Syncro Swim seventh at Nationals, best club finisher
Arizona synchronized swimming placed seventh overall in the U.S. Collegiate National Synchronized Swimming Championships March 22-24 at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass.
Because club teams and varsity squads all compete against one another for the national championship, Arizona faced stiff competition in the form of established Division-I teams.
While swimming powerhouse Stanford claimed its third consecutive national title, Arizona triumphed in its own way, placing first out of all club teams and bringing home the traveling club trophy for the second consecutive year.
Sophomore and team president Carla Casalino was thrilled with the results.
“”Everyone on our team is so, so excited,”” she said. “”We are so glad that we could bring back the trophy and defend our title. We worked really hard for it.””
While understandably thrilled with the results, Casalino, swimming in her first national event, was just as happy for the opportunity to compete.
“”It’s just really cool competing at such a high level,”” she said. “”All the judges there are from the national association. Some of them have coaching experiences with Olympians.
“”It’s just the most prestigious meet you can swim at the collegiate level. It’s great to place, but it’s just cool to be a part of.””
Women ruggers qualify for Nationals
Arizona women’s rugby defeated Claremont College 24-10 Saturday to secure its first national championship berth in the team’s 17-year history.
With the win, Arizona improved to 4-1, its best season ever and a last hurrah for a team dominated by seniors.
“”Everyone is really excited, especially because the majority of our team is graduating seniors, especially the leaders.”” said team president Kathryn Strawn.
Seven of Arizona’s 15 starters are seniors.
The victory marked the second time this year that Arizona defeated a Claremont squad that has historically dominated its matches against Arizona. Before this year, the Wildcats had only defeated Claremont once in 15 years.
“”This was an important match emotionally,”” Strawn said, adding that the victory validated the team’s place as one of the leading squads in the Southern California Rugby Union.
Arizona plays its next game April 7 in Tempe when the women ruggers take on ASU.
Laxcats blow out California squads
It was a good weekend for fans of No. 10 Arizona as the Laxcats (10-4) smashed up two California opponents at home.
Nineteen was the magic number as the Laxcats blew out Cal-Berkeley (7-9) by a score of 19-4 Friday night and thrashed No. 25 Loyola Marymount (6-5) Sunday afternoon, 19-8.
Against Cal, Arizona would open with a 5-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, improving to 11-0 at halftime. Standout freshman Corey Smith led the way with three goals and one assist. Fifteen different Laxcats scored goals in the match.
Arizona opened similarly against Loyola Marymount, jumping out to a strong 4-1 lead at the end of the first quarter and never relinquishing the lead. Smith led the team with five goals while senior Harrison Crawford scored four.
“”They’ve played some close games against some big teams,”” Crawford said of Loyoyla Marymount, “”It was nice to be able to come out strong against them and personally be able to contribute.””
The weekend victories improved the team record to 10-4. All active Laxcats would see playing time in the blowouts.
“”To score a lot really just gives us confidence in our offense,”” Crawford said, “”and it helps when you can play everyone on the team when you score that much.””
The Laxcats face San Diego at 1 p.m. Sunday at Murphy Stadium.
Crawford said his squad is confident going into the second-to-last home game of the year before a much-anticipated season finale against No. 11 ASU.
“”We’re not looking past (San Diego), because obviously when you do that, that’s when you drop a game against someone you can beat,”” Crawford said. “”But we think we can handle them.””
– compiled by Alex Dalenberg
