Feb. 8, 2009
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford synchronized swimming completed a successful weekend with a third-straight victory over Incarnate Word. Sunday, the Cardinal defeated UIW 22-20 in Elements and Figures to improve to 4-0 on the season.
"This was one of our strongest first home meets," said Head Coach Heather Olson. "I am very pleased for this early in the season. We had a great crowd and the girls really rose to the occasion."
A day after defeating Incarnate Word in routines, Stanford edged the Cardinals in `A' Elements and `B' Figures.
In `A' Elements, Stanford defeated Incarnate Word by the slimmest of margin 80.658 to 80.338 to receive the full 12 points, while UIW got 11.
Debbie Chen led Stanford finishing first overall with a score of 82.434. Lyssa Wallace of Incarnate Word finished second with a score of 81.846.
Finishing fifth and sixth overall were Taylor Durand and Erin Bell. Durand scored 81.044, while Bell scored 80.570.
Corinne Smith rounded out the `A' Elements for the Cardinal by placing ninth with a score of 78.583.
Their average score in `A' Elements was just higher than Incarnate Word, which proved to be the difference in the contest.
In `B' Figures, Stanford cruised with a much larger margin of victory, winning 76.536 to 72.874. Stanford collected the full 10 points, while UIW earned nine.
Koko Urata led the `B' Figures group by having the highest score for either team with an average of 79.821.
Urata was followed by four other Stanford freshmen as the Cardinal swept the top five places. Maria Koroleva finished second with a score of 79.550 and Olivia Morgan finished third with a score of 79.036. Finishing in fourth was Alex Bollaidlaw with a score of 75.857, while Morgan Fuller was fifth with a score of 75.133.
Rounding out the Stanford squad were Michelle Moore in seventh with a score of 74.013 and Allison Coates in 12th with a score of 72.340.
Olson is looking forward to getting back to work with regionals approaching in exactly a month. "We got some great feedback from the judges and know where to enhance our routines," said Olson.
"They did a great job, but we also got to see what we need to work on," added Assistant Coach Alison Bartosik.
Stanford will compete next weekend when they travel to Tucson, Ariz. to face Arizona on Sat.-Sun., February 14-15. The Cardinal will host the West Regionals on Sunday, March 8 at the Avery Aquatic Center.