PALO ALTO ?” After finishing sixth place at the 1999 West Regionals, the 2006 Western Athletic Conference Champions hoped to make a better showing the second time around seven years later. The odds appeared to be stacked against head coach Kim Hughes team however. Coming into the meet seeded fifth, No. 5 Alabama and No. 8 Stanford stood in the Hornets path.

The Hornets had a three-event weapon taken away from the team when sophomore Amber Basgall missed the table on her last vault in the Friday practice. While trying to add a twist to her vault routine, to increase the point value, she buckled on the landing and injured her right knee. Basgall contributed to vault, bars and floor.

For the opening event the Hornets drew beam and displayed no big stage hitters in the early going. Four year senior Trista Condren led off for Sacramento State with a score of 9.650, and fellow senior Kimiye Narasaki posted her second highest score of the season with a 9.800. Sophomore Melissa Genovese completed a perfect season on the beam, keeping her balance at every meet this year, she added a score of 9.750

After narrowly escaping the beam event the Hornets looked to shine on the floor. The event that has been the saving grave for the Hornets over the 2006 season was not giving the program much to cheer for. Three of the five gymnasts either stepped out or fell during their routine. The floor seemed to open up for the final Hornet performer, freshman and all-arounder Marina Borisova. The Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year scored a 9.850 finish the event strong. The 47.775 team score on floor was the lowest since Jan. 15 in the tri-meet against Stanford, San Jose and UC Davis. Sac State averages a 48.431 on the floor, the highest average of the four events.

Things seemed to return for normal for the Green and Gold as the team hit the runway for vault. Although the first two performers, senior Carrie Kinghorn and sophomore Nicole Giao, took a big step on the landings, Borisova and senior Brooke Morari finished strong with matching scores of 9.700. Borisova, the sole all-arounder for the Hornets, had a 29.075 after three events.

After the fifth rotation two teams, Alabama and Boise State, were finished with their performances for the evening and landed on opposite ends of the medal stands. Fifth-ranked Alabama appeared to have first place locked with a score of 196.475 and Boise State was in a very distant last place at 189.825.

While most of the lineup for the Hornets was not surprising, Bass would be performing on the event for the first time since her exhibition on Jan. 23, 2004. After a short pep talk from assistant coach Randy Solorio, Bass looked to get into her swing on the bars. During the routine she paused perched on top of the short bar for a quick breath and continued on to stick the dismount. As it would turn out the replacement would lead the team with a score of 9.675.

The deciding factor for the Hornets to hold on to fourth place came in the final three performances of the final rotation. Leading the Boise State Broncos by the slimmest of margins the Hornets could hold onto the fourth slot with very strong performances from two seniors, Kinghorn, Narasaki and a bars specialist sophomore, Alexis Tsurumoto. Kinghorn showed great promise in her performance until she couldn’t hold her footing on the landing. Tsurumoto lost her handle on the bars and was forced to pause in the middle of the routine. She finished with a score of 9.075. The team recorded a 47.525 as a team, almost two full points lower than the WAC Championships performance.

After three hours of flipping and swinging later a winner had been decided. Alabama entered the meet with the highest national ranking and finished on top of the podium with a score of 196.475. Oregon State finished second at 195.800, followed by hosting Stanford at 195.275.

San Jose State clawed in front of the Hornets with a team score of 48.325 on vault and a final team score of 192.375. Sacramento State finished in the same spot they were seeded with, fifth, with a team score of 192.050.

Brad Alexander can be reached at [email protected]