After earning its first two victories of the season last week, the Sacramento State gymnastics team returns to competition this Sunday, Jan. 23, in a four-team meet hosted by UCLA. The meet, which will take place at Pauley Pavilion at 2 p.m., features the second-ranked Bruins, Cal and Cal State Fullerton. Sunday will mark the first time that the Hornets have ever competed at UCLA.

Sacramento State notched victories over Seattle Pacific on Jan. 14 and Brown on Jan. 16. The Hornets, however, were not crisp in either meet, scoring 191.600 against SPU and 188.750 against the Bears. Sacramento State did have some bright spots as senior Jessica Hoffman won vault in both meets, junior Kimiye Narasaki claimed a pair of beam titles and senior Stefanie Aeder won two floor crowns.

Despite having won back-to-back national titles, UCLA enters the meet ranked second in the country. The Bruins opened the season with a loss against national-power Utah but have bounced back to defeat Oregon State and Nebraska. UCLA has three Olympians (two American, one Canadian) on its roster. That list includes Tasha Schwikert who scored 10.0 on bars against Nebraska. The Bruins are a perfect 2-0 all-time against the Hornets. The last meeting came in 2000.

Cal, which was ranked 25th in the preseason poll, won a tri-meet against UC Davis and Brown on Jan. 14. The Golden Bears scored 191.850 to win the meet and were led by senior My-Lan Dodd who won the all-around (38.775) and beam (9.800). Cal leads the all-time series against Sacramento State, 10-3, including a convincing victory last season at Washington.

Sunday’s meet will be the second meeting of the year between the Hornets and Cal State Fullerton. The teams previously met on Jan. 7 in a four-team meet at Fullerton. The Titans finished third in the meet, one spot ahead of the Hornets. Cal State Fullerton then travelled to San Jose State and fell to the Spartans (191.575-188.675). Including the victory this season, the Titans lead the all-time series, 13-5.

Head Coach Kim Hughes

In his 25th 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 200-187-2, Hughes led the Hornets to back-to-back MPSF Championships in 2002 and 2003 before finishing second last season. 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.

In 2004, Hughes led the team to its two best scores in school history. The top mark of 195.875 came at the Salbasgeon Suites Invitational at Oregon State. The team also set program records on the vault, beam and floor last season.

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.

• Doubling Down

Three members of the team were seeing double last weekend, as the trio each won back-to-back event titles. Jessica Hoffman captured the vault title against both Seattle Pacific and Brown. Hoffman scored 9.725 against SPU and added a 9.800 against Brown. She also won on bars against the Bears with a 9.650.

Kimiye Narasaki did not compete on beam in the team’s first meet of the year after suffering a laceration to her toe. She returned to the beam last week and scored 9.775 and 9.725 against SPU and Brown, respectively.

Stefanie Aeder continued her dominance on floor with two more wins. Aeder, who finished second in the first meet of the year with a 9.925, scored 9.900 against SPU and 9.750 against Brown.

• Number Crunching

At first glance, it appears that Sacramento State is off to a slow start based upon its scores from the first three meets. However, tougher judging this season has lowered scores throughout the country. The Hornets’ current season average of 190.875 ranks 33rd in the country, despite being significantly lower than past seasons. In fact, the lowest score in the top 25 last year was just above 195. This season, that mark is 193.512.

Individually, Aeder is tied for 12th in the country on floor with a 9.925 season high.

• Nice Surprise

Prior to the season, no one expected Carrie Kinghorn to compete as an all-arounder. However, injuries and some academic issue forced the junior into all four events prior to the first meet and she has responded well. The Salem, Ore., native scored a career-high 38.150 against Brown to win the all-around title. This year, she has also established career highs in vault and floor.

• News and Notes

Sophomore Tiffany Bass and freshman Amber Basgall will miss at least one more meet due to academics…the team is also missing Rachel Anderson (shin) and Courtney Hibler (ankle/foot).

Probable Starting Lineup (* indicates all-arounder)

Vault

1. Nicole Giao

2. Meloney Greer

3. Jessica Hoffman

4. Melissa Genovese

5. Carrie Kinghorn

6. Nirvana Zaher

Bars

1. Carrie Kinghorn

2. Alexis Tsurumoto

3. Sara Williams

4. Jessica Hoffman

5. Kimiye Narasaki

6. Meloney Greer

Beam

1. Hava McCarter-Ribakoff

2. Trista Condren

3. Nirvana Zaher

4. Kimiye Narasaki

5. Stefanie Aeder

6. Melissa Genovese

Floor

1. Jessica Hoffman

2. Carrie Kinghorn

3. Trista Condren

4. Nicole Giao

5. Nirvana Zaher

6. Stefanie Aeder