GYMNASTICS TO TAKE ON BOISE STATE AND UTAH STATE IN WAC SHOWDOWN ON FRIDAY

2/26/2009

The Sacramento State gymnastics team is hoping its saved its best for the last portion of the year as the team begins a stretch in which it hosts three of its next four meets to end the regular season. The Hornets are currently on the outside of the top 36 spots in the nation that advance to the NCAA regionals but could make another late season surge to secure their fourth consecutive NCAA postseason appearance.

Sacramento State is coming off a 193.375-192.900 loss at Cal State Fullerton on Sunday. The Hornets claimed three individual event titles as Amber Basgall won bars, Traci Takeda finished first on beam, and Marina Borisova owned the top floor score. However, Cal State Fullerton proved to be too tough on both vault and floor.

Boise State enters this week meet with a 11-5 overall record after placing third in a four-team meet hosted by Brigham Young on Feb. 20. The Broncos rank second in the Western Athletic Conference with an RQS of 193.735 and are the defending conference champions.

Utah State also competed in the four-team meet at BYU last week and placed fourth with a 191.375. The Aggies have an RQS of 191.965 which ranks fifth in the WAC. In the four-team meet, Nicole Simoneau scored 9.850 on bars to record the high score in the meet for USU.

Time Winding Down
In what has become an all to familiar routine, Sacramento State has its back against the wall as it searches for another postseason berth. The Hornets are currently ranked 40th nationally with an RQS of 192.865. The team needs to finish among the top 36 to qualify for the NCAA regionals. The 36th spot is currently is held by North Carolina with an RQS of 193.200.

A team’s RQS is calculated by taking its top six scores, dropping the high, and then averaging the next five. Of those six scores, only three can be from home meets meaning that a team’s top six scores may not always be counted. Sacramento State can improve its RQS by scoring higher than 192.300 on Friday.

Three Out of Four Ain’t Bad
Sacramento State claimed three of the four individual event titles at Cal State Fullerton last weekend. Senior Amber Basgall won her first event of the year as she scored 9.800 on bars. Basgall missed the first five meets of the year after having knee surgery. She returned to perform exhibition against San Jose State on Feb. 15 before moving back into the lineup against the Titans. At Cal State Fullerton, Basgall also performed an exhibition on floor where she scored 9.700.

On beam, junior Traci Takeda claimed her second event title of the year. Takeda scored 9.825 and led a sweep of the top three spots on beam. The Clovis, Calif., native was followed by Alycia Chan and Eryn Stubblefield who scored 9.800 and 9.750, respectively.

Marina Borisova rounded out the champions with a win on floor. Borisova scored 9.825 to match her season high for the fourth time this season. She has now finished first on floor four times this season.

Best on Beam
The Hornets set a season high on beam with a total of 48.700 at Cal State Fullerton. The team’s score just missed cracking the top 10 in school history. Individually, all six members of the lineup scored at least 9.625. Along with the already listed exploits of Takeda, Chan and Stubblefield the team also received a 9.675 from Borisova, a 9.650 from Cayla Boyce and a 9.625 from Lizzy Norvell.

Bonus Coverage
Gymnastic fans will get more than they paid for the rest of the year at the Hornets Nest. Starting with this week’s meet against Utah State and Boise State, each of the team’s three remaining meets will feature three or more teams. Sacramento State also has a four-team meet against UC Davis, Cal and Seattle Pacific on March 13 and the six-team WAC Championships on March 21.