OPENING PASS

For the first time this season, the Sacramento State gymnastics team will take to the road as the Hornets will participate in a four-team meet hosted by San Jose State on Sunday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m. The meet will also include Boise State and UC Davis.

Sacramento State improved to 5-0 on the season following wins over Cornell and Alaska Anchorage last Friday night. That contest capped a three-meet homestand to start the year which saw the Hornets come out victorious in each competition. The team's average of 194.475 places it 38th in the latest RTN rankings.

The team will remain on the road for its next six meets before ending the year with home meets on Feb. 28 against Southern Utah, Mar. 9 vs. Eastern Michigan and Mar. 14 against UC Davis.

Links to live stats and a video stream for this week's meet can be found on hornetsports.com.

OPPONENT PREVIEW

After three meets on the road, San Jose State will make its home debut on Sunday. The Spartans most recently produced a season-best score of 195.625 to tie for second in a four-team meet. That total left SJSU just 0.05 points behind Arizona, tied with Boise State and ahead of Iowa State (194.575). Katherine Weymiller had the highest score for the team on any event with a 9.925 to win beam.

Boise State's score in that quad meet was also its season best. The Broncos are currently ranked 42nd with a season average of 194.325. Emily Lopez finished first on bars with a 9.925 and Emma Loyim tied for second on beam in the meet. 

UC Davis is coming off a four-team home meet of its own as the Aggies totaled a season-high 194.375 to place second last Sunday. The meet was won by California (196.950) while Cornell (193.500) and Alaska Anchorage (192.500) finished third and fourth.

This will be the second meeting for the Hornets against UC Davis and San Jose State this season. Sacramento State will face the Broncos twice in a six-day span as the teams will also compete in Boise on Friday, Jan. 31.

ADD IT UP

Sacramento State's five wins this season are the most by a Hornet team in a year since recording nine wins in 2018. The most wins in a single-season came in 1999 where the team went 28-12.

The Hornets' average of 194.475 is the second-best average through three meets in school history. The only team to top this year's mark was the 2016 squad with an average of 194.517.

SHARING THE WEALTH

Sacramento State gymnasts have combined to win at least a share of first place in 10 of 12 events this season. The number is even more impressive when you factor in that those 10 wins have come from seven different gymnasts.  Sarah Lutrel is the only member of the team to finish first multiple times in the same event this year as she has a pair of wins on vault to go along with one victory on beam. 

Through three meets, the Hornets have seen Hannah Sitzman, Chloe Cohen and Kara Houghton each finish in first place on bars. On beam, Lutrel, Athena Jones and Rylin Zimmerman have each had wins this season.

As a team, Sacramento State has had the highest team score in 11 of its 12 events this season.

WHERE'S THE CEILING ON FLOOR

The Hornets saved their best scores of the night for the final rotation last week, totaling 48.925 on floor. The score was a season-high on the event and every point was needed to help the team continue its streak of 13-consecutive meets with a team score of 194 or better.  The Hornets counted five scores of 9.700 or better and were led by a 9.850 from Athena Jones and a pair of 9.825s from Olivia Schmitt and Kara Houghton.

BEAM AMONG THE BEST

Sacramento State saw its beam average drop to 48.950 this season after scoring 48.800 in the three-team meet against Cornell and Alaska Anchorage. That average is still good enough to place the team 18th in the nation and first among MPSF teams. 

Individually, Sarah Lutrel is tied for 66th nationally with a season average of 9.833. Lutrel opened the year with a 9.800 on beam and seen her score increase to 9.825 and most recently 9.875. Last season, Lutrel tied the school record with a 9.950 on beam in a home meet against Air Force.

HOME SWEET HOME

Sacramento State moved into its new training facility this past summer. The building, which is located on Folsom Blvd. and is within walking distance of campus, marks the first time the Hornets will have access to its own facility in school history. The training site has a full size competition floor and several sets of the other apparatus as well as a locker room, athletic training space and team lounge.

NEWS & NOTES

Sacramento State has yet to officially compete an all-arounder this season. Emma Morgenthaler has been the closest as she was in the lineup on vault, bars and beam in all three meets and has performed an exhibition on floor in the last two competitions. Sarah Lutrel has also been a three-event starter (vault, beam, floor) and was slated to exhibition on bars last meet before being scratched.