SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kalliah McCartney finished first in the all-around and on vault, beam and floor and Nicole Meiller had the high score on bars to lead the Sacramento State gymnastics team to a 194.500-188.475 victory over Seattle Pacific on Friday night at The Nest.
McCartney scored 39.300 to win the all-around for the second time in as many meets this season. The score ranks seventh in school history and marked the third 39.3-plus score of the sophomore's career. The Vancouver, Wash., native scored 9.800 on vault and bars and 9.850 on beam and floor.
Meiller scored a career high 9.900 to finish in first place on bars. The senior received a 9.85 from one judge and a 9.95 from the other after a near-flawless routine. The score places her in a tie for seventh in program history and was the highest by a Hornet on bars since Amber Basgall also scored 9.900 at the 2009 WAC Championships.
Freshman Cassie Benning also enjoyed a breakout performance, placing second in the all-around with a total of 39.000. Benning was second on vault (9.750), bars (9.825) and floor (9.775) and tied for fourth on beam (9.650). Benning and McCartney became the first Sacramento State duo to each score at least 39.0 in the all-around at the same meet.
"I told the team before the meet that tonight was not just about getting a win it was about making a statement and I think we did that," Sacramento State head coach Kim Hughes said. "When we can have two all-arounders score 39 it goes a long way to helping the team score high and achieve our goals."
Sacramento State was consistent throughout the meet, scoring 48.525 or better on all four events. The team began the night with a 48.525 on vault and had the top four individual performances.
A 48.725 on bars boosted the lead as four Hornets scored at least 9.800. Along with Meiller, Benning and McCartney, junior Ashley Wooff scored a career high 9.800 to tie for third.
Sacramento State bounced back from a disastrous beam performance in the season opener to score 48.550 on Friday. Junior Elideth Guerrero was third with a 9.775 while Benning and sophomore Dallas Smith tied for fourth at 9.650. Sophomore Claire Torgerson set a career high with a 9.625 and finished sixth.
The Hornets also dominated floor, claiming the top four individual finishes. Smith and junior Kaila Kilwein were third and fourth with scores of 9.725 and 9.700, respectively.
Sacramento State will stay home to host nationally-ranked Arizona State and San Jose State on Friday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m.
NOTES: The team score of 194.500 was the second highest by Sacramento State in the month of January in program history…prior to the meet the Danish National Performance team had an exhibition…senior Cayla Beutler (ankle) and junior Kailey Hansen remained sidelined due to injury.
SACRAMENTO STATE 194.500; SEATTLE PACIFC 188.475
VAULT: 1. Kalliah McCartney, SAC, 9.800; 2. Cassie Benning 9.750; 3. Nicole Meiller 9.725; 4. Tina Necas 9.700; 7. Katie Osaki 9.550; T9. Kaila Kilwein 9.450.
BARS: 1. Nicole Meiller, SAC, 9.900; 2. Cassie Benning 9.825; T3. Ashley Wooff, Kalliah McCartney 9.800; 8. Alyssa Anderson 9.400; 9. Kaila Kilwein 9.225.
BEAM: 1. Kalliah McCartney, SAC, 9.850; 3. Elideth Guerrero 9.775; T4. Dallas Smith, Cassie Benning 9.650; 11. Alyssa Anderson 8.975.
FLOOR: 1. Kalliah McCartney, SAC, 9.850; 2. Cassie Benning 9.775; 3. Dallas Smith 9.725; 4. Kaila Kilwein 9.700; 7. Katie Osaki 9.625; T8. Katie Osaki 9.625.
