On Saturday night, the Sac State gymnastics team was able to tie its third highest team score in program history, but the team lost to its opponents, host Cal State Fullerton and Illinois. Sac State posted a team score of 193.625. The night before, the team visited UC Santa Barbara and downed the Gauchos in a dual meet 191.300 to 187.325. Sac State?s record now stands at 6-5.

“We went up against two tough teams Saturday night,” head coach Kim Hughes said. “We certainly rose to the occasion.”

The competition was strong indeed, as Fullerton took first with a score of 195.075, while Illinois barely edged the Hornets with a score of 193.925.

While Sac State came out in third, they also performed well, taking a team score of at least 48 on each event.

Seniors Jami Scoville and Jolane Parr were the high scorers for the Hornets. Both scored 9.850 on the floor, good for second in the event.

“Those are outstanding numbers,” Hughes said. “We are seeing senior consistency with them.”The Hornets began the competition on the bars and the beam, forcing the team to break the judges in. This could have been a hindrance to the teams score, because the Hornets did not post a score higher than ninth on bars. Hughes thought his team did better than they were judged.

“We started out on bars, and we were six for six on bars,” Hughes said. “Jolane, Wendy and Lori (Gillette) all hit their routines.”

Gillette scored 9.775, while Wendy Baisdon and Parr collected a score of 9.725.On beam, the Hornets faired much better, as Baisdon led the way for the team with a score of 9.800. Hughes was pleased with the team’s performance on beam.

“It was really exciting to get into that mode of hitting. We’re really proud of those scores,” Hughes said. “We didn?t count a team fall two nights in a row.”

Sac State was able to record two of the top three scores on vault, with Jenny Ball finishing in second with a 9.750 score. Binta Coleman finished in third with a score of 9.725. Coleman was the only Hornet to compete in the all around, finishing with a score of 37.075.

“We had two people step up on vault Saturday night, Amy Langkamp and Christy Warhola,” Hughes said.

Langkamp recorded a score of 9.475, while Warhola had a score of 9.325.Unfortunately for the Hornets, Toni Petersen, the teams most consistent all-around performer, who injured her ankle before the last home match was limited to her bars routine during both nights.

Friday night, the team was at Santa Barbara, where they defeated the Gauchos by a score of 191.300-187.325.

“The win is the only thing that we can be thankful for in Friday?s meet,” Hughes said. “We did have some people step up though.”

Sac State had first place finishes in every event against Santa Barbara. The scores were not very high however, compared to Saturday?s contest. Hughes believes that because Santa Barbara is not a strong team this year, the judges tend to score lower when at their home meets.

“Santa Barbara is not very strong this year, so the judges are not throwing up great numbers,” Hughes said.

Parr and Scoville led the way for the Hornets again on floor with scores of 9.800, the highest scores of the night. Scoville has now finished with a score of 9.800 or higher in her last four competitions, while Parr has accomplished the feat in her last three.

On bars, all six Hornets that competed finished in the top six. Baisdon led the way with a 9.725, while Lori Gillette and Petersen finished second with a 9.700.

The Hornets were able to secure the top two spots on vault, even though the team had three falls, with two counting towards the team score. Jenny Ball and Coleman tied for the best score with a 9.600. Coleman finished with an all-around score of 38.000.

Hughes believed that the team looked good, and the score should have been better.”Their performance didn?t look that bad,” Hughes said. “The judges were scoring low.”

The team now has its next two competitions at home over the next two weekends, and is hoping to put up good numbers. Saturday, the team will host UC Davis and Alaska Anchorage on senior night.

Hughes believes the team must show consistency and put forth a team effort.

“The big thing for us is showing consistency,” he said. “What we look at now, is if we are below 193, we didn?t do our job. We have to put in a team effort.”