Pioneer Synchro: Welcome

The Pioneer Synchronized Swimming team won its 16^th state title Thursday, taking back the trophy they had called their own from 1995-2007. Strong finishes by all routines led Pioneer to a 34 point margin over runner-up Ann Arbor Huron 152–118. 2008 Champion Troy was third with 115 points. 

The trio title was captured by Marina Criso, Alice Murphy, and Molly Rogow with a score of 70.000. With several alumni and past trio title holders cheering them on, they bested Ann Arbor Huron’s trio by a 3.167 point margin to claim gold. Teammates Sachi Gianchandani, Jera Hogan, and Allison Manz won bronze with a score of 66.000. Pioneer’s technical trio consisting of Katie Gala, Soyon Kim, and Katie Rose tied with Ann Arbor Huron for 5^th place with a score of 60.333, reaching their targeted score of 60 points or higher. 

The duet competition was taken over by the Pioneer duets, with an overall placing of first, third and fourth. Freshmen Kayoon and Kiyoon Jung earned their first state title in the duet competition, with a season high score of 65.333. Pioneer’s technical duet of Marina Criso and Allison Manz was third with a score of 63.333, marking the highest score and placement for a Pioneer technical routine. Sachi Gianchandani and Katie Rose were two-thirds of a point behind the technical duet for 4^th place, with a score of 62.667. 

The team routine competition remained in Pioneer’s control, which has claimed the team routine title 8 of the last 10 years under Coach Alice Seipelt. The Pioneer “A” team of Marina Criso, Sachi Gianchandani, Allison Manz, Alice Murphy, Molly Rogow, and Katie Rose cruised to a gold medal finish with a score of 70.333. Ann Arbor Huron was second with 67.750, followed by Troy High in third with 65.550. Pioneer’s technical team routine bested two school’s free routines and all other technical routines with a score of 61.333. Lindsey Averill, Katie Gala, Jera Hogan, Kayoon Jung, Kiyoon Jung, Soyon Kim, Katie Smith and Hanna Sturgis had their season best performance to help clinch the latest title for the Pioneer’s. 

The Pioneer Synchronized Swim team has won the state title in 1990, 1992, 1995-2007, and now 2009. 

Your last chance to see the 2009 team in action will be the annual Water Show, Friday April 3^rd at 7:30 pm. 

Final Team Scores:

Ann Arbor Pioneer          152

Ann Arbor Huron            118

Troy High                      115

Grosse Pointe South      92.3

Troy Athens High           43

The Pioneer Synchronized Swimming team kicked off a bid for their 16th State Championship in the figure finals on 2/3/09. Fourteen swimmers qualified across four figure divisions, and all 14 swimmers placed in their respective divisions.

In A figures, freshman Hanna Sturgis took home the silver medal with a season high score of 52.455. Freshman Lindsey Averill, with a freshly healed wrist, placed 11th with her season high score of 49.197.

In the B Figure competition, sophomore Katie Gala also earned silver, with a score of 53.603. Freshman Soyon Kim was close behind in 5th place, scoring 52.577 and junior Katie Smith was 7th with 52.004.

Freshman twins Kayoon and Kiyoon Jung swept the top two places in C figures. Kayoon earned Pioneer's only gold of the evening with a first place score of 59.501. Sister Kiyoon was right on her heels with a 2nd place score of 58.514. Freshman Jera Hogan was 5th with a score of 54.513 despite a pulled muscle.

D figure awards was showered with purple. Sophomore Marina Criso earned bronze with 62.899 and was closely followed by sophomore Molly Rogow with a 62.842 for 4th place. Sophomore Alice Murphy was 5th with 61.298, senior Allison Manz was 6th with 61.068, senior Katie Rose was 10th with 59.223, and junior Sachi Gianchandani rounded out the ribbons with an 11th place finish and a score of 58.750.

Team standings found Pioneer in the lead with 35.5 points, ahead of last year's champion Troy (32), Ann Arbor Huron (29.5), Grosse Pointe (26), and Troy Athens (21). The routine finals will be held Thursday March 5th in Grosse Pointe.