SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two days before the MPSF Championships, the Sacramento State gymnastics team garnered multiple all-MPSF honors, including three major yearly awards it was announced today. Senior Kara Houghton was named the MPSF Specialist of the Year, Melissa Genovese the MPSF Coach of the Year and Nicole Brandt, Megan Kyle and Amber Koeth the MPSF Assistant Coaches of the Year.
 
Houghton became the second Hornet gymnast to be named the MPSF Specialist of the Year. The Parker, Colo., native also earned first team all-MPSF on bars and second team on floor. A three-event starter throughout the season, Houghton led the team with an NQS of 9.825 on bars and 9.850 on floor and was third on the team on beam (9.775). She ended the regular season by earning MPSF Specialist of the Week in the final two weeks. Houghton also accounted for the highest scores on the team on bars and floor, scoring 9.900 on both events. She was third with a 9.850 on beam. During the year, she finished first on floor six times.
 
Sarah Lutrel claimed first team all-MPSF in the all-around and was named second team on vault and beam. Lutrel posted her highest all-around scores in the last two meets, totaling 39.200 at UC Davis and 39.100 at Washington. Her NQS of 38.550 ranked third in the MPSF. The senior leads the Hornets on vault with an NQS of 9.765 which ranks eighth in the league. Her three highest scores of the season on vault came in the final three meets where she averaged 9.808. Lutrel is seventh in the MPSF on beam with an NQS of 9.790. She scored 9.8 or better four times this season, including a 9.900 in the home meet against Cal and SJSU. On floor, she has an NQS of 9.790 which ranks 10^th in the MPSF. That mark includes a high of 9.850. During the year, she finished in first place on vault twice, once on bars and twice in the all-around.
 
Kaitlyn Driessen and Jillianne Lastra were named second team all-MPSF on beam and bars, respectively. Driessen paced Sacramento State with an NQS of 9.810 on beam. Her season was highlighted by a 9.900 in the home tri-meet against Cal and San Jose State. That effort was one of four routines of 9.8 or better during the year.
 
Lastra ranked second on the team with an NQS of 9.775 on bars. She has peaked toward the end of the season, scoring 9.800 or better in three of the final four meets. That includes a pair of 9.825s in the final two meets to set her season high.
 
Genovese was named the MPSF Coach of the Year for the second team in the last three seasons. She has improved Sacramento State's national standing each year, including taking the program into the top 50 for the first time since 2017. A lot of the team's success can be attributed to the assistant coaching staff of Brandt (vault), Kyle (bars) and Koeth (floor). Each member of the staff are former Hornet gymnasts in their own right and led their respective events to the second-best mark in the MPSF this year.
 
The coaching staff had to overcome a series of injuries which led to Sacramento State using nine different starters on vault and eight on each of the other three events. All 16 healthy gymnasts were in the lineup at some point during the season.