The Sacramento State gymnastics team made its season debut over the weekend with an intrasquad meet at the Hornets Nest.

In his 25th season with the Hornets coach Kim Hughes will try to build off of last season in which the team recorded the top two team scores in school history.

“At an intrasquad meet, even though it’s a practice meet it’s all about being prepared as early as possible for the season,” Hughes said. “It gives our freshmen a chance to get used to competing in our gym with our lights and equipment. It also gives us a chance to see who can hit their routines in this same type of atmosphere as in regular meets.”

Hughes will turn to a strong recruiting class which features Melissa Genovese who is the most decorated incoming recruit in school history. She is the first gymnast at Sac State to participate at the Elite club level. Genovese was national balance beam champion three years ago, and that is an event Hughes expects her to excel at for this year’s team.

Genovese comes to Sac State after years of trying to qualify for the National team which went to the Olympics this past summer.

“It’s pretty prestigious for us that were able pick someone up who was a national champion,” Hughes said. “We are very happy to have her. She pursued that dream of making the Olympics and now she’s ready to pursue a successful collegiate career.”

Hughes has very high expectations for this year’s team as it tries to earn Sac State a team berth in the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 1999. He believes their strong groups of returnees and recruits should help them achieve their goals this season.

The Hornets begin their regular season on Fri., Jan. 7, at Cal State Fullerton. That match also features Washington and Oregon State, a pair of perennial top-15 squads. The team’s home opener will be on Fri., Jan. 14, against Seattle Pacific.

The Hornets finished second last season behind San Jose State at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships last March. The score from the meet, 195.400, was the second best in school history. The top mark in school history, 195.875, was also set last season at the Salbasgeon Suites Invitational, also last March.

Departed senior Binta Coleman won the all-around championship at the MPSF championships last season and current senior Nirvana Zaher was the individual champion on the vault.

Coleman and Zaher along with fellow seniors Stefanie Aeder and Meloney Greer competed at last season’s NCAA west regionals. Zaher’s seventh-place finish on the balance beam was the top score from the qualified performers at Regionals. Along with those three, junior Kimiye Narasaki has also qualified for a NCAA regional in her career.

Hughes will have a tough time filling the void left by Coleman who was a top performer all four years for the program and the holder of two of the top three all-around scores in school history.

“Binta was very, very talented. They will be hard shoes to fill,” Hughes said. “We have a number of people we need to step up to help us replace Binta.”