MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — On Friday, November 17, 2023, officials of the University of Louisiana Monroe announced that the ULM Water Ski team placed second at the 44th Syndicate Waterskis Collegiate Water Ski National Championships, which took place in Zachary, La. on October 28, 2023. Officials confirmed that the tournament marked ULM’s 45th consecutive appearance at Nationals.
ULM finished second with 11,510 points, beating the University of Alabama by five points as well as Florida Southern College (10,415 points) and Arizona State University (10,160 points).
Every team member made a vital contribution to our second-place finish. We skied above our seed, edging out Alabama by the slimmest margin possible. This could only happen with the vast support from our school, coach, and alumni providing us with the best facility and resources in the nation.
Ryan Schipper, Water Ski team captain
Along with their second-place win, Valeryia Trubskaya and Stanislava Prosvietova tied for third place in Overall and Damir Filaretov placed fourth in Overall. According to officials, Overall titles were awarded to athletes competing in all three events including slalom, tricks, and jump.
The ULM Water Ski team competitors included the following:
- Nellie Allard
- Jake Chambers
- Jacob Duffy
- Damir Filaretov
- Carter Lucas
- Lea Miermont
- Viktor Motov
- Connor Pauley
- Stefan Piatrenka
- Stanislava Prosvietova
- Ryan Schipper
- Sondre Stalheim
- Valeryia Trubskaya
- Eline Vang
- Aatu Vita
This ski session was by far my best season yet with the team! It was amazing to see how the team came together to get our team to where we finished. I saw the team work harder than I ever have to ski our best this season and the results definitely show.
I’m so proud of this team and what they have accomplished, and I look forward to what the future holds for our skiers and our ski program!
Zane Nicholson, the coach of ULM Water Ski
