Teams traveled from near and far to battle it out in Baton Rouge for the Syndicate Skis NCWSA National Collegiate Water Ski Championships for the Division 2 National title, and the fight for the top was close. It was hosted at none other than Tri Lakes, home of Bennett’s Water Ski School, in Zachary, Louisiana. This is a favorite tournament site for many, thanks to the generosity and open-door policy of the Bennett family, longtime supporters of NCWSA.
The Division II Collegiate Nationals consisted of 12 qualifying teams. Four from the Western Region, five from the Midwest, two from the South Central, and one team from the Southern Atlantic Region. The teams fought a tough three days to secure a national rank, the winner taking 13th in the country behind the 12 teams that qualified for Division 1 Nationals held simultaneously on October 20th through the 23rd.
As teams arrived, Baton Rouge & The City of Zachary were quickly taken over by collegiate skiers, family, and friends from across the nation. Wednesday was site familiarization at the lake and teams tested the waters on the two lakes ahead of the championship.
Day one of the three-day event began with men’s slalom. The 7 am start time was early, and the cold morning left a fog hovering over the lake. The skiers didn’t let that stop them. Taking 5th was University of Michigan’s Luke Greiser with a super solid score of 2 buoys at 35 off, 34 mph, putting points on the board for the Wolverines. Snagging 4th place was another Midwesterner, Sophomore Curtis Kolb from the University of Cincinnati with 4 buoys at 32 off, 36 mph. Mid-podium is Arkansas’ Zack Carnes, ahead of Curtis with 4.5 buoys at 32 off, 36 mph. Jack Haase from Michigan State skiing to 5 buoys at 32 off, 36 mph for a silver medal finish. Not only is Haase great on a water ski, he is an impressive surfer too! Like Jack, Tyler Schmid of San Diego State spends his time surfing when he’s not hanging at the lake in Newberry Springs, CA. The San Diego State junior is the 2021 Division II National Slalom Champion with well deserved 3 buoys at 35 off, 36 mph to top out the men’s podium.
The fog finally cleared and the men’s slalom event wrapped up while the ladies grabbed their helmets for women’s jump day. This is a crowd favorite as it typically provides the best entertainment of the weekend. Teams lined the shore of the Jump lake and over 70% of skiers landed and rode away. The D2 scores were impressive this year with two ladies jumping in the triple-digit Century club. UCLA’s Paula Jaramillo was one of four Jaramillo siblings at Nationals this year representing the Western Region. The family of elite skiers absolutely crushed it on the water. The oldest of the four, Paula takes the Division II jump title with a 119-foot jump. Close behind, University of Texas’s Emma Morgan takes a 111-foot leap to snag second place and her first of four podium results of the weekend. Jumping just short of the century club, Freshman Claire Meara out of Arkansas takes 3rd place with an impressive 96 feet. There is no doubt, Claire, an active AWSA member will be very successful in her collegiate career! Cal Poly’s KJ Miller grabbed 4th place with a single-cut jump of 92 feet, jumping 11 feet farther than her winning jump from the 2017 Bennett’s NCWSA Nationals her freshman year. Taking 5th place for women’s jump is Amanda Luttschwager out of Iowa State with 68 feet. Amanda carried this momentum into the entire weekend, leading the wild card team to many podium results.
The alarm clocks rang early on Friday morning and as the sun rose, men’s jumpers took to the sky. Taking 5th place with 89 feet was Auburn University’s, Jack Glendinning. In 4th place with 93 feet is Cal Poly’s Jake Larson for his first of two medals of the weekend. Just short of the century club, Drew Phelan from Michigan State took 3rd place with 98 feet behind Colin Knight of San Diego State flying 101 feet. Knight recently joined the century club at Western Regionals and I’m sure was stoked to do it again! The 2021 Division II National jump champion is Carter Hooten from the University of Texas with 105 feet. The Texans performed well with both Male and Female jump medals over 100 ft.
Women’s trick kicked off by mid-day and went by quickly. The afternoon began with many side slides and ended with a Gold medal 1400 point trick run from Iowa State’s Amanda Luttschwager, snagging her second medal of the weekend. Just 200 points behind Amanda was University of Texas’ Emma Morgan with 1380 points and a ride back to the dock after her stand-up pass. No stranger to the podium, Claire Meara from Arkansas placed 3rd with 960 points, ahead of Michigan State’s Olivia Morea tricking 840 points. Scoring a personal best of 630 points, Allison Gurnett of San Diego State rounds out the podium with 5th place and her first medal of the tournament!
Friday night was spent back on-site with an alumni night jump. Food trucks and skiers lined the shores ready to cheer on our amazing alumni who have continued skiing competitively post-college. The show was followed by Texas A&M Alumni performing as the Southern Angels Band rocking the house!
The last day of Nationals is always a bittersweet day, as we spend the last day in the sunshine and with friends from across the NCWSA community at the lake before the reality shock of PND. The women geared up for some Slalom while the Men enjoyed a slow morning before trick. The women’s slalom podium was familiar as top-performing skiers continued to medal. Grabbing her first piece of hardware of the weekend in 5th place is Jordan Briney from the University of Michigan. Briney skied to 4 buoys at 32 mph 15 off. Allison Gurnett takes 4th place and cuts the line to 28 off skiing to 3.5 buoys at 34 mph ahead of Emma Morgan from the University of Texas scoring a 0 at 32 mph 32 off. 1st and 2nd place was truly a battle at 35 off the rope but Paula Jaramillo from UCLA snagged the win with 2.5 buoys at 34 mph just ahead of Amanda Luttschwager skiing to 2 buoys and her 3rd medal of the weekend.
In the *Trickiest* event, the men were prefaced with strong women scores to bring in the points for their team. San Diego State’s Colin Knight took 5th place with 790 points and a flip attempt surpassed for 4th place by 10 points to Jack Glendinning from Auburn with 800 points. With a personal best score of 950 points, Jake Larson from Cal Poly takes 3rd place and his second medal of the weekend supporting a run towards an overall award. Breaking into the four digits, Aidan Hughes from Michigan State scores a 1,230, just behind the top step of the podium by 10 points behind Konstantinos Arkadis from the University of Texas taking the win with 1,240 points to conclude the 2021 Syndicate Division 2 Nationals. Both men and women then had to wait and find out how the overall standings shook out at Saturday night’s banquet.
Men’s Overall Standing:
| Placement | Skier | Team | Slalom | Plcmt | Trick | Plcmt | Jump | Plcmt | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glendinning, Jack | AUB | 440 | 6 | 470 | 4 | 450 | 5 | 1360 |
| 2 | Knight, Colin | SDS | 415 | 8T | 460 | 5 | 480 | 2 | 1355 |
| 3 | Larson, Jacob | SLO | 345 | 15T | 480 | 3 | 460 | 4 | 1285 |
| 4 | Schmid, Tyler | SDS | 490 | 1 | 400 | 11 | 380 | 12 | 1270 |
| 5 | Stoskopf, Mark | LAX | 370 | 13 | 430 | 8 | 420 | 8 | 1220 |
Women’s Overall Standing:
| Placement | Skier | Team | Slalom | Plcmt | Trick | Plcmt | Jump | Plcmt | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morgan, Emma | TEX | 560 | 3 | 570 | 2 | 510 | 2 | 1640 |
| 2T | Jaramillo, Paula | CLA | 580 | 1 | 530 | 6 | 520 | 1 | 1630 |
| 2T | Luttschwager Rose, Amanda | IWS | 570 | 2 | 580 | 1 | 480 | 5 | 1630 |
| 4T | Kelly, Grace | LAX | 530 | 6 | 520 | 7 | 460 | 7 | 1510 |
| 4T | Miller, Kyla Jo | SLO | 510 | 8 | 510 | 8 | 490 | 4 | 1510 |
Team Standings:
| Placement | Team | Name | Slalom | Trick | Jump | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MCH | University of Michigan | 3,190.0 | 3,165.0 | 2,600.0 | 8,955.0 |
| 2 | SDS | San Diego State University | 2,790.0 | 3,075.0 | 2,590.0 | 8,455.0 |
| 3 | TEX | University of Texas, Austin | 2,175.0 | 3,045.0 | 2,625.0 | 7,845.0 |
| 4 | IWS | Iowa State University | 2,960.0 | 2,110.0 | 2,715.0 | 7,785.0 |
| 5 | MST | Michigan State University | 2,480.0 | 2,850.0 | 2,105.0 | 7,435.0 |
| 6 | SLO | Cal Poly San Luis Obispo | 2,495.0 | 2,925.0 | 1,945.0 | 7,365.0 |
| 7 | CIN | University of Cincinnati | 2,205.0 | 2,680.0 | 2,455.0 | 7,340.0 |
| 8 | LAX | Univ of Wisconsin, La Crosse | 2,465.0 | 2,185.0 | 2,470.0 | 7,120.0 |
| 9 | ARK | University of Arkansas | 2,605.0 | 2,025.0 | 1,940.0 | 6,570.0 |
| 10 | AUB | Auburn University | 2,005.0 | 1,850.0 | 1,685.0 | 5,540.0 |
| 11 | UCD | University of California, Davis | 1,060.0 | 955.0 | 395.0 | 2,410.0 |
| 12 | CLA | University of California, LA | 780.0 | 705.0 | 625.0 | 2,110.0 |
- Teams battle in Baton Rouge for Division II National Title - December 21, 2021
- West Coast Best Coast Regionals - October 14, 2021
- Seniors, Seniors, Are You Ready?! - May 6, 2020
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