Results

Check out the NCWSA site for team specific scores:
Individual and Team Scores from Nationals  <--------This page will show all scores, and can be a little confusing. It starts out with mens slalom, then mens trick and finally mens jump. The womens scores start halfway down with slalom, then trick and lastly jump.

A few words about our teams performances:
-Womens jump, while it was very stressfull (4 women crashed the first two jumps but landed the thrid), placed 7th out of the 12 teams and was our highest scoring event. Every one landed at least one jump, and our 8th place finish depended on their performance on the ramp. Alyssa Varsos managed to land a jump while riding away on only one ski, while Elissa Kroman, who had never been to the national tournament, stuck a very respectable distance of 44 feet.
-Our mens slalom team performed exceptionally well again. Led by Nick Williams who ran into 35 off, mens slalom made another historic showing with Jace Whatley and Bryce Rothammer getting into 22 off and Brett Crockett and Garrett Wiedman getting into 36 mph.
-Womens trick was very solid. Led by Kendyl Hardin, all women posted solid scores, including Anna Hart and Katie Miller who both scored 200. Jan Ong represented with a 160. This was Jan, Anna's Katie's first national tournament.
-Mens trick was also very solid. Joey McNamara and Jace Whatley were at the top, both scoring 1040. Mitchell George scored a personal best of 730.
-Womens slalom was one of the most exciting events to watch, with Stephanie Luker running the course for the first time, getting 3 at 28 mph. Alicia Gerte was right behind Steph with 5 buoys at 26 mph.
-Mens jump felt the pressure at the very end of the tournament to fend off Iowa State and maintain 8th place. Garrett Wiedman posted three 100+ distances, with the farthest being 108. Austin Luker, a veteran jumper, posted a solid jump of 84 feet. Brett Crockett took the best crash award but managed to stick a solid 78 feet.

Photos, Videos and Press Releases from Nationals 2008

Tournament pictures for the first two days are up, and we are waiting for the third days photos to be posted. This is a compilation of the whole tournament, scroll through to find UT skiers. Click on these links to check out photos:
Day 1
Day 2
More Random Photos

Videos are also available of men and womens trick, except they are not labeled. The names are announced during the video, sorry for the inconvenience. We were able to browse a little while and find these videos:

Joey McNamara: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r3_w_JzgzQ
Mitchell George: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiXeK0yYqvg&feature=related

A popular water ski blog posted some details and links about the tournament: http://creakyrowboat.blogspot.com/2008/10/ulm-wins-title.html
Also, the USA Water Ski site has a short article about the tournament here: http://www.usawaterski.org/default.asp?Display=465


Thanks to Attending Parents, Friends and Family

We want to thank all the parents, friends and family who came and sat in the desert sun to cheer us all on these past three days. We love the support you guys provide and know that it is a big time commitment to come out.

Special thanks to the Lukers for pulling the trailer with all our equipment to and from Arizona and buying sandwich supplies all three days. You guys made the tournament more relaxing for the skiers, and not having to lug our equipment through the airports was very nice! Also, not having to pay the extra shipping fees saved the team a ton of money, and the assurance of our equipment traveling safely back and forth took away a lot of the stress we normally deal with while travelling. Again, thanks Steve and Jeanne!


Daily Schedule of Joe Skier at the National Tournament
5:40- Sun rises
5:45- Wake up yourself and the 8 other skiers in your 2 person hotel suite
6:00- Run to What-a-Burger, Dennys or another healthy water ski breakfast locale
6:30- Load up the vans, hop on I-10 and drive to Fire Bird,
6:40- Prepare voices for a 12 hour day of cheering and bodies for 0% humidity and 95+ temperatures
7:00- First skier is at the dock, ready to go, rest of team chants TEXAS FIGHT from the shorline
9:00- Day is heating up, skiing is roaring along
11:00- Chug a gallon of water, realize how fast you get dehydrated in the desert
noon- Discuss how awesome it is that we are skiing in the National Tournament in Arizona
3:00- Starting to get tired, take 5 minute nap
6:30- Sun sets, skiing ends for the day, rinse all equipment off with fresh water, load up the vans, head back to the hotel
6:40- Everyone gets "ready", (ready for guys: 3.5 minute shower, re-apply deodorant; ready for girls: 15 minute shower, 5 minute curling/straightening of hair, 10 minutes dressing, 10 mniutes saying how cute your other girl freinds are, 5 minute minimum of mirror time
8:30- Head to organized dinner function, eat dinner, mingle with skiers from all over the country
10:00- Dance party commences, 24 collegiate water ski teams assemble for a party of epic proportions
2:00- Head back to hotel
2:30- Realize you are waking up in 3 hours and doing the same thing again



More Info About the Tournament

Random tid bits of information and statistics that might be interesting:

-Our friends from the Michigan team won the coveted spirit award.
-Texas A&M placed 4th in D2, and Texas State placed 3rd in D2, ULL placed 2nd in D1, ULM took 1st. A very impressive show of depth from the South Central Region!
-Fire Bird Lake, the tournament lake, was 3 times saltier than the Atlantic Ocean. Fire Bird lake was originally built by the U.S. government for Indian Reservation purposes. During construction a salt deposit was uncovered.
-This is the third straight year that ULM has placed first at nationals.
-This was the 30th straight year that UT made an appearance at the national tournament.



Well thanks for tuning in and we hope to see you all next Spring! Until then, we will be breaking out the wet suits and skiing through the winter, preparing for next season.

Hook 'em!

UT Water Ski Team