The Ohio State synchronized swimming team, cruising through an undefeated season, prepares to face their toughest competition this weekend.The Buckeyes will split into two squads this weekend as the B-team will travel to Richmond, Va. to compete in a duel meet. The A-team will travel to Norton, Mass. to compete in the Wheaton College Invitational. In this meet, the Bucks will face Keuka College, Smith College and their arch-rivals, Stanford.The team is coming off a strong weekend in which they dominated the competition in the College Association Meet held at Larkins Hall Saturday.The team rolled through the meet, finishing first with 110 points. Richmond finished second with 85.5 points, followed by: Michigan State-75, Iowa-35, William and Mary-34, Michigan-33.5, and Indiana, who scored only 15 points.Coach Linda Lichter-Witter said she was pleased with the team’s performance last week. “I was very pleased with the individual routines, but our team routine still needs some work,” Lichter-Witter said.Despite the Buck’s continued success this season, Lichter-Witter said the team might realistically have to face it’s first loss. She said the absence of the B-team at the Wheaton Invitational will really hamper the Bucks chances to win.”Without our B-team, it will probably take a miracle to beat Stanford,” Lichter-Witter said. She said she hoped the team would still make a strong showing against their arch-rivals.One of the big challenges the Buckeyes will face this weekend is Cardinal senior Heather Pease, who was a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team. “A swimmer like her can make a very big difference in a meet,” Lichter-Witter said.Assistant coach Holly Vargo Brown said a swimmer like Pease has the ability to elevate Stanford’s overall performance. She added Stanford has a few really great swimmers, but the Bucks have much more depth than the Cardinal. OSU’s depth, however, will not be showcased in this meet. “Since the B-team is traveling to Richmond, we’ll only be traveling with half a team,” Brown said.Senior Lisa Nielsen agrees that OSU has a much stronger team depth-wise. “Unfortunately, the meet isn’t man to man, or we’d win for sure,” Nielsen said.Despite the odds, Nielsen said she is excited to swim against the Cardinal. “We are really confident in our routine, and we’ll give it all we’ve got,” she said.Senior Ana Cukic said the team will need to have really clean routines and make no mistakes to beat Stanford. She added this weekend is important to setting a training pattern to prepare for nationals. “This will give us an idea of what were up against and will give us a goal to work for,” Cukic said.Lichter-Witter said the team is working really hard and is very optimistic. “We have a very young team and it may be difficult to pull this one out. We can only do what we can control, and be the best we can be.”