Water Ski
Mocs Repeat as NCWSA Eastern Region Champs, Advance to National Championships
DUNCANVILLE, Alabama - For the second consecutive season, Florida Southern turned in a dominating performance by both its men's and women's teams en route to capturing the 2012 National Collegiate Water Ski Association Eastern Regional Championship on Sunday at Lymanland Lake and earning a return trip to the NCWSA National Championship next weekend in Louisiana.
The Moccasins, who finished third at last season's NCSWA National Championships and entered the regional meet at the No. 1 team ranked team in the nation, easily won the 12-team field with a combined score of 6,975 points. Alabama, who served as the meet's host school, finished second as they scored a combined 6,370 points, while Rollins finished a distant third with 5,665 points. The other two teams to qualify for this year's National Championships were Clemson (3,465 points) and the University of North Carolina (2,300 points), who finished fourth and fifth respectively at the regional meet.
While FSC took home the combined team title, the Mocs claimed the men's overall title as the Mocs scored 3,995 points to eke past Alabma, who scored 3,915 points to finish in second place. In the men's overall competition, freshman Thibault Dailand (Orthez, France) was the champion as he scored 1,130 points after finishing first in both tricks and jumping and second in the slalom. In the tricks competition, Dailand scored 5,860 points, while jumping 155 feet to outdistance Rollins' Drew Phillips by four feet (151 feet) and scoring 0.5 buoys at 39.5 feet off in the slalom. Freshman K.C. Wilson (Winter Park, Fla.) finished in fourth place in the men's overall competition as he scored 980 points after finishing first in the slalom with 1.50 buoys at 39.5 feet off in the slalom, seventh in the tricks competition (1,810 points) and 11th in the jumps with a leap of 116 feet.
Meanwhile, in the women's team competition, the Mocs finished first overall as they scored 2,980 points to cruise past Alabama, who scored 2,455 points to finish in second place. In the women's overall competition, sophomore Lauren Morgan (Odessa, Fla.) finished second as she scored 815 points. Alabama's Caroline Hensley was the women's top overall competitor as she scored 860 total points. Morgan finished first in jumping with a leap of 144 feet, which was seven feet better than Hensely's second place jump, while she finished tied for third in the slalom (1.50 buoys at 38 feet off) and fourth in tricks (2,330 points). Senior Manon Costard (Marseille, France) was third in the women's overall competition as she scored 790 points. Costard was second in the slalom (5 buoys at 38 feet off), sixth in tricks (1,410 points) and third in jumps (134 feet).
Other top performers for the Mocs were senior Kyle Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill.), who finished sixth overall on the men's side and junior Ali Lindy (Lino Lakes, Minn.), who finished fourth overall on the women's side. Zimmerman was tied for 12th in the slalom, fourth in tricks (2,310 points) and 11th in jumps (116 feet), while Lindy was fifth in the slalom, third in tricks (2,890 points) and fifth in jumps (94 feet).
The NCWSA National Championships is scheduled for Oct. 18-20 at the TriLakes Complex in Zachary, La. TriLakes is the home of Bennett's Water Ski and Wakeboard School.
Complete results of the NCWSA Eastern Regional Championships
