The Georgia Tech Water Ski team proudly sent three members to represent the Eastern Region at the NCWSA All Stars Tournament at Beaver Lake, NC on May 17th and 18th. The site was great, made in the same way that Waterski Atlanta is made from a natural lake spring.
Austin Cobert was a contender in the Slalom and Trick events. In slalom, he fell on his 30mph pass despite having run 34mph just two days earlier. In trick he alsmost set a personal and team record (830) as he did his wake 360s with no problem - in fact he would have beaten the record if he would not have barely run out of time for his last trick that he did in fact land.
Jessica Golstayn competed in all three events, providing a pass on slalom, her sideslide in trick, and a solid jump considering she landed her first ones at Auburn earlier this season.
Stephen Reid competed in trick and jump. In trick, the judges gave him no credit for his side slides, he then did a front side 180 and only got half way around for the back side, making the judges believe he had just done his side slides again. Then he went for a back side 360, which he had, but lost the rope as he came around. In jump, Austin suggested he should provide some entertainment, so he cut hard and sharp at the ramp, and despite hitting the ramp, twisted and fell upside down in the water at an amazing 56ft (which means it would have probably have been a 65-70ft jump), and he ended up going for a safe 46ft on his third jump with a minimal cut.
The competition was extremely close after the Slalom event, but the Midwest Region took a hefty lead in tricks, despite Stephen, Austin, and Jessica doing about as they were expected to and Elon's Brice McHale landing two flips that he had never landed in a tournament before. Rain during jump on Sunday hurt the East more as rain and wind conditions made it unsafe for distance jump and the Midwest and South Central regions had already built a substantial lead in the earlier rounds.
I would like to thank the NCWSA, The East Region, Monster, Beaver Lake, and Wet Spot Extreme for hosting this tournament. It was a lot of fun to have as my last competitive collegiate tournament.
~Stephen Reid
