The Causeway Classic of gymnastics started late and dragged out through the afternoon, but Sacramento State stayed focused throughout the marathon of a competition that turned out to be historic for the program. On only one day of rest, the Hornets had something to prove against the Aggies after losing to their rival San Jose State on Friday by less than one quarter of a point.

The Hornets opened Senior Night in storming fashion by tying a school record for team vault. Freshman Marina Borisova, sophomore Amber Basgall and senior’s Brooke Morari and Trista Condren nailed four consecutive landings to help record a 49.050 team vault it was the third time in Sacramento State’s history. Condren won the event with a score 9.90.

“We knew coming in here that we wanted to get high scores, we knew we could,” Condren said. “Today went very well.”

After vault the sophomores took control on the uneven parallel bars. Basgall and Alexis Tsurumoto scored a 9.800, which also tied for first place in the event. The only all-around competitor for the Hornets, Borisova, tied for second with a score of 9.750.

Going into the event that has proven to make or break the Hornets in recent years, tears were already forming in the eyes of many of the gymnasts for Sac State in their last home meet. Three scores were above a 9.725 for the Hornets, led by one of their most consistent performers on beam, sophomore Melissa Genovese, with a score of 9.850. As a team Sac State set a new season high on beam with a team score of 48.600.

At the current pace the Hornets were looking at setting a new top 5 all time team score. The 2006 class came full circle once again as a freshman and a senior helped the team push for a new season high score. Senior Carrie Kinghorn and Borisova scored the two highest scores on the floor for the Hornets, 9.800 and 9.875 respectively. Borisova tied the Aggies junior Carolyn Kampf.

“There was a lot more stress tonight, it being Senior Night,” Kinghorn said. “I wanted to hit on every event.” Kinghorn competed in all four events; beam and vault were for exhibition.

After the meet was over, coaches and fans honored the 2006 senior classes for both teams. Both teams’ scored their season high as UC Davis broke through the 190-mark and scored a 192.450, only to be out done by the Hornets who hadn’t broken through the 194-mark this season. The Hornets scored a 195.175 against the Causeway rivals.

“We’ve been talking about Senior Day against Davis for a long time now,” Hughes said. “We really wanted to come in here and get a 194 for the first time this season, a score of 195 was something we didn’t expect.”

“A lot of Hornet pride is involved when we face Davis. We hold on to this rivalry probably more than other sports,” Hughes said.

The 195.175 score is the fourth best in the school’s history. The Hornets travel across the Causeway to face the Aggies at 7 p.m. on Friday March 17.

Brad Alexander can be reached at [email protected]