Synchronized swimmers capture Wheaton Invitational crown in Balfour Natatorium

February 19, 2005

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College synchronized swimming team returned home Saturday afternoon to capture the overall championship among the four-competing teams in Balfour Natatorium, as the Lyons retained their title after scoring 98 points.

Boston University took second with 88 points, while Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Rhode Island were a distant third and fourth with 50.5 and 41 points, respectively.

A trio of first-year swimmers paced the Wheaton women, as Sachi Maekawa (Seattle, WA/Franklin), Tori Hay (Danville, CA/Monte Vista) and Megan Kinney (Los Angeles, CA/Marlborough) all helped the hosts score valuable points on the afternoon.

Maekawa turned in the top solo and A figure performances of the day and later assisted in the squad's top team performance with 80.417 points. Hay and Kinney were tops in the B and C figure category, respectively, and also joined sophomore co-captain Elizabeth Corman (St. Paul, MN/Hill-Murray) for the meet's best trio showing with 77.833 points.

Joining Maekawa, Hay, Kinney and Corman in the team competition was senior co-captain Jamie Olken (Brighton, NY/Brighton), sophomore Sarah Swinkin (Hamden, CT/Hamden) and freshman Esther Kovacs (Windham, NH/Notre Dame Academy). Wheaton's other trio, comprised of Kovacs, Olken and Swinkin, finished second overall.

Corman captured the runner-up position in B figures, while Kovacs and Olken took second and third, respectively in the C category. In the final event of the technical elements competition, first-year Laura Fleck (Auburn, ME/Hebron Academy) and sophomore Renata Paglio (Portland, ME/Deering) finished among the top three in D figures.

Fleck and Paglio also aided Wheaton's third-place performance in the team event, siding with freshmen Perri Kapp (Yarmouth Port, MA/Dennis Yarmouth), Ru-Shyan Yen (Des Moines, IA/Abraham Lincoln) and Ru-Huey Yen (Des Moines, IA/Abraham Lincoln).

The Lyons will take next weekend off and return to competition on Saturday, March 5 at the East Collegiate Regional Championship held at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio.

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Upcoming Schedule

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30-31-Jan Sat-Sun Wheaton Inv. H 2:00pm
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