2017 NCWSA Award Winners - Article Banner

Congrats to the 2017 NCWSA Awards Winners!

The ballots are in, the votes have been counted, and now we can announce the winners for the 2017 NCWSA Awards! Congrats to all the nominees for Outstanding Leader of the Year, Athlete of the Year, and Team of the Year! With the award ceremony near the end of January, watch ncwsa.com as our writers will publish interviews with each of our very deserving winners.

Female Outstanding Leader of the Year

Madison Hayden, University of Arkansas

2017 NCWSA Female Outstanding Leader Nominee: Madison Hayden 2017 NCWSA Team of the Year Nominee: Arkansas

Madison worked with Scott Greenwood to put on the first ever “Hog Wild” tournament, which went extremely well and raised over $4000 for the team! Madison is always working hard to make sure the University of Arkansas team is a family both on and off the lake, planning bonding events, recruitment tailgates, and cookouts at the lake.

Read Madison’s full nomination for Outstanding Leader of the Year, along with all the other nominees!

 

Male Outstanding Leader of the Year

Alex Clark, Michigan State University

2017 NCWSA Male Outstanding Leader Nominee: Alex Clark 2017 NCWSA Male Outstanding Leader Nominee: Alex Clark

Alex also spent his summer in AWSA tournaments getting and/or improving his ratings, skiing abilities, and coaching. He took advice from some of the best skiers, officials, and coaches in the Midwest, and brought that all back to his team for the fall! He drove and judged at every collegiate tournament, and also helped his team mates to start on their ratings as well. He has been a leader on his team and also throughout the Midwest collegiate region.

Read Alex’s full nomination for Outstanding Leader of the Year, along with all the other nominees!

 

Female Athlete of the Year

Hanna Straltsova, University of Louisiana at Monroe

2017 NCWSA Female Athlete Nominee: Hanna Straltsova 2017 NCWSA Team of the Year Nominee: Louisiana Monroe

Hanna dominated at Connelly Skis 2017 Nationals helping her team become national champions! Hanna won slalom, jump, and overall while setting a new NCWSA Women’s Jump Record of 159 feet.

Read Hanna’s full nomination for Athlete of the Year, along with all the other nominees, and check out Hanna’s record setting leap below!

 

Male Athlete of the Year

Samuel Greenwood, University of Alabama

2017 NCWSA Male Athlete Nominee: Sam Greenwood 2017 NCWSA Male Athlete Nominee: Sam Greenwood - Alabama Water Ski Team

At the Connelly Skis 2017 NCWSA Nationals Sam broke the Eastern region’s 19 year old jump record by leaping 182 feet! Sam also skied and helped lead his team in every tournament in both the 2017 Spring and Fall NCWSA seasons. One of his teammates noted, “coming from someone who was completely new to competitive skiing going into college, it’s people like Sam and the rest of the Greenwood family that have inspired me and many other new skiers to get so involved with the sport by showing their passion for skiing with how much they help out with NCWSA.”

Read Sam’s full nomination for Athlete of the Year, along with all the other nominees, and check out Sam’s amazing jump from the Connelly Skis 2017 NCWSA Nationals below!

 

Team of the Year

Miami University

 2017 NCWSA Team of the Year Nominee: Miami University

Miami won Division 2 at the Connelly Skis 2017 Nationals after winning in 2016 too! The team fundraised and bought a new 2017 Mastercraft for their team boat. And lastly, but certainly not least the team went “full send” at every tournament of the season with their spirit earning them the Great Lakes Conference spirit award, the Midwest Regional spirit award, and 3rd place for the Nationals spirit award!

Read Miami’s full nomination and all the others for Team of the Year, and check out their Life on the Water 2017 video contest submission below!

Adam Koehler

I am Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. I earned my Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside and Bachelor's and Masters from Marquette University. I skied collegiately at Marquette and in 2009 I received the NCWSA Outstanding Leader Award. I was NCWSA Operations Committee Chair for 7 years, and the NCWSA Secretary for 8 years.