The Sacramento State gymnastics team recently jumped head first into the Western Athletic Conference and has dominated all opponents thus far.

Most recently Sac State went into Logan, Utah not quite sure what to expect from a team that none of the gymnasts had faced before. The last time a Sac State team competed against Utah State was in 2000.

As it turned out, any nervous jitters the team had about facing a top-25 team didn’t show in the team’s performance.

The Hornets finished first in three events, on beam, bars and floor on their way to a193.750-192.175 victory.

“We are proving ourselves in the new conference,” sophomore Melissa Genovese said. “We are doing really well-we can expect anyone to contribute on any event.” Genovese hit a 9.900, on floor, in the victory over No. 24 Utah State. The Aggies had 12 returning gymnasts from 2005 season in which they finished with an 8-13 record.

After moving out of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation into the WAC, the Hornets have run the table in conference meets.

Midway through the season, Hughes’ team is 4-0 against WAC opponents, two of those victories coming against rival San Jose State on Jan. 15 and Feb. 17. Sac State will look to sweep the Spartans in 2006 when they travel to San Jose on March 10. The only difference being that it will be on their home turf.

“This season we have such a good team,” senior Kimiye Narasaki said. “We are so deep.””From this year’s team we can look all the way from positions one through six and expect to get good scores,” Hughes said.

To add a little drama to this developing rivalry, the Spartans are ranked ahead of the ‘deeply’ talented Hornets. Although the rankings are shifting from week to week, San Jose seems to stay ahead of Sac State by just a few slots. As of Feb. 27 San Jose are ranked No. 29 while the Hornets are ranked No. 34 in the nation.

This week the Hornets are heading to Boise State. The Broncos scored a season high Monday at the UNO Classic with a score of 192.275. Boise will also be celebrating Senior Night while hosting the 4-0 Hornets. Currently, Sac State is 5-3 against Boise State all time.

“We know they are a good team, so we will need to have our game faces,” Narasaki said. Hughes and the Hornets return home on March 12 to host the UC Davis Aggies. Should the Hornets beat the Aggies all four times they meet this year, it will extend the winning streak 16 straight.

Brad Alexander can be reached at [email protected]