Ending the Spring Season with a Splash from the SAC

Ashley Stevens Events, Regions, Results, Southern & Atlantic Coastal Region

CUSKI Spring Splash II

The Clemson Ski Team hosted their second annual CUSKI Spring Splash tournament this past weekend of April 13th-14th, 2019 at Lake Flumi in Roebuck, SC. Even though only four teams were able to show, the Southern & Atlantic Coastal Region made the most of their last tournament of the spring season.

And the Results Are in!

Combined Team Results

The Clemson Water Ski Team placed first in the combined team results with the University of Alabama Water Ski Team following in second place. Lander University took third, and Auburn University fourth. The full CUSKI Spring Splash score book is available on USA Water Ski & Wake Sports website.

Men’s Slalom

In the men’s slalom event, Clemson came out just ahead of Alabama for first place followed by Lander University and Auburn. Sean Hunter, University of Alabama, tied the lake record and claimed the men’s slalom event title with a score of 2 buoys at 39.5′ off! Clemson’s James Webber took second with 2.5 buoys at 35′ off beating out William Montavon of Alabama by only half a buoy.

Women’s Slalom

In the women’s half of the event, Clemson University took first as a team and swept the top three podium spots with Ashley Stevens skiing to 5 buoys at 22′ off, Hallie Burris scoring 3 buoys at 22′ off, and Nellie Roberts rounding out the top three with 1.5 buoys at 22′ off. Lander University nabbed second place, Auburn in third.

Men’s Trick

In the men’s trick event, the University of Alabama narrowly bested the Clemson men to take the top team spon, followed by Lander and Auburn. University of Alabama’s Quinn Haines tricked 4,020 points to win the event. Clemson’s James Webber (CLE) took another second place podium spot with 1,550 points, and Alabama’s William Montavon rounded out the top three with an even 1,000 points.

Women’s Trick

The women’s podium for trick put people through a bit of déjà vu with Clemson sweeping the top three spots similar to women’s slalom just in a different order. In tricks Nellie Roberts won the event with 1,090 points, Hallie Burris placed second with 660 points, and Ashley Stevens rounded out the top three with a score of 510 points.

Jump Time!

With a huge storm being predicted to hit this same weekend, everyone was in gear to keep each event moving and finish on Saturday. Thank you to Ben Synoground (CLE), Colton Steffensen (CLE), Anna Gay (ALA), and Sean Hunter (ALA) for hoping on the jump to keep the surface wet when the impeller on the water pump gave out on! These members not only kept us on time but gave some good entertainment as well.

Women’s Jump

In the women’s event a slightly different Clemson trio donned the podium. Nellie Roberts claimed her second event win with a leap of 101 feet followed by Ashley Stevens jumping 49 feet, and Lauren Linton jumped her way to third with a jump of 43 feet.

Men’s Jump

When it came time for the men to fly, Clemson took the team win but Alabama’s Quinn Haines claimed the event title with a leap of 171 feet. The top three was rounded out by James Webber with his third second place of the weekend by leaping 116 feet, and Alec Ancevic jumped his way to third (78 feet). In the team standings for the event, Clemson won the event followed by Alabama, Lander University. Auburn University needs to get some of their guys hitting Big Red for the upcoming Fall tournaments!

Overall Scores

In the Men’s Overall category, Clemson’s James Webber claimed the title, Alabama’s Sean Hunter came in second (yes, Sean did jump!), and Clemson’t Colton Steffensen took third to round off the top three.

For Women’s Overall, Nellie Roberts (CLE) took first, giving her three wins on the weekend! Ashley Stevens and Hallie Burris finish out the top three.

Keep up the Good Work!

Congratulations to all the skiers who obtained new Personal Best’s this weekend:

  • Dan Greene (ALA) jumped 150 feet – previous collegiate PB was 144ft
  • Santos Pagan (LAN) jalolmed 2 buoys!
  • Mario Krussig (CLE) jumped 60ft – previous was 58ft
  • Colton Steffensen (CLE) jumped 75ft – previous was 70ft
  • Ernest McCallum (CLE) slalomed 4@30mph and jumped 43ft

To all the skiers who started the process of becoming an official or continued work on upgrading your officials rating – thank you for your help and keep up the good work! If you are interested in becoming an official, go here to find more information.

Thank you to all our Volunteers

Thank you to all of our officials: the Harris Family, the Stevens Family, the Bryans Family, Scott Snape, Austin Rodgers Matt Page, Bob Archambeau, Dean Collins, Chris Logan, Glenn Barnes and Adam Webb.

A special thank you to the Menzel family for letting us host at your site, the Krussig family for helping us fundraise, and the Burris family for always being supportive of our team.

Shout out to Nellie Roberts, the Clemson Water Ski Team’s Vice President (aka Tournament Director) for arranging all the site preparation, keeping the tournament moving, and making all arrangements. Keep an eye out for the SAC 2019 Regionals being hosted by the Clemson Water Ski Team and directed by Nellie in this coming Fall season.

Additional Photos for Your Entertainment

All photo credits go to Trenton Fisher (@photo4est).

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Ashley Stevens

I am Mechanical Engineering student with a Business Minor at Clemson University with an expected graduation date of December 2020. I've been involved with Clemson's Water Ski Team since I entered and have been becoming more involved on the Regional (SAC) and National level.