The defending Western Athlete Conference champs took a big hit, losing three gymnasts before the season started, but coach Kim Hughes and the Sacramento State gymnastics team didn’t let that get in the way.Without the gymnasts, Hughes thought he was going to start the season with Alexis Tsurumoto.He made a decision and placed six freshmen in the lineup on Jan. 7 for the season opener at home against Utah State and Wisconsin-La Cross.His decision paid off. The Hornets pulled out the win and snagged first place in every event, except the all-around.”Being a freshman, it’s hard to get into the swing of things,” the injured Alexis Tsurumoto said. “They are really strong.”Lauren Dyson and Eryn Stubblefield are two of the six freshmen who placed for the Hornets in the opening meet. Dyson, the anchor in the bars lineup, scored 9.800 and finished second overall. Stubblefield placed fourth on the beam with a 9.600 and was eighth on the floor with a 9.525.After a successful start, the Hornets were hit with a storm of injuries and traveled to Anchorage, Alaska for two meets with only eight gymnasts to compete against the Seawolves, who the Hornets haven’t faced since 2003. They came out victorious, beating Anchorage in both meets on Jan. 19 and 21.Injuries cost the team senior Courtney Hibler (knee), junior Amber Basgall (knee), co-captain Nicole Giao (ankle), and Tsurumoto (finger), sophomore Hava McCarter-Ribakoff (knee) and freshman Ashlei Baker (shoulder).Assistant coach Tami Ross said the Hornets aren’t the only team in the WAC that has suffered major injuries.”We are having injuries that are affecting the lineup, but the other teams (in the WAC) are having the same problems,” she said.Despite numerous injuries, Sac State has a 4-1 record and Giao said the team is doing better than last season at this point.Ross agrees with Giao and said that the Hawaii meet in 2006 was much harder than the opening meet this season.”(Last season) we played some of the top Pac-10 teams. It was intimidating,” Ross said.Sac State’s only loss was from Utah State on Jan. 12. Utah fell behind Sac State in the WAC rankings after competing against Michigan and dropped its score by six points.”We are still a little ahead of (Utah State),” she said. “Our scores have been consistent since the beginning and that maintains our ranking in the WAC.” The Hornets have eight freshmen on the roster, which makes the outlook for the season a bit unknown, Ross said.Ross said that some freshmen have had a rough road, but have figured out a way through the roughpatches and have been stepping up to the plate.In the past, Sac State was able to ease the freshmen into the lineup, but since the Hornets have run intosome issues with injuries, the freshmen were asked to step up early on.”You can ease the freshmen in, but because of the injuries they had to jump right in and share the workand they have done it,” Ross said.Dyson is one freshman who will retain her spot in the bars lineup once the upperclassmen have recuperatedfrom their injuries. “Lauren will remain in the lineup on bars,” Ross said. “It’s her specialty.”Unlike Dyson, some changes will be made when juniors Giao and Tsurumoto have fully recovered.As for now, the injured upperclassmen will support the younger gymnasts on their way to recovery.”As a co-captain and upperclassman, I want my team to do well. I want the girls to do well,” Giao said.Tsurumoto, who may be able to compete by the end of February, said, “You have to stay positive andhelp the rest of your teammates.”Junior Tiffany Bass won the Western Athlete Conference’s newest award. She was honored as the Specialist of the Week, similar to Player of the Week, but this award focuses on a single event.Bass tied for first in the season opener in the Hornets Nest with a 9.850 on vault, earning her the award.Winning the award isn’t the biggest news for Bass. She hadn’t competed on the vault since Jan. 22, 2006 after she was taken out of the lineup after a knee injury. Not only did Bass earn the newest award to the WAC, but she recorded her first all-around, finishing third (38.575) for the Hornets. The Hornets celebrated the inaugural “Think Pink” meet and came from behind to beat Boise State 193-191.125.The day was full of personal bests and career-highs. Sac State recorded a season-best of 48.85 onthe floor, and sophomore Marina Borisova recorded a career-high of 9.925 on the floor. Borisova’s scoreis also the second-best in the school’s history.Freshman Stubblefield won her first all-around scoring a personal best 39 points.”I never expected this. The team helped me do it,” Stubblefield said.Borisova finished second with 9.95 and co-captain Melissa Genovese took third with a career-high of 38.925.The Hornets will compete in their first “Beauty and the Beast” meet when they travel to Cal StateFullerton on Sunday, where the wrestling and gymnastics teams compete in the same gym at the same time.”It’s a unique event,” said Hughes. “But it will be a distraction.”Hughes’ main concern will be the distraction the wrestlers will have on the women competing, but coming off the win at home gives the Hornets a big confidence boost. Karyn Gilbert can be reached at [email protected]