STANFORD, Calif. – The Stanford synchronized swimming team made the most of its only home meet on Saturday by sweeping Lindenwood on Senior Day in front of a hearty and enthusiastic crowd at cool and rainy Avery Stadium.
Of course, Lindenwood only chose to compete in the team routine, as both schools gear up for up next month's Collegiate National Championships in San Antonio. For the young Cardinal squad, the more experience, the better.
"We're both kind of in a rebuilding mold," said Stanford head coach Megan Azebu said. "We made some changes in our choreography from last week and I think those changes were well received by the judges. We still have a lot of work to do but I was pleased to see us take a step forward."
In duet, Caitlin Klauer and Grace Alwan combined for a score of 83.667, followed by teammates Jacklyn Luu and Alexandra Suarez at 80.667. In trio, Klauer, Alwan and Natalie Fletcher tallied 79.8000 to edge Luu, Karen Li and Sabrina Walsh at 79.7000.
Luu was the lone competitor in solo.
In team, Alwan, Fletcher, Klauer, Joanna Langner, Li, Lili Randhawa, Amanda Urke and Walsh totaled 82.4000 to defeat Lindenwood (79.6333).
Seniors Langner and Urke were recognized for their four-year contributions.
Langner, a human biology major from Lafayette, Calif., helped the team win the national title in 2016.
Urke, a bioengineer major from Medina, Minn., has also been a key four-year performer and earned Collegiate All-America honors in 2016 and was a member of the winning team routine at the Collegiate National Championships.
Stanford resumes competition March 1-2 at the Western Regionals in Tucson, Ariz., followed by the Collegiate National Championships on March 27-30.