AUBURNDALE, Fla. (September 12, 2026) - The waterski team saw their first action of the season on Saturday on a beautiful morning at Champions Lake in Auburndale. The annual showdown with Florida Southern also saw individuals from UCF and University of Florida join the fun.
The Tars were strong in slalom on both sides of the standings. On the men's side,
Jaime Palomino took first place with two buoys at 41 off. Newcomer
Pablo Alvira was solid in his first collegiate action, hitting one buoy at 35.
Patrick Payne (2 @ 32),
Levi Mitchell (3.5 @ 28), Robbie Criag (2 @ 22) and
Pablo Font Corona (2.25 @ 15) also saw action.
On the women's side,
Ines Sole was the top performer for Rollins, skiing four buoys at 35 off, good for second overall.
Martina Font was fourth overall with a 5 @ 32 effort, while freshman
Nora Handegaard took fifth with 4.5 @ 32. Other competitors were
Elsa Bergsgard (2 @ 28) and
Sophie Lahaie (5.5 @ 15).
Men's tricks saw a neck-and-neck fight between Pablo Font and Southern's Dominic Kuhn. In the end, Kuhn (6,320) snuck past Font (6,120) to claim the top spot. Alvira secured third-place after an effort of 4,770 points. Payne was fourth at 2,300 points, Mitchell was eighth with 850, and Craig took ninth with 700.
Hannah Stopnicki once again showed why she is one of the top trickers in the world, easily taking first on the women's side with a final score of 4,540, clearing second place by 660 points. The Tars also claimed spots 4-7 in the final results thanks to Lahaie (2,110), Bergsgard (1890),
Izzy Tremblay (1,190), and
Martina Font (890).
Mitchell (82 feet) and
Carter Bruzzese (35 feet) were the only Tars to make it off the jump pad before weather cut the event short. No one on the women's side was able to jump either.
It was a great experience for a lot of the Tars who don't normally see action at events. Their next opportunity to compete will be the weekend of October 3-4 at the South/Atlantic Coastal Regional, held at Divorce Lake in Valley, Alabama.
