truebluefan

POLK CITY, Fla. ⎯ USA Water Ski has selected Ian Trapp (Zachary, La.) and Danyelle Bennett (Zachary, La.) as its Male and Female Athletes of the Month for October. The University of Louisiana-Monroe Water Ski Team was selected as Team of the Month. Trapp, Bennett and the University of Louisiana-Monroe Water Ski Team are now eligible for the United States Olympic Committee’s Athletes and Team of the Month honors.
Trapp won the men's slalom title at the 29th Collegiate Water Ski National Championships, Oct. 25-27, in Zachary, La. Trapp scored 1 buoy at 41 feet off. He defeated two-time champion Cale Burdick of Purdue and came just 2-1/2 buoys shy of tying the current national collegiate record.
Bennett finished as the runner-up in women's jumping, slalom, tricks and overall. She leaped 143 feet in jumping, scored 4-½ buoys at 35 feet off in slalom, and tallied 3,740 points in tricks. She also placed second overall with a total of 1,720 points. Her impressive performance helped lead Louisiana-Lafayette to a second-place finish in the team standings.
The University of Louisiana-Monroe won its second consecutive national title at the 29th Collegiate Water Ski National Championships. The team finished with a total of 12,860 points, while three members combined to win six individual titles. Members of the team were: Martin Bartalsky, Natallia Berdnikava, Tyler Boyd, Brittany Collins, Kyle Damman, Tatiana Hernandez, Carly Marquess, Daniel Odvarko, Adam Seldmajer, Karen Stevens and Aliaksei Zharnasek.
Zharnasek, Berdnikava and Seldmajer each earned individual titles. Berdnikava won women’s
slalom (2 buoys at 38 feet off), tricks (4,190 points), jumping (146 feet) and overall (1,750.0 points);
Zharnasek won men’s tricks (6,560 points); and Seldmajer won men’s overall (1,740.0 points).

USA Water Ski was formed in 1939 as a non-profit organization promoting water skiing in the United States. USA Water Ski is affiliated with the International Water Ski Federation (world governing body) and is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and Pan-American Sports Organization as the national governing body of organized water skiing in the United States. With more than 30,000 members, USA Water Ski is the largest water ski federation in the world.
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