Thirteen Sacramento State gymnasts will return this season and make a run for a championship.

To help in the run for their second Western Athletic Conference championship since 2007, the Hornets introduced six new recruits to the team who will hopefully give them the push to win. Last year’s efforts were hindered by unpredictable scores and too many errors in routines. Head coach Kim Hughes said the key for this year’s team will be to stay fit in a tough conference.

“We are trying to build on developing our consistency early but also trying to keep the team strong and healthy to maintain a constant composure needed throughout the season and into the next WAC championships,” Hughes said.

Team co-captain Cayla Boyce said last year’s efforts were hampered by a lack of poise under pressure.

“In all the events last year, we lacked an obvious confidence. For myself, when I am performing, I pretend to be confident until I convince myself that I deserve to be in the event and it is my time to shine for my team,” Boyce said. “So I have been trying to pass it on to my teammates that they deserve to be competing if they are in the starting lineup.”

Hughes said he would be relying on his five seniors this season because they have the knowledge and spirit to guide the team to a conference title.

“We have two seniors that could go all-around this year: Amanda Blauvelt and Jasmin Lipka. And our other three seniors all have at least two events where they can showcase their talents,” Hughes said. “All of the seniors have the ability to contribute in some way and use their competitive experience to lead the team.”

Boyce, a redshirt junior this season, said the team developed goals for the upcoming season to get on track earlier.

“One of our goals for the offseason was to come back in shape,” Boyce said. “So we worked really hard over the summer to get our bodies in shape.”

Hughes said his goals for the team include increasing the complexity of events with hopes to increase scores.

“A goal I have for the team this year was to increase our difficulty in events. In two of our events we have actually gone up in our difficulty. We have a very strong vault and floor team this season,” he said. “However, we are still working on the uneven bars and balance beam, which are a bit behind schedule right now. So when we can increase the difficulty there, that will make us more competitive.”

So far in this young gymnastics season, the Hornets have been competitive in their first three meets of the season, although finishing second all three times.

In the Jan. 7 home opener against visiting Central Michigan University, University of Alaska-Anchorage and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, the Hornets finished second overall. Sac State held second place with 185.875 points.

In the four-team meet, the Hornets fell behind after the first rotation and were never able to recover. The bright spot came from the first career event win by freshman Kailey Hansen in the floor routine.

Hansen led all competitors with a score of 9.700 to earn her first collegiate event title and it helped propel the Hornets in second place where they would finish the night.

One week later on Jan. 14, the Hornets met up with No. 12 Kent State University in the Lady Luck Invitational in Las Vegas.

Sac State looked to improve on its second place finish from the previous week but were unable to solidify a win.

The Hornets fell behind early and finished the invitational with a score of 189.625 points to Kent State’s 195.475 points.

Hansen finished second on floor, tied for third on vault and tied for fourth on beam to lead the Sacramento State gymnastics team at the Lady Luck Invitational, Jan. 14 at the South Point Resort and Casino. Hansen was the only Hornet to place in the top three of any event.

In the matchup with Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah, Sacramento State improved its overall team score by nearly one point from the previous meet. However, it was not enough to earn the Hornets a first-place finish over the Thunderbirds and Sac State fell by the score of 195.750-190.950.

In the meet with Southern Utah, just two Hornets were able to break the top three in the night’s events. Sophomore Nicole Meiller had the only win in an event for the Hornets as she tied for first with two other Thunderbirds on the uneven bars with a score of 9.800.

The other Sac State gymnast to break the top-three in any event and continue in her streak of top three finishes was Hansen. She finished in second place on vault with a score of 9.750 right behind Southern Utah’s Lindsey Shultz’s 9.800.

The Hornets will be back in action on Friday against San Jose State at 7 p.m.

Matt Harrington can be reached at [email protected]