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Hot spring sports put the thaw on winter

The cold, dark days of winter will give way soon and the Hornet sports schedule will heat up with a variety of men’s and women’s athletic programs from gymnastics to track and field to baseball and softball.

A peek ahead shows continued promise for all of Sacramento State’s spring athletic programs.

Gymnastics

Success is nothing new to the Hornet gymnastics team which has won seven conference titles in the last eight years. This year’s squad will again have the bullseye on its back as it seeks a third-straight Western Athletic Conference crown. Led by an experienced class of five seniors and a talented freshmen group, the Hornets will once again be one of the top teams in the west region.

Sacramento State returns two WAC individual champions from last season, senior Melissa Genovese and junior Marina Borisova. Both are from the Sacramento area. Genovese finished first at the conference meet on beam while Borisova won the title on floor and was second in the all-around.

Track and Field

The Hornet men’s track and field team will look to remain on top of the Big Sky podium in 2008. The men won their first team title in school history at the conference indoor meet last March and finished second during the outdoor season. This year, all but one member returns for the indoor season, including two-time All-American David Nichols, and sprinters Jody Johnson and Raphael McFarlane who each qualified for the NCAA Championships.

The women are also poised to make their move in the Big Sky. A wealth of experience and a spectacular group of recruits have the Hornets loaded for competition. The roster features seven student-athletes who earned all-Big Sky honors last season.

Both teams will have the advantage of trying to win the Big Sky title at home as Sacramento State will host the conference meet at Hornet Stadium May 14-17.

Women’s Golf

The Hornets would like nothing better than to find themselves at home during the start of NCAA postseason play. The team will serve as host for the event at Lincoln Hills Golf Course in May.

Last season, Sacramento State tied the Big Sky Conference record for best team score at the championships, finishing the three-round event at 26-strokes under par. Three starters return from last season’s squad, seniors Erica Yoshino and Emily Longcrier and junior Heather LeMaster.

The winner of the Big Sky tournament (which will take place in Phoenix on April 21-23) earns an automatic bid to the NCAA regional.

Men’s Golf

One year after winning the Western Independent Championship, the Hornet men’s golf team moved into the America Sky Conference and produced a second-place finish during the fall season.

With four tournaments under its belt, the men’s team is slated to play in five more events during the spring season. In the fall, the team was led by junior Scott DeBorba and sophomore Grant Norton. DeBorba ranked second on the team with an average of 74.2 while Norton averaged 73.5 in 11 rounds.

Women’s Tennis

For the past six years, no spring sports program at Sacramento State has been as dominant as women’s tennis. The Hornets have won the Big Sky title each season and advanced to the NCAA Championships each of those years. Sacramento State will pursue a seventh title as it enters the 2008 season having won 42 consecutive conference matches.

The team returns three first team all-Big Sky selections from last year, including sophomore Katrina Zheltova who was named MVP as a freshman.

Men’s Tennis

Last May, after a three-year drought, the Hornet men won their sixth Big Sky title in the last 10 years with a 4-0 win over Eastern Washington. With two first team all-Big Sky selections returning, Sacramento State will likely be the favorite to win the title once again.

Sophomores Xavier Barajas-Smith and Anton Stryhas return after phenomenal freshman campaigns. Barajas-Smith was named the Big Sky MVP after posting a 19-5 record. Stryhas also earned first team accolades after leading the team with a 20-4 overall record in singles play.

Baseball
The Sacramento State baseball team returns 16 players, including six position starters and two rotation starters, from a team that made the WAC tournament for the second straight season since re-joining the conference. Leading returns from last season are first team All-WAC selection David Flores, a senior third baseman who hit .311 last year with five home runs and Gabe Jacobo, a senior first baseman who hit .363 with 14 home runs and 44 RBIs. Head coach John Smith, one of just two coaches in Sacramento State history to reach the 800-win plateau (former women's volleyball coach Debby Colberg was the other), returns for his 30th season at the helm of the Green and Gold. The Hornets will open the season with a three-game series against Loyola Marymount Feb. 22-24 at Hornet Field.

Softball

The Sacramento State softball team, which has posted at least 30 victories four of the last five seasons, returns 13 players, including eight positional starters, from last year’s team. Beginning her 16th season with the Hornets, head coach Kathy Strahan will field a lineup that is stacked with returning all-conference selections Hilary Johnson, Jamie Schloredt, Amy Tompkins, Kayla Meeks, Sherry Clark, Whitney Loomis and Rachel Miles. Johnson, Schloredt and Tompkins were each first-team selections and combined to hit .329 last season.

Rowing

Fresh off its second consecutive Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association team championship, the Sacramento State women’s rowing squad returns 29 student-athletes from last season’s title-winning team. The Hornets’ top three boats (varsity eight, second varsity eight and novice eight) combined for a 19-4 record in dual meets last season, and the Hornets’ varsity eight returns all but three rowers. Sixth-year head coach Mike Connors, who was named the 2006 WIRA Coach of the Year, will try to lead the team to its fifth conference crown in the last nine years. The WIRAs serve as the Hornets’ conference championship regatta. 

Compiled by the Sacramento State Athletics Department and Mike Ward