Arizona finishes as top club team, Ohio State holds off Stanford for fourth title in a row

Not only did the Arizona synchronized swimming team beat all the other club teams at the U.S. Collegiate Championships, it beat four varsity teams en route to a fifth place finish.

The collegiate championships, held at the UA's Student Recreation Center, brought together all qualifying NCAA, NAIA and club teams to compete. Arizona's fifth place finish was the highest among club teams. Ohio State held off Stanford to finish first, Alabama Birmingham placed third, Canisius College placed fourth.

Arizona head coach Jill Ranucci said she felt the championships went well for UA and the high finish was a big surprise.

"I really hoped to move up from ninth (where Arizona finished last year) to seventh," Ranucci said. "They were just incredible. They swam the best they had all year."

In their emotional duet, senior Alia Arbas and her sister, freshman Audra Arbas, finished eighth in duet and were the only club swimmers in the finals. Alia Arbas finished fifth in the solo, the only member of a club team to make the finals in the event.

"I expected them to finish high, but to finish over four varsity teams is incredible," Ranucci said.

Alia Arbas was honored as an All-American for the second time after earning recognition as a freshman while attending Ohio State. The Arbas sisters were also both named to the All-Collegiate team.

The overall championship is Ohio State's fourth consecutive, and 23rd overall title in the 27th year of the championships. Arizona, when the sport was school sponsored, won titles in 1980, 1981 and 1984.

In addition to the overall title, the Buckeyes won the solo, duet and team event titles, with the Cardinal winning the trio. No school other than Ohio State, Stanford, San Jose State, Cal and Arizona has ever won a single event at collegiate championships.

Ranucci said the finish is more impressive considering the rising level of competition in college synchronized swimming. She said that with more schools fielding top teams and the best athletes not going to just Ohio State and Stanford, the competition has gotten that much tougher.

"Every year it has been getting better," Ranucci said. "It is probably the toughest field ever."

The meet featured members of the U.S. national team and former members of the Puerto Rican and Canadian national teams.

Now the Splashcats wait to see if they qualified for the U.S. National Championships, which start April 23 in New York. The national championships are not just for college teams, but also include teams made of swimmers that are not affiliated with schools and teams of athletes whose college eligibility recently ran out, Ranucci said.

Though the national championship qualification scores are calculated differently than the collegiate marks, Ranucci said she thinks the Splashcats have a shot to earn the nod. The announcement is expected to come mid-week.

Meet Notes:

Of the Academic All-Americans announced Thursday, the Splashcats had four honorees, Ava Badal, Dionne Mills, Michaela Johnson and Michelle Wilson. The requirement was a GPA of at least 3.25.