Sacramento State

Gymnastics 1/27/2024 3:29:00 PM

GYMNASTICS BACK ON THE ROAD FOR DUAL AT SAN JOSE STATE ON SUNDAY

Hornets have improved score in each meet this year

OPENING PASS

Just four weeks into the 2024 season, the Sacramento State gymnastics team will already see an opponent for the second time this year as the Hornets travel to San Jose State on Sunday, Jan. 28. The meet will begin at 2 p.m. from the Provident Credit Union Event Center. The two teams previously met at The Nest on Jan. 14 where the Spartans defeated the Hornets, 194.950-194.025.
Sacramento State most recently scored a season high 194.200 in a loss at then-No. 17 Arizona last Sunday in Tucson, Ariz. The Hornets have opened the year with three scores of at least 194.000, making the team just the second to do so in program history (joining 2016).
Links to live stats and a video stream for this week's meet can be found on hornetsports.com.

OPPONENT PREVIEW

After starting the season with identical team scores of 194.950, San Jose State produced a season best 195.625 to place second in a four-team meet at Boise State last Friday. The Spartans finished behind the host Broncos (195.800) but earned wins over Air Force (194.975) and West Chester (191.825). Jaudai Lopes finished in first place on vault with a 9.900 and freshman Mia Nelson won on floor with a 9.925.
SJSU currently ranks 38th in this week's Road To Nationals rankings but the team is just two-tenths out of the coveted top 36.
San Jose State is coached by Joanne Bowers who is in her sixth season. The Spartans lead the all-time series, 64-53-1 and have won the last 13 matchups between the two teams.

A LOOK AT LATEST ACTION

Sacramento State recorded its highest score of the season but came up short in a battle against No. 17 Arizona on Sunday at the McKale Center. The Wildcats scored 196.500 while the Hornets finished with a team total of 194.200.
The two teams were separated by less than a point through the first two rotations. Sacramento State opened the meet on bars where the team scored 48.700 behind a 9.850 from freshman Jillianne Lastra who tied for second place overall. A 48.575 on vault left Sacramento State just seven-tenths off the lead at the midway point.
Arizona doubled its advantage during the third rotation as the Wildcats scored 49.125 on beam compared to a 48.350 from the Hornets on floor. Sacramento State scored a season-best 48.575 on beam during the fourth rotation but faced a near-perfect performance from Arizona on floor which resulted in a 49.400 team score. The Hornets' four top scores were all within three-quarters of a point of one another as Zimmerman led the team with a 9.775. Freshmen Mallory Barron (9.750) and Athena Jones (9.725) and Morgenthaler (9.700) completed the quartet.

A LONG TIME COMING

Sacramento State will unveil a new training facility early in the 2024 season. The building, which is located on Folsom Blvd. and is within walking distance of campus, will be mark the first time the Hornets will have access to its own facility in school history.
The training site will have a full size competition floor and several sets of the other apparatus. The building will also have sunken pits and a tumble track to allow the athletes to safely learn new skills. The facility is expected to open in February of 2024.

ALL TOGETHER NOW

The Hornets are off to one of their best starts in school history but have yet to have a meet where all four events are at their best as the team has had to count a fall in each meet this year. If you take the high score from all four events through the first three meets of the year, Sacramento State would score 195.025.
The team has highs of 48.825 on vault, 48.700 on bars, 48.575 on beam and 48.925 on floor. If those numbers could be consistently hit, it would lift Sacramento State nearly 15 spots in the national rankings.

GROWING UP BEFORE OUR EYES

The Hornets have used 12 gymnasts in their lineup this season with a third of those coming from true freshmen. Athena Jones, Jillianne Lastra and Rose Wilson have been in the lineup in all three meets. Jones has competed on beam and floor and was named the MPSF Freshman of the Week with scores of 9.825 (beam) and 9.725 (floor) against San Jose State. Lastra led the team with a 9.850 on bars last week at Arizona. Wilson has been a fixture on vault where she has a high of 9.775 and has also competed on bars.
Mallory Barron was the newest freshman to crack the lineup as she recorded a 9.750 on beam at Arizona. Barron had previously performed exhibitions on the event in the first two meets of the season.
If you couple in the three sophomores who have been in the lineup this year, over half of the team's performers have come from underclassmen. Combined, the seven have accounted for 43 of the team's 72 competitive routines.

KEEP ON BUILDING

Sophomore Rylin Zimmerman continued her hot start to the season with two more scores of at least 9.775 at Arizona. Zimmerman now has seven scores of 9.750 or better in her nine routines in 2024. Last season, she had two scores of 9.75-plus in 17 routines.
Kara Houghton has scored at least 9.750 on six of her last eight bar routines dating back to last season. Houghton leads the Hornets with an average of 9.792 this year and matched her career high with a 9.875 against San Jose State two weeks ago.

PROJECTED SACRAMENTO STATE LINEUP
	VAULT	BARS	BEAM	FLOOR
1.	Grace Gilman	Sarah Lutrel	Emma Morgenthaler	Simone Dumas-Guzman
2.	Sarah Fitzgerald	Emma Morgenthaler	Mallory Baron	Rylin Zimmerman
3.	Rose Wilson	Sarah Fitzgerald	Rylin Zimmerman	Athena Jones
4.	Emma Morgenthaler	Jilianne Lastra	Athena Jones	Emma Morgenthaler
5.	Sarah Lutrel	Bella Lahmidi	Sarah Lutrel	Grace Gilman
6.	Rylin Zimmerman	Kara Houghton	Kara Houghton	Sarah Lutrel
ex.	None	Rose Wilson	Grace Gilman	Kara Houghton