Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Margaret “Swaggie” Becker – Michigan
Swaggie was technically our Vice President this past year, but was effectively the acting President, VP, Captain, Secretary, and Marketing Chair, along with being one of our biggest assets on the water. Michigan water skiing came first, second, and third on her priorities list because she loves the team and the sport so much. Nobody came close to matching her dedication to improving and growing our team. Last winter, while she was studying abroad in Madrid, she stayed up all night rewriting our team constitution. There’s nobody that deserves this award more.
I could go on and on about stuff that she did behind the scenes to make sure our team functioned correctly, but what she did on the water might be more impressive. Swaggie joined the team at the end of freshman year and instantly became a legend for getting up on a trick ski on her first try. Since then, she has grown into a great all-around skier. Going into this season, she knew that she needed to step up from being mainly a trick asset to a 3-event leader. She worked hard all summer, skiing almost every day with the goal in mind of making nationals. As it turned out, her hard work paid off and her 3-event scores helped us qualify outright. And as if that wasn’t enough, she went out to Sacramento and posted a 3-event PB at Nationals with scores of 2 @ 28mph, 460 pts, and 42 feet!
All her hard work paid off and we couldn’t be prouder. Nobody put more time and effort into water skiing over the past year than she did, but all that work was worth it in the end. The team has to replace a lot of seniors this coming year, but filling the hole that Swaggie is leaving will be impossible.
Sonja Konzen – Michigan
Sonja’s rise to the top of collegiate water skiing was crazy. For those that don’t know, she joined the team as a junior. At the time, she had skiing experience, but she had definitely never touched a trick ski or seen a jump. She came to Swerve with us one weekend and landed her first jump, and since that moment, she was hooked. During her junior year, she became a jump specialist, but going into senior year, we needed more production from her if we stood any chance of making it to nationals. Little did we know how good she would get…
PBs: 5 @ 30mph (allentucky), 630 pts (regionals), 72 ft (nationals)
Individual Results:
– Allentucky: 1st in Jump, 2nd in Trick, 1st Overall
– Ripfest: 2nd in Jump, 2nd Overall
– Conferences: 1st in Jump
– Regionals: 4th in Jump
– Nationals: 4th in Jump, 5th OverallEveryone knows how important female skiers are to a team’s success, and that is evident in the performances Sonja gave us on a consistent basis all season. There’s a reason she was voted team MVP and her numbers speak for themselves. Our success would not have been possible without Sonja’s skiing, which is why I believe she is deserving of Most Valuable Skier.
Will Moyers – ND
There might not be anyone that does more for their team than Will. He’s Notre Dame’s 5th round for all three events. He finished 4th overall at Conferences posting crazy scores of 1.5 @ 36/22off, 570 points, and 73 feet. But as great a skier as he is on the water, what he does off the water is arguably more impressive. I’ve known Will for a couple years now, and nobody goes harder in recruiting new skiers to try to build a program than he does. His dedication to ND Water Ski is something we can all aspire to have with our respective teams. In addition to that, he is an extremely active member in the MCWSA community as a whole, serving his second term as the Great Lakes Conference Treasurer. His spirit and cheerful disposition are the embodiment of collegiate water skiing, and you’re truly blessed if you’ve ever gotten the chance to hear him as the announcer at a tournament. Notre Dame and Michigan are technically rivals, but he’s got a second team in Ann Arbor, and I’m sure MSU and GVSU would say the same.