Ohio State swam to victory on Saturday, claiming the solo, duet and team event title and overall championship crown at the 2003 U.S. Collegiate Synchronized Swimming Championships at the University of Arizona.

OSU scored a 97.500 to Stanford's 96.500 in the team event to soundly defeat the west coast rivals. Swimming for the Bucks were Victoria Bowen, Heather Burdick, Carly Grimshaw, Suzanna Hyatt, Chelsea Luker, Lauren Marsh, Lindsay Newbill and Emiko Takyu.

Ohio State finished first with 94.5 points, followed by Stanford at 89. University of Alabama at Birmingham finished third in the overall standings with 65.5 points, edging Canisius College with 62 points.

"It was probably one of the toughest fields of competition I've ever seen at this meet," said local meet manager and head coach for the University of Arizona, Jill Ranucci. "The competition got pretty intense with more schools vying for spots on the podium. The final points distribution was much more evenly distributed than ever before."

Arizona pulled out an impressive performance in their home pool. The Splashcats finished fifth in the overall championships standings with 55 points. Arizona, a club-level team, placed higher than four varsity-level teams. The team routine earned a final mark of 88.666.

Stanford snagged the trio title with a score of 94.166 over Ohio State's 93.833. Swimming for Stanford were Stephanie Joukoff, Jennifer Kibler and U.S. National Teamer Ashley McHugh.

The overall title is Ohio State's fourth consecutive, and 23rd overall title in the 27th year of the championships. Top athletes now advance to the U.S. National Championships and 2003 U.S. National Team Trials, April 24-27 in Long Island, N.Y.

More than 200 athletes from 24 universities were on hand competing for collegiate national titles in the solo, duet, trio and team events. The championships are an open-class meet, combining competition for NCAA Divisions I, II and III, plus NAIA schools.

2003 U.S. Collegiate
Synchronized Swimming Championships

Final Results

Solo Final
1, Victoria Bowen (Ohio State) 95.167. 2, Ashley McHugh (Stanford) 92.834. 3, Bogdana Zareva (UAB) 90.833. 4, Jessica Brown (Incarnate Word) 90.333. 5, Alia Arbas (Arizona) 89.000. 6, Jill Wright (Canisius) 88.167. 7, Beth Percy (Wheaton) 86.834. 8, Emily Brewer (Keuka) 86.500.

Duet Final
1, Suzanna Hyatt, Chelsea Luker (Ohio State) 93.834. 2T, Stephanie Joukoff, Jennifer Kibler (Stanford) 91.500. 2T, Cassidy Ramage, Shella Sadovnik (Stanford) 91.500. 4, Amanda Haeuser, Bogdana Zareva (UAB) 90.833. 5, Jessica Brown, Jennifer Holmquist (Incarnate Word) 89.166. 6, Alexandra Pinango, Gabriella Pinango (Canisius) 88.833. 7, Stephanie Jackson, Stacey Jackson (UAB) 87.333. 8, Alia Arbas, Audra Arbas (Arizona) 86.666.

Trio Final
1, Stephanie Joukoff, Jennifer Kibler, Ashley McHugh (Stanford) 94.166. 2, Carly Grimshaw, Chelsea Luker, Lauren Marsh (Ohio State) 93.833. 3, Victoria Bowen, Suzanna Hyatt, Lindsay Newbill (Ohio State) 91.833. 4, Ashley Ensign, Cassidy Ramage, Shella Sadovnik (Stanford) 91.866. 5, Alexandra Pinango, Gabriella Pinango, Jill Wright (Canisius) 88.333. 6, Ruth Ashburn, Laura Gellin, Kate Matusiak (Canisius) 88.000. 7, Jessica Brown, Laura Davis, Jennifer Holmquist (Incarnate Word) 87.667. 8, Stephanie Jackson, Stacey Jackson, Stacy Leiker (UAB) 87.333. .

Team Final
1, Ohio State A, 94.500. 2, Stanford, 93.500. 3, UAB A, 91.666. 4, Ohio State B, 90.167. 5, Canisius A, 89.333. 6, Arizona, 84.667. 7, UAB B, 83.417. 8, Florida, 82.667..

Final Overall Standings

1. Ohio State 94.5
2. Stanford 89
3. UAB 65.5
4. Canisius 62
5. Arizona 55
6. Incarnate Word 50
7. Univ. of Washington 37
8. Richmond 35
9. Wheaton 31
10. Keuka 24
11. Florida 23
12. William & Mary 14.5
12. Walsh 14.5

Special Award Recipients

All-American (Top 14 individuals overall [three athletes tied this year, thus 16]; must be U.S. citizen)
Stanford: Ashley McHugh, Jennifer Kibler, Stephanie Joukoff, Shella Sadovnik, Cassidy Ramage, Ashley Ensign
Ohio State: Victoria Bowen, Suzanna Hyatt, Lindsay Newbill, Lauren Marsh, Emiko Takyu, Heather Burdick
UAB: Amanda Haeuser, Stacy Leiker
Arizona: Alia Arbas
Incarnate Word: Jessica Brown
Honorary All-Americans (due to foreign citizenship)
Ohio State: Chelsea Luker, Carly Grimshaw
UAB: Bogdana Zareva
Incarnate Word: Jennifer Holmquist

All-Collegiate (Top 3 individuals per Division I, II & NAIA, III, Club)
NCAA Div. I - Victoria Bowen (OSU), Chelsea Luker (OSU), Ashley McHugh (Stanford)
NCAA Div. II & NAIA - Jessica Brown (Incarnate Word), Meagan Brandon (Walsh), Laura Davis (Incarnate Word)
NCAA Div. III - Beth Percy (Wheaton), Rebecca Story (Keuka), Emily Brewer (Keuka)
Club - Alia Arbas (Arizona), Audra Arbas (Arizona), Sally Winchester (Washington)

Collegiate Athlete of the Year - Suzanna Hyatt, Ohio State

Collegiate Coach of the Year - Linda Witter, Ohio State

Academic All-Americans - Must maintain a 3.25 GPA or better. 99 total. Average GPA for all competitors is 3.23. Complete list at www.usasynchro.org.

2002 Collegiate Contributor Award - Jennie Harper, USSS

Mary Jo Ruggieri Scholarship - Erin Gustafson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln