CYPRESS, Texas (October 15,
2015) - The Rollins men's and women's water ski teams will
go in search of a national championship this weekend as they
compete in the 37th Annual Collegiate Water Ski National
Championships that will run from Oct. 15-17 here at the Lakes of
Cypress Hill.
The Tars enter this year's NCWSA National Championships ranked
No. 6 nationally as a team in the latest NCWSA poll.
At the Eastern Regional Championships on Sept. 26-27 in
Greenwood, S.C., Rollins earned a ticket to the National
Championships for the seventh-straight season, finishing third. The
women's squad finished third while the men finished fifth in their
respective divisions. Alabama won the event, followed by Rollins'
arch-rival Florida Southern in second. Clemson and Auburn rounded
out the top-five.
The Tars women were led by Jennifer
Tee's fourth place overall finish. She finished 11th
in jumps, 14th in slalom and 15th in tricks.
Chantel
Singer won tricks in dominating fashion, posting a score of
3,810, and took fifth in slalom. Aliya Mctavish finished ninth in
tricks and tied for 12th in slalom while senior Gabi
Viljoen took 11th in tricks. Alexa
Armour placed 12th in both tricks and jumps with
newcomer Danielle Johnson taking 15th in jumps.
The men's team was led by Miks
Cinis' eighth place overall finish as he finished
12th in tricks, 14th in slalom and
18th in jumps. Senior Matthew Bengston finished right
behind Cinis in ninth place overall, taking eighth in jumps, tied
for 16th in slalom and tied for 19th in
tricks.
This year's Collegiate National Championships, which is hosted
by the National Collegiate Water Ski Association, will feature a
total of 24 of the top water ski teams in the country divided into
two divisions - 12 teams in Division I and 12 more teams in
Division II. National team champions will be declared in both
divisions, while individual medals in slalom, tricks and jumping
will be awarded based on athletes' placements within their
respective division. Overall titles will be awarded in each
division to athletes competing in all three events (slalom, tricks
and jumps).
Rollins will be joined in the Division I competition by No. 1
ranked Florida Southern, No. 3 ranked Alabama, No. 9 ranked
Cincinnati, No. 11 ranked Grand Valley State, No. 13 ranked Iowa
State University, No. 5 ranked Kansas, No. 2 ranked
Louisiana-Lafayette, No. 4 ranked Louisiana-Monroe, No. 8 ranked
Michigan State, No. 7 ranked Ohio State and No. 10 ranked San Diego
State. At the 2014 Collegiate Water Ski Nationals, Louisiana-Monroe
won the Division I title for the 26th time in the history of the
event.
The 12 teams competing in the Division II competition are No. 21
ranked Arizona State, No. 23 ranked Auburn, No. 27 ranked Cal
State-Chico, No. 19 ranked Clemson, No. 16 ranked UC-Davis, No. 15
ranked Miami (Ohio), No. 14 Michigan, No. 35 ranked Texas, No. 22
ranked Texas A&M, No. 25 ranked Texas State, No. 18 Western
Washington and No. 12 Wisconsin. Clemson claimed the Division II
national title a year ago.
Last season, the Tars finished fifth at the 2014 NCWSA National
Championships at Tri-Lakes in Zachary, La., as they scored 8,245
points in the 12-team Division I field. The Rollins women finished
fifth overall with 5,225 points, hghlighted by Erika
Lang's first place finish in the tricks competition, and the
Tars men placed seventh overall with 3,020 points. Joshua
Briant led the men's squad with a fourth place overall finish
(1520) after finishing 12th in slalom, second in tricks,
and 11th in jumps.
The NCWSA, a sport discipline organization of USA Water Ski, is
comprised of more than 50 collegiate water ski teams from four
regions. Intercollegiate water ski competition began under the
NCWSA in 1979. The NCWSA's major tournaments include the Nationals
and the Collegiate All-Stars Water Ski Championships.
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