Led by senior Marina Borisova, Sacramento State’s gymnastics team had an impressive showing in Seattle on Jan. 16 in a four-team meet, finishing third and missing second place by less than one full point. Scoring the highest marks on the team in every event with the exception of beam, Borisova won the all-around event scoring a 39.175.

Borisova’s dominant performance led to her being named the Western Athletic Conference Gymnast for the week, which is nothing new to her since she won the award last week as well.

“It feels good, I think my hard work pays off,” Borisova said.

Coach Kim Hughes was pleased with his team’s performance and improvement from its last meet, especially Borisova’s dominant performance.

“Marina is that caliber an athlete,” Hughes said. “She’s confident, she’s a senior, and it shows.”

Stanford’s team, which is ranked seventh in the nation, won the meet with a team score of 196.450. Washington finished in second with a team score of 194.250, largely due to Ashley Houghting winning both the floor and the vault. Houghting was the only one to score higher than Borisova on the floor, scoring a 9.875 with Borisova scoring a 9.825. Sac State finished third with a score of 193.550 while Seattle Pacific finished fourth with a score of 188.425.

Sac State was the only team to feature three gymnasts competing in all four events. If not for the performance of her teammate Borisova, freshman Cayla Boyce would have won the all-around title as she finished a close second with a score of 38.900. Junior Eryn Stubblefield finished fourth in the all-around with a score of 38.500. While Boyce’s success may be unexpected so soon, Borisova’s and Stubblefield’s winning results are no shock to Hughes.

“Eryn’s all-around is very consistent,” he said

The Hornets are a well balanced team with many event specialists. Competing on the bars for Sac State is junior Lauren Dyson. Focusing on the beam is junior Lizzy Norvell, who in addition to being a gymnast, competes on the Hornets track and field team as a pole vaulter.

The biggest obstacle in the Hornets’ path has been injuries. Senior Amber Basgall has required surgery on her knee and sophomore Amanda Blauvelt suffered a high ankle sprain earlier in the year. Freshmen Bethany Barrick was going to be a strong member of the floor line until she too suffered injury. Despite these setbacks, Hughes is optimistic since Basgall, Blauvelt, and Barrick are only out for a few weeks and the team is already performing well.

“We’re having people come back, we’re hitting our routines early,” he said.

Sac State is currently ranked 32nd in the nation as it heads off to a meet with Southern Utah, and Hughes expects it to be challenging.

“It’s going to be competitive. Our goal is to qualify for regionals. It’s a matter of our team being consistent,” he said

Of the 24 scores in their meet in Washington, not a single score was 9.000. Only five of the teams’ scores were under 9.500. Eleven of the teams’ scores were 9.700 or better.

The team’s performance so far has been solid all around, from the expected outstanding performances from Borisova to the pleasantly surprising freshmen contributions. In addition to all-around member Boyce, floor and vault specialist Chantal Angyal has been a welcome freshmen contributor. In Washington, Angyal scored a 9.700 on the vault and tied for 11th place with Stanford’s Gretchen O’Henley.

Junior Traci Takeda carries the responsibility of being the first member of the team to start at meets since she competes on beam, in addition to vault and bars. “She has the hard job of being our starter,” Hughes said. Despite the difficulty of being the first to perform, Takeda will start for the team for her second consecutive season.

Sophomore beam and floor specialist Lissa Zamolo isn’t letting the stress fractures in her shins keep her from competing. Out of the 24 gymnasts who performed on beam, her score of 9.775 earned her a three-way tie for 10th place, along with her teammate Stubblefield and Seattle Pacific’s Brianna Schwartz.

The rest of the season has the potential to be filled with success as the team has no weakness and a senior who can excel in everything.

“So far, it’s a good start for the season,” Borisova said. The team’s trip to Southern Utah is another opportunity to add to her already outstanding record. Borisova was ranked 19th in the nation on the floor and is currently ranked 15th in the all-around nationally. “The traveling is going to be long, but it’s going to be exciting,” she said.

While this may be Borisova’s last season as a Hornet, don’t be surprised to hear her name at future gymnastic events. “If I’m not playing, I want to be involved,” she said. Considering she spent years being coached by her mother, coaching definitely seems to be in Borisova’s future.

Southern Utah will be the end of the Hornets three-game road trip to open the season.

The Hornets will compete in their first home game against Illinois State on Friday.

Mitchell Wilson can be reached at [email protected]