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Sacramento State teams prepare for spring season

Sacramento State Athletics had a very good year in 2008 with several programs making it into the post season. With a number of returning student-athletes, 2009 looks to be just as promising. 

Softball
Sacramento State enters the new season on the heels of a breakthrough 2008 campaign that saw the team finish with a 32-21 overall record, a 14-6 mark in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference, the program’s first-ever PCSC championship and an appearance in the NCAA Regionals. Head coach Kathy Strahan, who was named the PCSC Coach of the Year last season, welcomes back 10 players from last season’s squad, including five positional starters and three pitchers.

Baseball
The Hornets will hit the field in 2009 hoping to improve on a 2008 season that saw the team post its first ever Western Athletic Conference Tournament victory. Head coach John Smith returns for his 31st season at Sacramento State looking to record his 850th career win. First team all-WAC performer Tim Wheeler returns for his junior season after hitting .330 with three home runs and 43 RBI's in 2008.  The Hornets also return three starting pitchers from a season ago. Junior right hander Trevor York (4-6, 4.97 ERA, 87.0 innings) will miss the beginning of the season recovering from offseason surgery, but senior lefthanders Brian Smith (4-1, 4.75 ERA, 53.0 innings) and Jose Ramirez (4-6, 5.27, 70.0 innings) return to the rotation.

Women’s track and field
A year after claiming its first Big Sky outdoor track and field championship, Sacramento State enters the 2009 season as the favorite to repeat. The Hornets roster features 10 student-athletes who earned all-Big Sky Conference honors last season, including five Big Sky champions. The group is highlighted by senior Morinsola Keshinro, the defending conference champion in the 400-hurdles and the reigning 100-hurdles champion Alicia Truesdale. Sacramento State will host three regular season meets before attempting to defend its conference title in Missoula, Mont., in May.

Men’s track and field
Last season, the Sacramento State men nearly claimed their first outdoor Big Sky title in school history, finishing just six points behind Northern Arizona, 166-160. This year, the Hornets are hoping to use that finish as motivation to move themselves atop the awards stand. Sacramento State will have numerous weapons at its disposal, including defending conference champions Ronald Brookins (100-hurdles and long jump) and Emilio Hernandez (high jump). Hernandez shined last spring at the Big Sky Championships and was named the Male Outdoor Field Athlete of the Meet after winning the long jump and finishing third in the triple jump. Senior A.J. Reed will team with Brookins to create one of the top hurdle combinations in the west. Reed finished first at the indoor championships and was second behind Brookins at the outdoor meet.
Next week’s “Bulletin” will preview men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf, and rowing.