by Lindenwood synchronized swimming won four gold medals and one bronze in five events entered, took second overall, and Mary Killman (Citizen Band Potawatomi) was named the High Overall Point Athlete at the 2015 U.S. Collegiate Championships March 26-28 in Columbus, Ohio.
The Lady Lions successfully defended their 2014 titles in solo, duet, and trio, and also won the A Elements crown, but fell short of repeating as overall collegiate national champions, finishing with 89 points, just four points behind Ohio State. Stanford was third with 79.5, Incarnate Word was fourth with 64.0, and Wheaton College and Florida tied for fifth with 50.5.
Killman remained undefeated in her collegiate career and earned 88.7667, the highest mark of the meet with her “Young and Beautiful” solo routine, to extend her unbeaten streak to nearly five years. She teamed with freshman Vasilisa Mironova in a vampire-themed performance to score 88.400 to win gold in duet, 2.566 points ahead of second place. Killman, Irene Montrucchio, and senior Dennise Ramirez began the day by winning gold in trios with a score of 87.133, and earlier in the event, Killman posted 80.0381 to win the A Elements crown.
The Lindenwood junior and Olympian reflected on her success in college.
“I love the collegiate environment, and have really found my home.” Killman said. “Three years ago, I was debating retirement, but after looking at the student-athlete experience of all the top schools, I decided to come to Lindenwood, and since then, I’ve really found my passion for the sport. I think it shows in the water!”
After winning in solo, duet, and trios, the Lady Lions were in position to repeat as overall champions with strong performances in the team event. The “Spanish ballet” squad of Montrucchio, Ramirez, Mironova, McKinzie Chelberg, Daniela Garmendia, Allyson Haylor, Laia Pons, Sarah Rodriguez, and Kate Goncharova earned a score of 85.8000 to finish third behind Ohio State and Stanford. The Lindenwood “Aliens” team of Coral Alonso, Kelli Gustafsson, Kirsten Hutzler, Hannah Sphatt, Carol Ross, Liza Leusenko, Samara Pattiasina, Natalia Zenoni, and Angelica Rolon finished fifth with 83.0333, but it was not enough to fend off the Buckeyes, who became the first program in history to win only one of the eight events at the meet and still hold on for the overall title.
Head coach Lori Eaton complimented the national champions on their performance.
“Much credit to Ohio State for sticking to their formula and being consistent across the meet,” she said. “We were handed a pretty poor set of draws for finals, and I knew it would be an uphill climb despite the difficulty of our routines and having what I thought were our best swims of the season.”
In addition to individual event medals, collegiate synchronized swimming employs team scoring, where routines earn points for placement, much like a track meet. Universities may count no more than six routines and one technical/figure category. Lindenwood finished fifth at the U.S. Collegiate Championships in 2010 and 2011, took third in 2012 and 2013, and ascended to the top of the podium in 2014 for the first national title in program history, becoming the first school other than Ohio State or Stanford to win the crown in 28 years.
The Lady Lions will complete their season at the U.S. National Championships April 2-4 in Moraga, Calif.
