On Saturday, The University of Mississippi’s club wakeboarding team placed second regionally in the Louisiana Collegiate Wake Tour and USA Regional Qualifier, which took place in Shreveport, La.
Twelve of the 34 members involved in the club on campus participated in the competition this past weekend.
Of those who competed, several placed in their events. In the intermediate level, Ole Miss student Austin Pillow placed first and president Houston Buckley placed third. In the advanced competition, student Blake Armstrong placed second.
Overall, the club’s second president, Ben Burch, won the men’s D division, and Kristen Gilbert placed second in the women’s division.
The team’s second place finish qualifies them to compete in USA Wakeboards’ Collegiate Nationals in May. The team also placed third in the friendly portion of the competition, the Louisiana Tour.
“The team showed huge progress in skill level to come back with a podium place in the nationals this year,” said Burch, a senior accounting major from Monroe, La.
Senior journalism major Houston Buckley felt that the team’s practices leading up to the competition made him confident, and the fact that the team placed “blew him out of the water.” He said that the pride students have in Ole Miss make “them want us to succeed just as much as we do.”
“Girls at the wakeboarding competition are very much welcome,” said Gilbert, Ole Miss cheerleader and special education major.
She hopes the team’s performance this past weekend will help sustain the club’s continuity as well as improve its abilities to practice.
“The team as a whole is like a family — we are a welcoming, close team who loves supporting each other to succeed,” she said.
This is the resounding message the team leaves in the wake of their performance at regionals.
