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March 18, 2010

ULM’s Water Ski Team boasts “Golden Moment” in national journal

While members of the University of Louisiana at Monroe campus family frequently receive individual accolades in national journals, it is less of a routine thing for a national magazine to be devoted to all things ULM.

But that was the case with the ULM Water Ski Team’s domination in the January/February edition of The Water Skier.

Beginning with the magazine’s cover story about recent pharmacy graduate Regina Jaquess, the 2009 Female Athlete of the year, it was hard to escape notice of the number of positive ULM mentions made by the journal’s editors.

The cover story on Jaquess, “A Decade of Excellence,” pointed to her continued domination in the sport stating, “She is well on her way to being considered among the all-time greats, if not arguably, the greatest of them all.”

Jaquess broke the women’s world slalom record in 2009 and is the current world record holder in women’s slalom. Even before earning the designation of 2009 Female Athlete of the year, she earned athlete of the year honors in 2001, 2003, and 2005. She has also set two new world overall records and tied the world slalom record twice. She graduated May 2009 from the ULM College of Pharmacy and is now a pharmacist in Destin, Fla.

“It was ski, work, ski, work. It was really different,” she told the magazine.

In addition, one article, “The Legend Continues,” spoke of “the depth of talent that the ULM water ski team boasts,” as it detailed the results from the 2009 Collegiate Water Ski National Championships. Many fans and supporters are aware that the team won its 22nd national championship title at the National Collegiate Water Ski Association’s 31st National Championship Tournament, held last fall in Bakersfield, Calif.

The team won by more than 1,000 points; making it the fourth consecutive year ULM brought home the Division 1 Team Overall title. The Division 1 competition included Alabama, Florida Southern, Rollins, Purdue, Iowa State, Illinois, UL-Lafayette, Texas, Arizona State, Chico-State and San Diego State.

“When the dust settled on day one of the three-day tournament, the Warhawks had a commanding 700-point lead on their closest competitor, thanks largely to its domination in men’s slalom,” wrote Water Skier reporter Scott N. Atkinson. “They never looked back.”

Other ULM mentions included the six Warhawks who earned All-American honors by placing among the top five in respective events at the Championships, and the placement among the top nine by four out of five ULM men’s jumpers.

Another article titled, “Golden Moment,” details Zack Worden’s capture of the 2009 Under 21 World Title. Worden, a freshman at ULM, won the men’s jump event at Collegiate Nationals, held in October.

“Zack Worden is one of the best up-and-coming male water skiers in the world,” said Ski Team Coach Treina Landrum. “He has a tremendous amount of promise and is a true competitor.”

Worden and Adam Sedlmajer returned in early March from Melbourne, Australia, where they competed in the Moomba Masters Water Ski Tournament, an elite qualifying and invitation-only world competition tournament. Sedlmajer captured first place in the highly competitive men’s trick event at the tournament.

The ULM Water Ski Team next heads to the 2010 Polar Bear Classic at Texas A&M at College Station, Texas, and invites fans and supporters to the team’s annual home tournament to be held in conjunction with Super Warhawk Weekend in April.

More about the ULM Water Ski Team:

The ULM Water Ski Team competes in the National Collegiate Water Ski Association South Central Region.

Men’s team members include: Martin Bartalsky of Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia; Kyle Dammann of Lynchberg, Tenn.; Daniel Odvarko of Prague, Czech Republic; Will Oliver of Hull, United Kingdom; Adam Sedlmajer of Prague, and Zack Worden of Deltona, Fla.

The women’s team members are: Brittany Collins of Murray, Ky.; Emily Darwin of Bossier City; Elissa Irwin of Perth, Australia; Carly Marquess of Paducah, Ky.; Tina Rauchenwald of Vienna, Austria, and Karen Stevens of Morrisburg, Ontario.

For information about the ULM Water Ski Team, contact Landrum at 318-342-5313 or landrum@ulm.edu or visit the team’s Web site at www.ulmwaterski.com.

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