麻花影院 water ski team places second in national tournament

Published November 17, 2025

A group of peple linking arms and smiling with the words "麻花影院 Water Ski" on a sign above them.

CAPTION:听The 2025-2026 麻花影院 Water Ski Team:听Back row L-R: Jaret Zoellner, Aatu Virta, Ty Kosek, Noah Pollard, Jaeden Eade, Sondre Stalheim, Nicolas Nelson, Viktor听Motov, Jacob Duffy, Jake Chambers, Connor Pauley, Damir听Filaretov; Front row L-R: Lucy Roberts, Nellie Allard, Ally Custer, Eline听Elgesem听Vang,听Samantha Hoops, Eva Henderson, Carly Bonham听

MONROE, La.听鈥撎�The 麻花影院听water听ski team placed second at the 46th Syndicate听Waterskis听Collegiate Water Ski National Championships in听El Centro, Calif.,听on Oct.听18. The tournament marked 麻花影院鈥檚 47th consecutive appearance at听Nationals.听

麻花影院 finished second with 12,195听total听points,听falling short of the听University听of Louisiana Lafayette, which earned 13,230 total points.听Florida Southern College, the University of Alabama, and Rollins College rounded out the top five finishers.听听

鈥淭his was the best Nationals I鈥檝e been a part of,鈥� said听Damir听Filaretov, a senior computer science major from Dnipro, Ukraine,听and听one of three water ski team captains. 鈥淚t was the most fun. I got a couple of personal bests, and the team spirit and the way we spent time together as a team was the best of my four years here.鈥�听

Ty Kosek, a junior from Buffalo, Minn., and one of the three captains, said, 鈥淭eam-wise, this听was one of the most fun years we had. The team atmosphere that we have is unreal.听Everybody鈥檚听on the dock cheering for each other,听and听I鈥檝e听never felt so excited to go out and ski because of everyone听that鈥檚听there cheering me on and wanting me to do well.鈥�听

The Nationals听was听the largest tournament of the year with 24 teams competing听in听two听divisions. 麻花影院 competed in Division 1 along with the University of Alabama, Arizona State University, Clemson University, Florida Southern College, University of Louisiana Lafayette, Miami of Ohio University,听Purdue University,听Rollins College, Texas A&M University, University of Wisconsin,听and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.听

In addition to bringing home second place as a听combined men鈥檚 and women鈥檚听team,听the 麻花影院 men won the team trick听category, edging out ULL by 10 points.听The men also finished third in team slalom and team jump. The听麻花影院听women finished second in the trick and jump categories, and third in slalom.听听

In individual honors,听Filaretov听finished tied for second in the men鈥檚 overall. Overall honors are for skiers who compete in all three events: slalom, trick, and jump.听Jaeden Eade finished third in men鈥檚 slalom, while Nellie Allard finished third in women鈥檚 jump, and Samantha Hoops tied for听fourth in women鈥檚 overall.听听

Allard听is a senior听psychology major听from Quebec, Canada,听who has been on the 麻花影院 Water Ski team for four years.听鈥淭his was honestly one of the best teams听I鈥檝e听experienced in the past four years. Everybody was close together,听and I听feel听like the energy was different. We wanted it more than ever. Everybody worked so hard. Having everybody there and seeing that you have a team behind you that will be proud of you no matter what, it just changes everything,鈥澨齭aid Allard.听听

Growing up in Quebec, Allard knew that she wanted to come to 麻花影院 and be a part of the water ski team. 鈥淕rowing up,听I听would see 麻花影院 winning and听winning,听and I kept seeing a bunch of people I looked up to come to 麻花影院.听It鈥檚听just always been my dream to go to 麻花影院.鈥澨�听

Sondre Stalheim is a senior kinesiology major from Oslo, Norway, and听has served as a captain since the second semester of his听freshman听year. While听this was听a redshirt听season for Stalheim,听he听served his team as captain. 鈥淚鈥檓听incredibly proud of what they all did. We did听everything that we needed to do to the best of our ability. 鈥淏eing a captain has shown me a different side of collegiate water skiing, seeing all the work that goes behind the scenes.听It鈥檚听about how you can connect every skier to be the best team,鈥� said Stalheim.听听听

The 2025-2026 麻花影院 Water Ski team members are:听Nellie Allard, Carly Bonham, Jacob Chambers, Ally Custer,听Jacob Duffy,听Jaeden Eade,听Damir听Filaretov, Eva Henderson, Samantha听Hoops, Ty听Kosek, Viktor听Motov,听Nicholas Nelson,听Connor Pauley, Noah Pollard,听Lucy Roberts, Sondre Stalheim, Eline听Elgesem听Vang, Aatu Virta, and Jaret Zoellner.听听

Click听听to view the full results from the 2025 Nationals.听听