Junior Toni Petersen won the all-around, floor and vault crown at the 2002 MPSF Championships. |
U.S.A.F.A., Colo. – Sacramento State recorded its second-highest mark in program history with a 194.900 as the Hornet gymnastics team won the inaugural Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Saturday evening at Cadet Stadium West Gym. Host Air Force took second with a score of 194.650 while San Jose State (193.375), UC Davis (192.200) and UC Santa Barbara (189.525) rounded out the rest of the field. The Hornets have now won a program-best three-consecutive conference championships including two-consecutive Western Independent Championships in 2000 and 2001.Prior to the meet, Sacramento State head coach Kim Hughes was voted 2002 MPSF Coach of the Year after leading the Hornets to the top spot in the conference with an Regional Qualifying Score of 193.810. Hughes earned Region 1 Coach of the Year honors in 1999 after leading the Hornets to their first regional appearance in program history.
Junior Toni Petersen earned the all-around title with a career and program-best 39.325. Petersen broke the previous mark of 39.175 set by sophomore Binta Coleman in 2001. The Fresno, Calif., native also tied for first on floor with a score of 9.9 and won the vault crown with a personal-best 9.850. Petersen also placed third on bars with a 9.825 and tied for fifth on beam with a 9.75. She has now led the Hornets in all-around competition in nine of 12 meets this season.
Freshman Nirvana Zaher tied for first on beam with a score of 9.875. In her first season with the program, Zaher holds the program record for the event with a score of 9.925 while competing at Seattle Pacific on Feb. 22. The Cairo, Egypt, native also placed tied for second on vault with a personal-best 9.8.
Junior Jenny Diamond (9.775, fourth), senior Lara Goold (9.75, tied for fifth), Coleman (9.75, tied for fifth), Zaher and Petersen also helped lead the Hornets to a program-record 48.925 on vault.
Rounding out the Hornets in the top five was senior Lori Gillette (9.8, fifth) on bars. The Encinitas, Calif., native also tied for fifth on beam with a season-high 9.75.
Freshman Jessica Hoffman tied her career-high on bars with a 9.775. Freshman Stefanie Aeder (9.825, floor) and junior Brooke Crowell (9.7, vault) also contributed for the Hornets.
Sacramento State fell short in its quest for an NCAA West Regional bid as the Hornets finished with a program-best Regional Qualifying Score of 194.07 compared to Boise State’s 194.14 RQS for the sixth and final spot. The Broncos recorded a 194.900 at the Western Gymnastics Championships in Logan, Utah, earlier in the evening to squeak past the Hornets.
The Hornets also set a program records for consecutive-meets over the 193-plateau (four) and the most scores over the 194-mark (three) during a season.
The squad will next send individuals to the 2002 NCAA West Regionals on Saturday, April 6, in Corvallis, Ore., after receiving confirmation of qualifiers on Monday, March 25.
