Rock Aqua Jays win 23rd national water ski title

WARSAW, Ind. — The Rock Aqua Jays Water Ski Show from Janesville won the national team title at the 49th Indmar Marine Engines Division 1 Show Ski National Championships this past weekend in Warsaw, Ind.

The Rock Aqua Jays earned high-scoring awards for dock and equipment personnel, towboat driving, production, overall show, ballet, and pyramid in tallying a grand total 1,831.36 points in winning their second consecutive and 23rd national title in the history of the event. The Mad-City Ski Team from Madison placed second with 1,821.58 points and Wonder Lake from Wonder Lake, Ill., finished third with 1,775.88 points.

The tournament featured 12 teams and more than 1,300 athletes. In competitive show skiing, each club has one hour to present a theatrical performance on water skis. Judges score acts by awarding points based on originality, presentation and execution. Elaborate costumes and staging intermix with music and fast action on the water as an announcer leads the audience through the show.

Kailey Koehler of Lake Geneva and Kevin Bruckner of Maplewood, Minn., won the Willa Cook and Skip Gilkerson awards, respectively. The awards are given to the tournament’s top female performer and top male performer, as voted on by the tournament officials.

In addition to the team competition, athletes competed individually in swivel, swivel pairs, strap doubles, women’s freestyle jump, men’s freestyle jump and team jump.

Caroline Grubs of White Bear Lake, Minn., won the swivel title, scoring 18.52 points. Brea Imse (of Buffalo Grove, Ill., and Paige Peshina of Malvern, Ohio, won swivel pairs, scoring 16.86 points. Kimberly Stoner of Hartland, Wis., and Cory Krivitz of Hartland, Wis., won doubles, scoring 17.32 points.

Bailey Hyatt of Winter Haven, Fla., won women’s freestyle jump, scoring 334.00 points. Pete Hegarty of Winter Haven, Fla.) won men’s freestyle jump, scoring 1,121.00 points. The Little Crow Ski Team of New London, Minn., won team jump, scoring 76.20 points.

USA Water Ski & Wake Sports is affiliated with the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation and is recognized by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee and Pan-American Sports Organization as the national governing body of organized water skiing and wakeboarding in the United States.