Twelve Athletes Win Titles On Day 4 Of 79th GOODE Water Ski National Championships

World’s largest 3-event tournament continues Thursday at 7:00 a.m.

AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The 79th annual GOODE Water Ski National Championships continued Wednesday at Waters Edge in Wilmington, Ill., with 12 athletes winning national titles in respective divisions and events. Nearly 700 water ski athletes from across the United States are competing for national titles in slalom, tricks, jumping and overall in respective age divisions and two Open divisions during the seven-day tournament that culminates Saturday. A live webcast will be available at www.waterskinationals.com.

 

Thunderstorms interrupted action for 2 hours

beginning at 9:45 a.m. (CDT). Due to the rain delay, there has been a schedule change for Girls 3 Slalom. The original time was late afternoon on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, following Girls 5 Slalom. The event has been moved to first event on Thursday morning, Aug. 12, 2021, on Lake 1.

 

Among several highlights on Wednesday, the final two events of the day came down to runoffs to determine national champions. In Girls 4 Slalom, Alana Jones (Church Point, La.) and Alexis Mishler (Milford, Ind.) tied with 1 buoy at 35 feet off before Jones won the subsequent runoff, scoring 1 buoy at 35 feet off to Mishler’s 5 buoys at 32 feet off. In Girls 5 Slalom, which finished at 7:45 p.m. local time, Annemarie Wroblewski (Toledo, Ohio) and Sage Pottbecker (Morris, Conn.) tied with 1-1/2 buoys at 38 feet off before Wroblewski won the subsequent runoff, scoring 2-1/2 buoys at 38 feet off to Pottbecker’s 1 buoy at 38 feet off.

 

National overall titles were clinched by: Ty Robbins (Wexford, Pa.), Boys 2; Alexia Abelson (Holderness, N.H.), Girls 2; Jake Abelson (Holderness, N.H.), Boys 3; and Elizabeth Hall (Newnan, Ga.), Girls 4.

 

Advancement to the world’s largest three-event water ski tournament is primarily earned through placement on the national rankings list. Athletes also can qualify by placing in the top-five in the previous year’s event or at respective 2021 regional championships.

 

The American Water Ski Association, a sport discipline organization of USA Water Ski & Wake Sports, and Waters Edge Ski Club are hosting the tournament.

 

Wednesday’s (Day 4) National Champions

 

Boys 4 Slalom: Nicolas Nelson (Miami, Fla.), 1-1/2 buoys at 38 feet off; Boys 5 Slalom: Carter Reese (Walnut Creek, Calif.), 3 buoys at 39-1/2 feet off; Girls 2 Slalom and Overall: Alexia Abelson (Holderness, N.H.), 4 buoys at 28 feet off/3,373.90 points; Girls 4 Slalom: Alana Jones (Church Point, La.), 1 buoy at 35 feet off; Girls 5 Slalom: Annemarie Wroblewski (Toledo, Ohio), 1-1/2 buoys at 38 feet off; Boys 5 Tricks: Blaze Grubbs (Rio Linda, Calif.), 7,530 points; Boys 2 Tricks: George Bulfer (Northfield, Minn.), 4,790 points; Boys 3 Tricks and Overall: Jake Abelson (Holderness, N.H.), 9,650 points/3,530.3 points; Girls 4 Jumping and Overall: Elizabeth Hall (Newnan, Ga.), 118 feet/2,663.30 points; Girls 5 Jumping: Alyssa Drake (Oconomowoc, Wis.), 129 feet; Boys 4 Jumping: Chase Sparks (Dallas, Ga.), 152 feet; and Boys 2 Overall: Ty Robbins (Wexford, Pa.), 3,681.2 points.

 

Competition continues Thursday at 7:00 a.m. A live webcast, daily scorebooks, schedules, recaps and additional information on the Nationals can be found at www.waterskinationals.com. Also, the 24th Morilee U.S. Open of Water Skiing, presented by OJ Props, will be held Thursday and Friday at Waters Edge. Held in conjunction with the 79th GOODE Water Ski National Championships, the U.S. Open will boast the second-largest cash prize purse of the 2021 season, and it will be one of only two pro events to feature all three water ski disciplines for both genders, including the only overall cash-prize event of the season. It will mark the first time since 2016 that the U.S. Open is being held and the first time since 2003 (Santa Fe, Texas) that it is being held in conjunction with the GOODE Nationals. For more information, visit https://usopenofwaterskiing.com/.

 

The first national championships was held in 1939 at Jones Beach in Long Island, N.Y. Except for three years during World War II (1942-1944), the Nationals has been held every year since 1939.

 

USA Water Ski & Wake Sports is affiliated with the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (world governing body) 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.