Santa Clara Tops the Leaderboard

Duet Prelims and Finals in all events on tap for Saturday

CLERMONT, Fla. - The Santa Clara Aquamaids swept the field taking preliminary top honors in solo, trio and team competitions Friday at the 2004 Speedo Junior National Championships in Clermont, Fla.

Christina Jones placed first in solo scoring a composite 84.320, two points ahead of second place finisher Annabelle Orme of the Walnut Creek Aquanuts (Calif.) at 82.206. Elise Marcotte of Synchro Elite Quebec (Canada) was honorary third at 81.229.

The trio competition is a tighter race with Santa Clara's Poppy Carlig and Layla Smith placing first scoring a composite 79.261. The Riverside trios of Meryl Grandia, Meghan Kinney and Jackie Mundy, Hannah Frawley finished second and third with scores of 78.137 and 77.037 respectively.

The day closed with the team competition. Santa Clara's A team finished atop the pack scoring a composite 83.158. Walnut Creek A placed second with an 81.906, while Riverside was a close third at 81.904. Synchro Elite Quebec tabbed honorary second after scoring an 82.265.

Preliminary scores are weighted to 50 percent and combined with 50 percent of Thursday's figure score to determine the eight finalists in each event. After the final swim, the 50 percent preliminary score is replaced with 50 percent of the final routine score.

Competition continues Saturday with duet preliminaries at 9:50 a.m. followed by all finals (trio, duet, solo, and team) at 3:20 p.m.

Solo Preliminary (including figures)

1. Christina Jones, Santa Clara (Calif.), 84.320. 2. Annabelle Orme, Walnut Creek (Calif.), 82.206. 3H. Elise Marcotte, Synchro Elite Quebec (Canada), 81.229. 3. Caitlin Stewart, Riverside (Calif.), 80.570. 4. Brooke Abel, Riverside (Calif.), 80.309. 5. Alina Syunkov, Walnut Creek (Calif.), 79.608. 6. Lyssa Wallace, Cygnets of San Antonio (Texas), 79.372. 7. Jillian Penner, Seattle (Wash.), 79.287. 8. Deborah Shim, Walnut Creek (Calif.), 78.772.

Trio Preliminary (including figures)

1. Poppy Carlig, Layla Smith, Carolyn Watts, Santa Clara (Calif.), 79.261. 2. Meryl Grandia, Meghan Kinney, Michelle Theriault, Riverside (Calif.), 78.137. 3. Jackie Mundy, Hannah Frawley, Hannah Shively, Riverside, 77.037. 4. Danielle DeCarlo, Jeanine McCullough, Alison Williams, Riverside (Calif.), 76.689. 5. Rachel Sinn, Alandi Stec-Neifert, Jeannie Wurzel, Walnut Creek (Calif.), 76.544. 6. Maria Koroleva, Seyeon Min, Olivia Morgan, Walnut Creek (Calif.), 76.541. 7. Catherine (Michelle) Benzie, Julia Broadfoot, Katie Soloway, San Diego (Calif.), 76.372. 8. Heide McMahon, Kari Pett, Katie Wenzel, Arizona Aqua Stars, 75.538.

Team Preliminary (including figures)

1, Santa Clara A, 83.158. 2H. Synchro Elite Quebec (Canada), 82.265. 2. Walnut Creek A, 81.906. 3. Riverside A, 81.904. 4. Walnut Creek B, 78.566. 5. Seattle Synchro, 78.134. 6. Riverside B, 77.919. 7. Sacramento (Calif.), 76.605. 8. Indy Synchro (Ind.), 76.532.