Santa Clara, Canton, Seattle share 16-18 golds at United Airlines Open

Walnut Creek earned a clean sweep of the 14-15 division medals on Wednesday at the 2002 United Airlines Open Synchronized Swimming Championships in Ypsilanti, Mich.

WCA led the 14-15 team event from start to finish, scoring a 77.064 to top the cross-Bay rival Santa Clara Aquamaids by 2.198. Swimming for the Aquanuts were Erin Bell, Allison Fischer, Dana Girty, Joo-Hee Joa, Annabelle Orme, Jeanine Wurzel and Molly Knight.

Orme, the 14-15 champion at the Esynchro Age Group Championships two weeks ago, carried a 0.981 lead into the 14-15 solo final and built the margin to 2.102 in winning the solo gold with a score of 79.323.

Bell and Joa confirmed their 14-15 Age Groups victory from two weeks ago by winning the 14-15 duet title with a score of 77.550. Teammates Fischer, Girty and Knight’s “West Side Story” routine scored trio gold by more than nine-tenths of a point at 74.787.

Santa Clara enjoyed Christmas in July by earning two gold medals in the 16-18 final events. SCA’s Christmas-themed team routine built on a narrow 0.301 figures lead to earn a final mark of 79.456 to hold of Walnut Creek at 78.208. Swimming for Santa Clara were Ryka Barghi, Elizabeth Burns, Kathy Duong, Bety Le, Hae-Rin Lee, Fiona Lundie, Bahareh Nikbakht and Lauren Resch

A strong final swim pushed Santa Clara’s Duong and Lee to within 0.417 of Mexico’s Alicia Sepulveda and Anairis Oaxaca in the 16-18 duet final. Sepulveda and Oaxaca earned a 78.908 for the gold, with Duong and Lee at 78.491 to lead the U.S. entries.

Sepulveda won the solo title with a 79.145 in her final tune-up before the Junior World Championships in August. Canton’s Danielle Kramer, 16-17 champion at Age Groups two weeks ago, finished not far behind at 78.746 to lead the U.S. entries.

The closest final of the afternoon saw Seattle’s Sophie Wilhoit, Sachi Maekawa and Mari Maekawa overcome a 0.621 figures deficit to capture gold in the 16-18 trio final with a score of 78.739.

Preliminary scores are weighted to 50 percent and combined with 50 percent of the athlete(s)’s figures score to determine the eight finalists in each event. In the final, the 50 percent free routine prelim score is replaced with 50 of the final routine score.

More than 350 athletes are on the campus of Eastern Michigan University competing for solo, duet, trio, team and combo routine titles in the 14-15, 16-18 and Open divisions.

Competition continues Thursday with the combo routine final at 10:30 a.m. followed by senior technical routines in trio, duet, solo and team. For more information, log on to www.usasynchro.org or contact Brian Eaton at 317-414-7962.

14-15 Final Results

14-15 Solo Final

1, Annabelle Orme, Walnut Creek, 79.323. 2, Brooke Abel, Riverside, 77.221. 3, Jennifer Baron, Texas (Irving), 77.092. 4, Fiona Lundie, Santa Clara, 76.803. 5, Jillian Penner, Seattle, 76.262. 6, Caitlin Stewart, Riverside, 75.970. 7, Jayme DeLancy, New Canaan, 75.550. 8, Elizabeth Burns, Santa Clara, 74.757.

14-15 Duet Final

1, Erin Bell, Joo-Hee Joa, Walnut Creek, 77.550. 2, Brooke Abel, Caitlin Stewart, Riverside, 76.929. 3, Bianca Johnson, Lauren Oiye, Santa Clara, 74.755. 4, Ryka Barghi, Elizabeth Burns, Santa Clara, 74.268. 5, Paige Chang, Lara Cardy, Arizona, 72.634. 6, Allyson Harris, Melissa Jasniy, Irvine (Calif.), 72.392. 7, Annie Hacker, Hannah Shively, Columbus, 71.465. 8, Rachel Rooth, Nichole Lee, Suncoast (Fla.), 71.001.

14-15 Trio Final

1, Allison Fisher, Dana Girty, Molly Knight, Walnut Creek, 74.787. 2, Candice Duby, Janelle Klass, Deanna Schmitz, Santa Clara, 73.870. 3, Rachel Rooth, Nichole Lee, Andrea Patterson, Suncoast, 72.076. 4, Annie Hacker, Katie Higgins, Hannah Shively, Columbus, 71.897. 5, Adrienne Baldassano, Carrie Ryan, Sharada Strasmore, New Canaan, 71.509. 6, Kaitlin Bolt, Abby Donselman, Emilie Siemer, Cincinnati, 71.393. 7, Annie Dillard, Diana Fogwell, Christina Ranieri, Cincinnati, 68.159. 8, Lisa Lunkes, Jami Schwendau, Valerie Gallichio, Aquasprites, 67.368.

14-15 Team Final

1, Walnut Creek, 77.064. 2, Santa Clara, 74.866. 3, Cincinnati, 71.305. 4, Orchard Park (N.Y.), 68.146. 5, Aquasprites (Evanston, Ill.), 66.992.

16-18 Final Results

16-18 Solo Final

1H, Alicia Sepulveda, Mexico, 79.145. 1, Danielle Kramer, Canton, 78.746. 2, Hallie Todd, MAC, 78.512. 3, Leslie Edgerton, Cincinnati, 78.265. 4, Hilary Homenko, Brecksville (Ohio), 77.296. 5, Kelly Knutsen, MAC, 77.053. 6, Emily Van Vleck, Redwood (Calif.), 76.797. 7, Aleksandra Lazovic, Seattle, 76.720. 8, Ellen Hacker, Columbus, 76.675.

16-18 Duet Final

1H, Alicia Sepulveda, Anairis Oaxaca, Mexico, 78.908. 1, Kathy Duong, Hae-Rin Lee, Santa Clara, 78.491. 2, Kelly Knutsen, Hallie Todd, MAC (Portland, Ore.), 78.366. 3, Sophie Wilhoit, Sachi Maekawa, Seattle, 78.319. 4, Stephanie Raftery, Erin Schmidt, Cincinnati, 77.574. 5, Leah Pinette, Leayn Pinette, New Canaan, 77.425. 6, Aleksandra Lazovic, Jillian Penner, Seattle, 76.950. 7, Jennifer Baron, Amber Davis, Texas (Irving), 76.629. 8, Natalie Chase, Lacey Brooten, Seattle, 76.424.

16-18 Trio Final

1, Sophie Wilhoit, Sachi Maekawa, Mari Maekawa, Seattle, 78.739. 2, Leslie Edgerton, Stephanie Raftery, Erin Schmidt, Cincinnati, 78.526. 3, Kathy Duong, Bety Le, Hae-Rin Lee, Santa Clara, 77.969. 4, Amanda Weinstein, Erin Bell, Joo-Hee Joa, Walnut Creek, 77.620. 5, Jayme DeLancy, Leah Pinette, Leayn Pinette, New Canaan, 77