ZACHARY, La. (October 28, 2023) - Waterski wrapped up a successful weekend at the National Collegiate Water Ski Association National Championship, finishing sixth overall. It is the Tars' tenth-straight Top 10 finish at the event.
Pato Font set the tone early with his second consecutive gold medal in men's tricks. The junior set a new record for points at a college event with a score of 7,260, besting the previous mark of 7,220 that he set last year. His cousin, freshman
Pablo Font Corona, took third place with a score of 6,320. Other Tars in tricks included senior
Topher Hummel (3,050, 7th), senior
Nathan Cherry (2,260, 24th), and freshman
Patrick Payne (2,000, 26th).
Neilly Ross also collected her second straight gold medal in women's tricks, obliterating the competition with a score of 5,700, almost 1,200 points higher than the second-place finisher. Izzy Tremblay and
Alex Baldwin were the other trickers for the Tars on the women's side.
Freshman
Niki Attensam had a fantastic run in his first collegiate nationals, claiming the silver medal in men's slalom with a score of 112.25, reaching 4.25 buoys at 39.5 off rope. Font proved he wasn't just a one-trick pony, finishing ninth in the event with a score of 106, skiing four buoys at 38 off.
Will Bruzzese, Hummel, and Cherry each finished in the Top 25 as well.
Ross tied for second-place in women's slalom with a score of 103, just 0.50 points behind winner Annemarie Wroblewski of Louisiana Lafayette. Ross reached one buoy at 39.5 off.
Peke Angulo had a top-15 finish with a score of 94 after hitting four buoys at 35 off. Baldwin and Tremblay also competed for the Tars.
Cherry had the longest flight of any Rollins jumper, soaring 138 feet. Payne was right behind him with a launch of 115 feet. Hummel,
Jerome Verbaet, and
Grayson Arnold also jumped for the Tars.
Paige Peshina,
Caroline Grubs, Tremblay and Baldwin all competed in jumps on the women's side.
This is the tenth straight year that the Tars finished in Top 10 at the national championship as a team. Louisiana Lafayette took home the title for the second straight year.
