Sophomore Kailey Hansen led Sacramento State gymnastics to a second place finish at the Western Athletic Conference championships Saturday inside Utah State’s Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

The Hornets earned a 195.675, which is not only a season high team all-around score, but also the second-highest score in school history.

“We considered this a win,” Hansen said. “This victory meant so much to us as a team because we were tired of being considered the underdogs; because we know just how great we are.”

In the pre-season poll of the coaches, Sac State was predicted to come in last in the conference.

“The girls talk about how we’re always the underdog and it really bothers a team to not have that respect,” said head coach Kim Hughes. “I think the biggest accomplishment for the team this season was gaining respect.”

The awards rolled in as honors were presented to Kalliah McCartney for WAC freshman of the year and head coach Kim Hughes for WAC coach of the year and his 300th win as a Sac State coach.

“After the awards ceremony, you would have thought we had won the meet based on the excitement of having freshman of the year and Hansen who won two events,” Hughes said. “We reached our goal and when you reach a goal it’s a victory.“

Floor was Sac State’s first event to start the five-way battle against San Jose State, Southern Utah University, Utah State and the University of Denver.

Hansen did not waste any time as she set the bar high during the first rotation with a first place floor score of 9.9.

“I think every meet this year had (given) me a little more confidence every meet and finally it all came together this meet,” Hansen said.

Although the Hornets did not meet a school record on vault, McCartney set a new personal best of 9.875, which landed her in third place.

The Hornets broke their season high team bar for the second week in a row. The bar squad put up some high numbers to give them a new season-record score of 48.825.

Junior Nicole Meiller anchored the bar rotation with a personal best of 9.875.

Throughout the season, Sac State has struggled to complete a beam rotation without someone falling, but the team proved themselves at championships by staying on the beam and earning a new season-high beam score of 49.100.

McCartney and Southern Utah’s Alyssa Click placed second of beam with a 9.9 just behind Hansen’s first place score and new personal record of a 9.925.

“Just having confidence in my landing, not letting anything move me off that beam and finally ending it on a stuck dismount was just icing on the cake,” Hansen said.

This is the first time a Sac State gymnast has placed first on more than one event during a conference championship and it is also the first time this season Sac State has had three scores of 9.9 or above count towards its grand total.

Hansen said the team did not look at the scores the entire meet, but remained confident because they went 24-for-24, hitting every routine they competed.

“They didn’t care (what) they got, they just knew what they had to do,” Hughes said. “I think that might be something we try more often – Don’t focus on the scores, just focus on doing gymnastics routines.”

The University of Denver scored over a 49.000 on three events, which gave them a total of 196.350 and secured the first place spot.

Southern Utah took third with a score of 195.025, San Jose placed fourth and put up a score of 194.800 and lastly Utah State came in fifth with a 194.775.

McCartney took third with a 39.350, just .025 under her personal best and school record she set last week at San Jose State.

McCartney was out of first place by .05, coming in behind senior Spartan Thomasina Wallace with an all-around score of 39.4 followed by Denver’s Moriah Martin whose scores totaled 39.375.

This meet concluded Sac State’s season, but Meiller, Hansen and McCartney will represent the Hornets in Seattle for the NCAA West Regional competition April 7.

Jillian Kweller can be reached at [email protected].