LAKELAND, FLA. – The Florida Southern College Waterski program is headed to compete at the 2023 Syndicate Collegiate Nationals.
Dates – October 26-28, 2023
Location – Tri-Lakes, Zachary, Louisiana
Webcast - http://ncwsa.com/webcast/2023nationals
The Florida Southern College water ski team finished second in the SAC Regional Championship earlier this month. The Moccasins defeated several Division I opponents, including Auburn, Clemson, and Georgia Institute of Technology. As well as defeating local rival Rollins, who finished fourth out of the nine other schools at regionals.
"Things started early this morning with some last-minute on-site practice and fine-tuning," stated head coach Curtis Rabe. "The whole team juggled skiing on two side-by-side lakes for five hours non-stop as I jumped from boat to boat and lake to lake to accommodate them. It is amazing to witness this team stay focused as there is a lot going on. Some great skiing was displayed and I am fired up to get this event started!"
The Mocs had their toughest face-off against the University of Alabama, which they will be seeing again at
Syndicate Collegiate Nationals. Alabama won the overall regional with 6600 points, and FSC finished with 5,800 points.
In the Women's division, the Mocs led the way with a first-place finish by senior
Rebecca Ramsay, who had a 122ft jump that defeated Alabama's Samantha Hill who recorded a 117ft jump. Not too far behind with a 4th place finish was FSC's sophomore Sierra Klinchuch, who jumped 99 feet, and
Delaney Harris who finished 7th jumping 63 feet.
Ramsay still leads the way in the trick category, with a third-place finish with 1370 points, with just two University of Alabama trick skiers in front of her. Klinchuch finished fifth (1130 points), and
Josefa Gonzalez finished 10th (680 points) for the top 10.?
In the Men's division, FSC took home fifth, sixth, and eighth through 10th in the jump with sophomore
Evan Robbins placing fifth with a 162 ft jump and junior John Horwood in sixth jumping 158 ft. Eighth through 10th belonged to sophomore Vicente Tizza (153 ft), freshman?
Sergio Barrientos (152 ft), and junior Chris Horwood (140 ft) to close out the top finishers for FSC.
Last year in the 2022 Syndicate Collegiate Nationals, The Florida Southern Men and Women's Waterski teams combined team results placed them in 5th place overall with 10,310 points, just following Arizona State University. The men's team's best event was the jump, where they placed 5th, and the women's team's best event was the trick, where they placed 3
rd.
FSC Waterski is a member of the Southern Atlantic Coastal Region and has qualified within that region along with the University of Alabama, Rollins College, Clemson University, and Auburn University.
