Gymnastics 1/20/2023 10:48:00 AM

GYMNASTICS TO FACE PAIR OF RANKED TEAMS AT OREGON STATE QUAD

Hornets meet #8 Denver, #18 Oregon State and Brown on Saturday

OPENING PASS

After a week away from competition, the Sacramento State gymnastics team will compete in its first road meet of the season as the Hornets will travel to Corvallis, Ore., for a four-team meet on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m. at Gill Coliseum. Along with host Oregon State, Sacramento State will also take on Denver and Brown.
The meet will be live streamed for free through Oregon State's Pac-12 Network site. Links to the video and live scoring can be found on the team's schedule page at hornetsports.com.

OPPONENT PREVIEW

Oregon State is ranked 18th after the first two weeks of the season. The Beavers are 3-3 on the year while facing five teams which are ranked among the top 36. OSU boasts a pair of all-arounders, including Olympian Jade Carey who is averaging 39.550 in the all-around to rank 11th nationally. Carey has event averages of 9.938 on vault, 9.912 on floors, 9.863 on beam and 9.838 on bars. Her vault averages ranks third in the nation.
The Beavers are 13-0 all-time against Sacramento State, including 5-0 at Gill Coliseum. This weekend will mark the first trip to Oregon State for the Hornets since 2015.
Denver is the highest-ranked team among the four in this week's meet coming in at No. 8. The Pioneers opened the season by defeating Penn State and Texas Woman's at home and then finished second in a three-team meet at No. 4 Michigan. Denver ranks among the top 16 in all four events, including fifth on beam. The team has five gymnasts averaging 9.8-plus on beam led by Jessica Hutchinson (9.912).
The Pioneers lead the all-time series against the Hornets, 3-0. This will be just the second neutral site matchup between the two schools.
Like Sacramento State, Brown has competed just once this season. The Bears lost a dual against Yale, 191.850-191.225. The score was the highest for Brown in a season-opening meet since 2017. The team produced individual event winners on three events.
The Hornets hold a 2-0 lead over Brown with both matchups taking place in Sacramento.

A LOOK AT THE LATEST ACTION

Freshman Sarah Lutrel tied for first place on bars and graduate Amber Koeth was second on floor for the highest finishes by Sacramento State in the season opening meet against UC Davis on Jan. 8 at The Nest. The Aggies finished first in the competition with a total of 194.050 while the Hornets totaled 191.375.
The meet was tight through the first rotation as Sacramento State scored 48.475 on vault and UCD had a 48.525 on bars. The Hornets counted five scores between 9.600 and 9.775 and were led by Emma Morgenthaler who received a 9.775 in the anchor position.
The teams separated during the second rotation with UC Davis building over a point lead following a vault score of 48.975 compared to a 47.675 from the Hornets on bars. Lutrel had the best mark on the team with a 9.725 which placed her in a four-way tie for first place.
On beam, Sacramento State was led by Grace Gilman who scored 9.700 to tie for third place. However, the Hornets were forced to count a fall during the rotation and finished with a team score of 47.500 compared to a 48.425 on floor from UCD.
Koeth provided her best performance of the night during the final rotation as she closed the meet with a 9.750 on floor. She was one of just three gymnasts in the meet to break 9.7 on the afternoon in a tightly judged event.

SOLORIO ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT FOLLOWING 2023

After close to 40 years at Sacramento State, head coach Randy Solorio announced that he will retire following the 2023 season. Solorio joined the Hornet coaching staff as an assistant coach in 1986 and then transitioned to head coach prior to the 2016 season.
During his career, the Hornets have won eight conference titles, made four NCAA regional appearances as a team and have accounted for all of the team and individual scores in the school top 10.

A GOOD WAY TO START YOUR CAREER

Sarah Lutrel was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Freshman of the Week following her performance against UC Davis. Competing in her first collegiate meet of her career, Lutrel tied for first place on both bars and in the all-around against UC Davis on Sunday afternoon. The Citrus Heights, Calif., native opened the meet with a 9.750 on vault which placed her fifth on the event. She then led the team with a 9.725 on bars to finish in a four-way tie for first place. Lutrel closed the meet with a 9.525 on beam and a 9.450 on floor. Her all-around total of 38.450 tied her with teammate Emma Morgenthaler for the top spot in the competition. All four of Lutrel's scores counted toward the team's total during the meet.
Last season, Emma Morgenthaler was named the MPSF Freshman of the Week three times.

TAKING IT UP A NOTCH

Along with the MPSF Freshman of the Week awards, Emma Morgenthaler qualified for the NCAA Seattle Regional as a vault specialist, was named first team all-MPSF on vault and earned second team recognition as an all-arounder during her first competitive season with the team. Morgenthaler raised the bar higher against UC Davis as she became the first gymnast in school history to successfully perform a double layout on floor.
The Bellingham, Wash., native had trained the skill throughout the offseason but it was not decided on whether she would compete it in the opening meet of the year until after she landed it during the touch warmup. Morgenthaler ended up tying for sixth on the event during the meet. She also tied for first in the all-around along with Lutrel.

NEWS & NOTES

Sacramento State freshmen accounted for nine of the team's 24 competitive routines against UC Davis. Joining Lutrel (all-around) were Olivia Schmitt (vault, floor), Ryliz Zimmerman (vault, beam), and Kara Houghton (bars).
Former Hornet Megan Kyle is serving as a volunteer coach with the team this season. Kyle, who competed at Sacramento State from 2014-17, is assisting on bars while assistant coach Nicole Brandt is on maternity leave.

Sacramento State Projected Lineup
	Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor
1.	Bella Lahmidi	Torri Tavenner	Grace Gilman	Simone Dumas-Guzman
2.	Torri Tavenner	Kara Houghton	Emma Morgenthaler	Anna LeRoy
3.	Sarah Fitzgerald	Emma Morgenthaler	Rylin Zimmerman	Sarah Lutrel
4.	Grace Gilman	Sarah Lutrel	Sarah Lutrel	Emma Morgenthaler
5.	Sarah Lutrel	Bella Lahmidi	Peyton Gillen	Grace Gilman
6.	Emma Morgenthaler	Amber Koeth	Amber Koeth	Amber Koeth
ex.	Rylin Zimmerman	Grace Gilman	Sarah Fitzgerald	Kara Houghton

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Players Mentioned

Simone Dumas-Guzman: 5' 2"; Junior

Sarah Fitzgerald: 5' 8"; Redshirt Sophomore

Peyton Gillen: 5' 3"; Senior

Grace Gilman: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Amber Koeth: 5' 6"; Graduate Student

Bella Lahmidi: 5' 7"; Senior

Anna LeRoy: 5' 3"; Senior

Emma Morgenthaler: 4' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore

Torri Tavenner: 5' 3"; Redshirt Sophomore

Kara Houghton: 5' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Simone Dumas-Guzman
: 5' 2"; Junior

Sarah Fitzgerald
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Sophomore

Peyton Gillen
: 5' 3"; Senior

Grace Gilman
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Amber Koeth
: 5' 6"; Graduate Student

Bella Lahmidi
: 5' 7"; Senior

Anna LeRoy
: 5' 3"; Senior

Emma Morgenthaler
: 4' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore

Torri Tavenner
: 5' 3"; Redshirt Sophomore

Kara Houghton
: 5' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned

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