This Week's Meet

The Sacramento State gymnastics team will return to the friendly confines of Hornet Gym to compete in a dual meet with West Regional foe San Jose State.

In the first meeting between the two programs on Feb. 16 in San Jose, Calif., the Spartans gained the edge over the Hornets with a school-record 194.300 at Spartan Gym. Sacramento State's 193.550 was the fifth-highest total in program history.

The Hornets held a .025 advantage heading into the final rotation but San Jose State went on to score a 48.775 on floor exercise to Sacramento State's 48.000 on the uneven bars to win the meet.

Leading the way for the Hornets were career highs on vault by junior Lara Goold (9.825) and freshman Binta Coleman (9.8), as well as sophomore Toni Petersen's 38.450 all-around performance.

The Spartans were led in scoring by all-arounders Kimmy Cianci (39.100), Shirla Choy (39.125) and Dani Albright (39.375).

Meet The Head Coaches

After 23 years, head coach Kim Hughes has built a program from the ground up and solidified Sacramento State as an NCAA Regional Qualifier the past two years.

With a career record of 146-150-1, Hughes led the Hornets to a second-place finish in the NIT last season and gave the program its first Regional bid in 1999 while also being named NCAA Region 1 Coach of the Year.

A 1976 graduate of Chico State with a B.A. in physical education, Hughes competed collegiately for the Wildcats after a successful high school gymnastics career. He was the Northern California state high school still rings champion as a senior in 1971. He joined the Hornet staff as an assistant to the women's gymnastics programin 1977 and was named head coach in 1981.

San Jose State head coach Jackie Walker is currently in her 17th year at the helm of the Spartan gymnastics program. Walker has amassed a 117-155-2 record at San Jose State including a 4-13 mark last season while leading the Spartans to a sixth-place finish at the National Invitational Tournament in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Walker has a career record of 185-177-2 while spending her first eight years coaching at Louisiana State (21-1) and Stanford (47-21).

Last Week's Meet

Sacramento State saw its 11-meet win streak over Seattle Pacific end as the Falcons held off the Hornets, 192.475 to 192.075, at Brougham Pavilion. The Seattle Pacific mark was the second-highest in program history.

Senior Jami Scoville led all competitors with a 9.825 on the floor exercise while senior Jolane Parr (9.775, bars) and sophomores Toni Petersen (9.775, beam) and Jenny Ball (9.825, vault) each finished second in their respective events. Ball's vault score was a career high.

Junior Melissa Prescott led the Hornets with a 36.950 in the all-around. It marked the first meet in which she competed in every event since her freshman season in 1999.

Another Bump in the Road

With the team already thin without junior Wendy Baisdon (pneumonia) and Toni Petersen (ankle) competing in only two events, the Hornets were dealt another blow right before their meet against Seattle Pacific. Freshman all-arounder Binta Coleman injured her toe during warm-ups on the uneven bars and was unable to compete in the meet forcing last minute changes to the lineup.

Because of the changes, junior Melissa Prescott was the only Hornet to compete in all four events. The Elk Grove, Calif., native recorded a 36.950 in her first all-around competition this season.

Baisdon missed her third-consecutive competition due to weakness from pneumonia while Petersen was limited to two events in order to relieve stress on her ankles and save her for later competitions.

Hughes' Quotes

On the Seattle Pacific Meet: "We knew we were heading into the event with limited personnel (Baisdon and Petersen) but our goal was to still break a 193. Losing Binta in warm-ups was a major blow because she counts in all four events. Going into bars all six people hit but we didn't have our high scoring competitors. On vault we actually went 6-for-6 without Binta and Toni, and scored over 48 again so we were very pleased with our replacements. But when you're scoring high without your best competitors, it means that you are not getting the max score possible. On the floor we really missed Binta and Toni's scoring and then having to add a fall showed us the first sign of a real problem in our scoring. Then on beam we had three people fall which forced us to count two of the scores. Just from that event, we lost 1.2 total points."

On the health of the team: "Binta and Toni are going to be back this week competing in all-around. Wendy for sure will be competing on bars but beam is still questionable at this point. She wants to do it but she is just not 100 percent yet. I'm very happy to have her come back because she has such a major impact on those two events but I'm not sure about beam right now."

On the Team's Rough Spots This Season: "Not having a constant lineup the past few weeks is definitely taking its toll on the team. We had this really high start and now we've had the bottom fall out due to injuries. I really feel we've dropped off because we have not had a healthy team. But there is this underlying attitude of they're working so hard and just not getting anywhere. Because we are dealing with sick athletes and not just minor injuries, it's hard to push them. We've lost this attitude of pushing towards the limits of strength and concentration. We can regain that edge but I'm just hoping its not too late. This week at home is a true test. We should be comfortable at home and we should be motivated to beat a team that already beat us in their place this year. This meet will test what we're capable of doing as coaches and what we are capable of doing as a team."