zaher and freshman Tiffany Bass who each scored a season-best 9.800. In fact, all five of the scores that Sacramento State counted marked season-bests for each individual. To go one step further, the 9.225 by Courtney Hibler, which was not counted, was a career high for the freshman.

• A Whole New Look

With the challenge of meets on back-to-back nights facing his team, Kim Hughes juggled his floor lineup at Seattle Pacific and received solid results. The Hornet lineup featured Sharee Burgess, Carrie Kinghorn and Kelly Turner, all of whom where appearing for the first time on the floor this season. Turner led the newcomers with a 9.625.

The trio were also joined by regulars Stefanie Aeder, Jessica Hoffman and Julie Huztenbiler. Both Aeder and Hoffman helped carry the load by scoring 9.875 and 9.500, respectively. Aeder’s mark tied her career high which she set three times.

• Coleman Continues to Shine

Senior Binta Coleman has established herself as the team’s most consistent gymnasts this season. Coleman currently ranks 11th in the West Region with an all-around total of 38.975, a vault mark of 9.850 and a bars score of 9.735.

Last Saturday against Seattle Pacific, Coleman set season highs on both bars (9.875) and beam (9.735). This year she is averaging 38.063 in the all-around, which ranks as the best mark in the MPSF.

• Bass Master

Freshman Tiffany Bass missed the season-opening meet at Stanford but has made her presence felt in the last two meets. The native of Stratford, Calif., performed on exhibitions at Washington, scoring 9.775 on vault and 9.250 on beam. The following night, Bass made the regular lineup and produced a 9.650 on vault and a career-best 9.800 on beam.

• Getting Healthy

Senior Toni Petersen, who missed the majority of last season, suffered a career-ending broken leg during an intrasquad meet in December. Petersen was the MPSF all-around, vault and floor champion in 2002. She also qualified for the NCAA Regional on bars in 2001 and as an all-arounder in 2002. As a freshman, she won the floor title at the NIT.

Unfortunately, Petersen is not the only gymnast battling injury. Sophomore Kimiye Narasaki will miss at least the first half of the year after recovering from a knee injury suffered during vault warm-ups at the 2003 West Regional. Freshmen Alexis Tsurumoto and Cindy Gonzales will also miss the beginning of the season while recovering from a knee injuries. The team has received some positive news in recent weeks as both Narasaki and Tsurumoto have been practicing on bars.

Probable Starting Lineup (* indicates all-arounder)

Vault

1. Meloney Greer

2. Rachel Anderson

3. Tiffany Bass

4. Nirvana Zaher*

5. Jessica Hoffman*

6. Binta Coleman*

Bars

1. Julie Hutzenbiler

2. Nirvana Zaher*

3. Carrie Kinghorn

4. Jessica Hoffman*

5. Meloney Greer

6. Binta Coleman*

Beam

1. Carrie Kinghorn

2. Trista Condren

3. Jessica Hoffman*

4. Nirvana Zaher*

5. Binta Coleman*

6. Tiffany Bass

Floor

1. Trista Condren

2. Jessica Hoffman*

3. Courtney Hibler

4. Nirvana Zaher*

5. Binta Coleman*

6. Stefanie Aeder