Synchronized Swimming in Action – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/27/1998 12:00:00 AM | Artistic Swimming
March 27, 1998
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Ohio State’s bid for a 14th consecutive overall title gained momentum Friday as OSU qualified first for the team final at the 1998 U.S. Collegiate Synchronized Swimming Championships at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
OSU’s “Safari” routine earned a score of 97.240 to narrowly edge Stanford’s 97.000 in the team preliminary event. OSU’s B team finished third at 94.480.
The reverse happened in duet prelims, where Stanford’s Heather Pease and Vanessa Shaw struck back, taking top honors with a mark of 96.280. Ohio State’s Ana Cukic and Lisa Nielsen qualified second, followed by Stanford B.
In morning action, Ellen Faulhaber of Ohio State placed first in the B Figures Final while Angi Hautzenroder of Kueka (N.Y.) College placed first in C Figures Final.
Figures are a series of highly technical movements performed individually before a panel of judges. Figures scores are used to determine National Team eligibility, but do not factor into final routine placement. In preliminary events, only the top eight qualifiers advance to finals.
Ohio State has won 13 consecutive overall titles, and 18 titles in the last 21 years of sanctioned collegiate competition. However, the loss of eight seniors from last season’s squad will open the door for Stanford during the 1998 event.
Competition continues at noon Saturday with finals in all events, followed by the announcement of the All-American team.
B Figures Final 1. E. Faulhaber (Ohio State) 73.833 2. A. Bevan (Ohio State) 72.678 3. J. Bank (Walsh) 72.230 4. L. Yund (Stanford) 71.260 5. K. Prem (Canisius) 71.163 6. M. Fix (Stanford) 70.807 7. H. Forester (Canisius) 70.697 8. C. Spillane (Wheaton) 70.656
C Figures Final 1. A. Hautzenroder (Kueka) 66.293 2. J. Conoscenti (Mary Wash.) 62.712 3. I. Wilson (Iowa) 61.009 4. B. Stelmacher (Minnesota) 60.044 5. S. Fred (Kueka) 59.889 6. J. Schulte (Penn State) 59.067 7. C. Firchtman (Minnesota) 58.955 8. J. Sypniewski (Kueka) 58.600
Duet Prelims 1. H. Pease, V. Shaw (Stanford) 96.280 2. A. Cukic, L. Nielsen (Ohio State) 94.880 3. S. Montague, J. Enos (Stanford) 94.040 4. D. Martinez, H. Moore (Ohio State) 93.840 5. M. Bilkey, M. Fox (Canisius) 88.080 6. J. Parr, T. Stepulkoski (Michigan St.) 87.760 7. O. Gonzalez, E. Ludwig (Walsh) 87.120 8. C. Gellin, J. Muzyk (Canisius) 85.840
Team Prelims 1. Ohio State University A 97.240 2. Stanford University 97.000 3. Ohio State University B 94.480 4. Canisius College 90.390 5. Walsh University 86.970 6. Wheaton College 84.910 8. Michigan State University 84.650 8. University of Minnesota 83.080
