University of the Incarnate Word

In the final competition of the 2010 season, the University of the Incarnate Word synchronized swimming team finished in third place at the U.S. National Synchronized Swimming Championships in Huntersville, North Carolina.

The Walnut Creek Aquanuts (from Walnut Creek, CA) took first place with 35 points. Stanford University finished in 2^nd place with 27 points while Incarnate Word rounded out the top three with a score of 21.

Faced against the same collegiate programs they had just faced at the Collegiate Championships a month ago, as well as several club teams, and having to deal with an additional technical routine, head coach Kimberly Wurzel-LoPorto was very pleased with how her team handled the challenges they faced leading up to and inside the pool.

“Our middle name this season was ‘Perseverance’,” LoPorto said. “Because that’s just what they did all. We had many obstacles in our way, but with each and every one of them, the girls figured out a way to get around it.”

With the preliminary rounds cutting down the field of competition, Incarnate Word had athletes compete in the solo, duet and team finals.

Saki Fujise and Rosilyn Tegart swam solos for UIW. Fujise finished 6^th with a 173.125 and Tegart finished ninth. Cardinal alumnus Lyssa Wallace, competing as a member of Synchro San Antonio club team, finished in fourth place with a 173.625.

In the duets, Fujise and Seyeon Min swam to a 167.417, good enough for third place.

Finally, the Cardinals ended with a score of 176.50 in the team competitions and finished only behind only Stanford University, which took first with 178.50 points.

UIW’s ‘B’ Team made the trip to North Carolina, but only had six athletes due to injuries. Still, the UIW women finished 9^th in the preliminaries.

Additional performances by UIW swimmers were a 17^th-place finish by sophomore Ingrid Lundblad; a 21^st-place finish by sophomore Natalie Krakoski; and a sixth place duet finish by senior Andrea Patterson and junior Nikki Neufeld – all in the prelims.