OPENING PASS

• Back home for the first time in over a month, the Sacramento State gymnastics will welcome No. 26 Southern Utah on Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. in The Nest. The Hornets have been on the road for their last six meets and have not had a home contest since taking on Cornell and Alaska Anchorage in a tri-meet on Jan. 17.
• Friday night will also be the annual Compete for a Cause meet. Sacramento State gymnasts will wear ribbons in their hair in support of the organization/causes they are supporting. 

OPPONENT PREVIEW

• Southern Utah has risen to 26th in the national rankings with an NQS of 195.855. The Thunderbirds have scored 196-plus in three-consecutive meets and four of the last five. The team's high score this season was 196.475 against Utah State on Feb. 10.
• SUU leads the MPSF in overall NQS as well as on vault, bars and floor. Individually, Trista Goodman paces the conference with a 9.830 NQS on bars and Niya Randolph is the leader in the all-around at 39.170.
• The T-Birds lead the all-time series, 17-7, including a 196.150-192.725 win in Cedar City, Utah on Feb. 7. The two teams will meet for a third time on Mar. 23 at the MPSF Championships in Anchorage, Alaska.
• The T-Birds are coached by Scotty Bauman who is in his 34th season as the team's head coach.

A LOOK AT THE LAST MEET

• Sacramento State was victorious in a pair of meets at Alaska Anchorage last weekend. The Hornets set their season high with a 195.150 on Friday night and 194.600 on Sunday afternoon.
• In Friday's meet, Rylin Zimmerman finished in first place on vault, Kara Houghton and Hannah Sitzman tied for first on bars, Athena Jones was first on floor, Sarah Lutrel tied for first on floor and Emma Morgenthaler won the all-around.
• Sacramento State returned to action two days later and completed the sweep over the Seawolves. Lutrel was first on vault, Sitzman added another title on bars, Jones tied for first on floor and Morgenthaler won on beam and in the all-around.
• Over the two meets, the Hornets won all eight team titles in each event. That included a season-best 49.125 on floor on Sunday. 
• Morgenthaler also broke 39 points in the all-around in both meets. She now has 14 meets in her career of 39-plus with a high of 39.325 against Air Force last season.

COMPLETING THE CYCLE

• Athena Jones was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Specialist of the Week, it was announced today. The honor is the first of her career but gave Sacramento State a winner for MPSF Gymnast, Specialist and Freshman of the Week this season.
• Competing at a pair of meets in Anchorage, Alaska, Jones recorded wins on beam and floor. The Clovis, Calif., native opened the weekend series with a career best 9.875 to win beam on Friday night. She also added a 9.775 on bars and a 9.825 on floor to finish third overall. On Sunday, Jones tied for first place on floor with a career-high tying 9.900. The sophomore also tied for second place on bars with a 9.750 and tied for third on beam after receiving a 9.775.

A TOP 25 PROGRAM

• Sacramento State moved up to 25th in the nation on beam this season with an NQS of 48.960. The Hornets currently sit above North Carolina State, Ohio State, Alabama, Washington, Clemson and Illinois among others. Sacramento State has been led by Lutrel and Jones who lead the MPSF with a beam NQS of 9.815. The rest of the lineup is not that far behind comprised of Grace Gilman (9.780), Morgenthaler (9.775), Houghton (9.735) and Kaitlyn Driessen (9.735).
• Six different Hornets have combined to claim at least a share of first place seven times this season. Jones' win on Friday night made her the first Hornet to win on beam twice this season. 
• The team's NQS score is already the best in program history and can only go up from here. Sacramento State's current low towards the NQS is a 48.875 which came on Sunday. Any score higher than that mark on beam will raise the team's NQS. The team's current high is 49.075 which came at home against San Jose State. Making the team ranking more impressive is that none of the individual gymnasts would crack the school's single-season top 10.

FROM THE TOP

• Hannah Sitzman recorded a pair of wins in Alaska from the leadoff position on bars. Sitzman was the first competitor for either team on the event and responded with scores of 9.850 and 9.800. She now leads the team with an NQS of 9.805 and has finished first on bars in four meets this season.

REMEMBERING RANDY

• Longtime Sacramento State gymnastics coach Randy Solorio passed away on Feb. 5 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Randy served the campus for nearly 40 years as an assistant coach, head coach and kinesiology instructor. The team will wear temporary tattoos for the remainder the year which will have a green and gold ribbon as well as Randy's initials.
• A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, Mar. 9, at the Sacramento State Alumni Center. The event will begin following the team's meet against Eastern Michigan which starts at 2 p.m.