May 3, 2008
Stanford had another big day in the pool in Tuscon, Ariz. at the United States Synchronized Swimming Championships. Friday, in the technical portion of the competition Stanford excelled to take over the lead in the team competition as well as fare well in solos and duets.
In the solo competition, Sara Lowe continued her strong meet by capturing the top spot in the technical program. Her score of 95.000 was the best of the day and combined with yesterday's top score in the free program gave her a commanding lead going into Saturday's final. Her two-day score of 94.917 gives her the No. 1 seed.
Also competing in the solo competition was Gayle Lee. Lee missed making the final by finishing 12th overall. She was 11th in the technical program on Friday with a score of 87.000 to give her a two-day average of 87.167.
In the duets Lowe and partner Courtenay Stewart tallied a score of 95.000, which was the best of the day in the technical program. Their combined score of 95.250 was the best of the competition and gives them the No. 1 seed heading into Saturday's final.
Also qualifying for the final were Poppy Carlig and Melissa Knight who finished fifth overall with a combined score of 91.250. In Friday's technical program they finished sixth with a score of 91.500.
Debbie Chen and Taylor Durand also finished just inside of the top-8 to qualify for the final in eighth place. Their two-day score of 90.167 qualified them for the final by less than a tenth of a point.
The team competition was the highlight of the day for Stanford. The Cardinal entered the day tied for second after the free program ready to unveil their technical program not performed in collegiate competitions. Despite the new program the team of Lowe, Stewart, Carlig, Knight, Chen, Duran, Erin Bell, and Michelle Moore had the best score of the day with a 95.833.
The score vaulted the Cardinal into first place entering Saturday's final. Stanford's two-day total of 95.500 is good for a slight lead over the Santa Clara Aquamaids (95.083) and Ohio State University (95.000).
The finals of all three event will be contested Saturday in Tucson. Stanford has performed well, taking the top seed into each event, but will need to continue to carry the momentum forward to achieve the titles.