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Sean Freitag from Southern Illinois University is probably the most entertaining jumper to watch. Not in the “wow-factor” kind of way, but in the “WOW-factor” way. He can pull off almost any jump even with the poorest of form. He goes balls to the wall every time he gets the chance to even look at a ramp. At regionals he gave the side curtain a little touch and had a spectacular wipeout, thankfully the worst of it was only losing his breath, but he did damage his skis. Not even a scary fall could stop Sean from giving it his all and sending every jump.
I would like to nominate Samantha Varness ,from Southern Illinois University, for most valuable skier. Sammy has improved so much over the season, and carried our women’s team to regionals, and then to our first nationals tournament in school history. Sammy also was extremely valuable for her teammates as well. She went to every practice and would stay until it was time to leave. She helped many of them become better skiers in practice. At tournaments Sammy would also make sure her teammates were ready to ski and would cheer them on. Sammy was just as valuable off the water as she was on the water. She worked really hard learning how to judge and score. Without Samantha on our team we most likely would not have made it to Nationals. That’s why I think Samantha Varness deserves most valuable skier!
Samantha Vanessa
Sammy is a freshman at SIU who joined the team this year. She had a little wakeboard experience, but instantly fell in love with skiing. She really improved throughout the year and even landed her first jump ever in a tournament. She was recently elected as secretary of the team and continues to help the team off the water. She recently bought new equipment for herself and will continue to get better at skiing!
Sean Freitag
Sean is an important part of our team. He worked really hard last summer to get better at skiing and even bought his own jumpers. During his presidency, he really helped get our site at SIU in shape. He comes out to every event and loves waterskiing and the people behind it. He talks with everyone and makes friends everywhere. He is the best person to be around and one that is super fun with watch ski. Sean set up our team for success, and when he’s gone (which will suck) we will have some big shows to fill!
Alex Graves
Alex put up a ton of points this year and was overall our best skier. He put in a lot of work to consistently land his flips for trick, work on his 3/4 cuts, and beat pb’s for slalom. All of his achievements rubbed off on them team to make themselves better skiers.
Ryan Grieser
Ryan helped every skier from SIU. At every tournament or practice he would always help carry equipment and cheer on his team. He would make sure they were up before they had to ski early in the morning. He would ask them what they wanted to accomplish at that tournament, and give the best advice he could to help them achieve that goal. Everytime someone beat a personal best he would be the first one running to congratulate them. Ryan would also congratulate other teams when they achieved their goals. He truly is one of a kind!
I would like to nominate Sean Freitag from SIU. He was out president this last fall season, and is graduating this year. Although he won’t be with us anymore he is still putting in 100% effort to make our organization great. Sean helped get our waterskiing site in tip top shape. He helped repaint our ramp and install a course for us this year. He even spent time learning how to run a tournament, and all the logistics behind one, so that our team could host one at our site this year. This wasn’t his only year he put in hard work, from the day I met him he’s been a hard worker. He’s helped rebuild our team into what it is now. He would spend tons of time recruiting and teaching newbies to ski. I believe Sean is a great fit for this award.
SIU is getting my nomination. Now that we have our access to our ski lake again, we’ve been practicing every chance we get, and we are making huge improvements. We have even gone out when the water is numbingly cold in December and January, but hey, that’s what wetsuits are for! I cannot wait to see how much better our team does next season. GO SALUSKIS!