March 7, 2005

Stanford Synchronized Swimming wrapped up a busy weekend on Sunday when they hosted the Western Regionals qualifying meet for Collegiate Nationals. Earlier on Saturday, they competed in a dual meet versus the University of Arizona. The series proved to be a double victory, as the Cardinal claimed gold in every event.

The highlight of the weekend was Saturday's team routine swim by Stanford's "A" squad of Samantha Bongiovanni-Duclos, Poppy Carlig, Melissa Knight, Ashley McHugh, Elizabeth-Anne Markman, Katie Norris, Sara Lowe, Cassidy Ramage and Courtenay Stewart. Performing to choreography inspired by Dante's Inferno, the team swam to a 97.6, their highest score of the year. The spirited home crowd was enthralled by the team's athletic lifts and dramatic interpretation of the music.

Stanford's strong winning season has prepared them to face their stiffest competition of the year at Collegiate Nationals later this month. The Cardinal team will dedicate their upcoming practices to finessing routines, perfecting synchronization and honing technical skills before they depart for Gainesville, Fla. Over 200 athletes from more than 20 universities will compete for collegiate national titles in the solo, duet, trio and team events. It has been five years since Stanford's most recent overall victory at Nationals; this year, they intend to dominate each event and return to the winner's podium.

Results - Stanford vs. University of Arizona March 5th, 2005:

Trio: 1. Stanford - Bongiovanni-Duclos, Lowe, Stewart (93.25); 2. Stanford - Carlig, Knight, Ramage (89.1); 3. Stanford - Homenko, Maekawa, Lee (86.1); 4. Univ. of Arizona (78.0).

Duet: 1. Stanford - Lowe, Stewart (94.7); 2. Stanford - Bongiovanni-Duclos, Katie Norris (94.5); 3. Univ. of Arizona (77.25); 4. Univ. of Arizona (72.7).

Solo: 1. Stanford - Katie Norris (96.1); 2. Stanford - Katherine Norris (88.6).

Team: 1. Stanford (97.6); 2. Stanford (89.8); 3. Univ. of Arizona (84.0).

Final Overall Score: 1. Stanford - 102 points; 2. Univ. of Arizona - 78 points.

Results - Western Regionals March 6, 2005:

Elements (Top 3): 1. Stanford - Katie Norris; 2. Stanford - Sara Lowe; 3. Stanford - Courtenay Stewart.

Figures (Top 3): 1. Stanford - Katherine Norris; 2. Stanford - Hilary Homenko; 3. Stanford - Hae-Rin Lee.

Trio (Top 3): 1. Stanford - Bongiovanni-Duclos, Lowe, Stewart (94.5); 2. Stanford - Carlig, Knight, Ramage (90.7); 3. Stanford - Maekawa, Homenko, Lee (86.7).

Duet (Top 3): 1. Stanford - Lowe, Stewart (94.8); 2. Bongiovanni-Duclos, Katie Norris (94.1); 3. Stanford - Knight, Carlig (89.8).

Solo (Top 3): 1. Stanford - Katie Norris (95.9); 2. Stanford - Courtenay Stewart (93.5); 3. Stanford - Katherine Norris (88.5).

Team (Top 2): 1. Stanford - Maekawa, Homenko, Lee, Norris (90.8); 2. Univ. of Arizona - (84.5).

Final Overall Scores: 1. Stanford - 102 points; 2. Univ. of Arizona - 82 points.