By Lindsey Boyd (@lindsboyd3 ):
The textbook definition of the word “sweep” for San Jose State gymnastics doesn’t only include team wins. It’s talking individual first-place titles too.
The team not only beat Sacramento State 194.425 to 191.775 for the third time in a row this season, but performed individual routines to clench first place in every single event Friday night.
Junior Kaprece Nandoza earned a career high 9.825 on the vault to win her first career title in the event. The vault marked the best event of the night for the Spartans as they took home three 9.800-plus scores
While the Spartans may rank first in vault in the Mountain Pacific Sport Federation, it’s fourth in bars which continues to be the one thorn in the Spartans side.
Stepping up to change those stats was senior Katie Won, whose 9.850 bar performance was the highest of the night, beating second place Courteney Ng by 0.125.
“Bars went a lot better than it has gone,” Won said. “That was really exciting for us to make it through a farce rotation and hit what we needed to hit.”
Spoiler alert. When it comes to the beam, floor and all-around, sophomore Taylor Chan took first place in all three. In just three meets competing as an all-around gymnast, Chan was proud to take home her first all-around title.
“That honestly is amazing,” Chan said of winning the all-around. “ [Won’s] a big role model for me and it’s nice to know we are kind of on an even playing ground.”
Chan won the top rank with a 39.025 while Won placed second behind her at 38.975. Won also was part of a three way tie with Chan and Hornet’s Kendra Braida on the beam (9.750),
“Having Taylor [Chan] as a competitor is really good because it motivates me to do better because I know how good she is and we can push each other,” Won said.
The team’s strongest event, the floor, proved to be the biggest gap between SJSU and Sacramento State.
The Spartans finished with a 48.750 while the Hornets trailed behind by over a point with a 47.625. Chan ranked first in her strongest event (9.850) with a Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” inspired routine.
The Spartans were pleased to perform so well during their first meet of the season Friday night, and felt being home impacted their scores.
“It’s definitely a lot more fun when we are in our house in our home and we have all of our fans and family supporting us,” Chan said. “…It’s one of the reasons I think we did better tonight.”
Next up is conference competitor UC Davis Feb. 2 in Davis.