Team defends national title in Janesville this weekend
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
Winning the Mark Black Trick Ski Award was a monumental moment for Ethan Shulda.
Shulda, an incoming Wilmot Union High School sophomore, captured the award at the 50th annual State Water Ski Show Tournament held in the Wisconsin Rapids July 21-24.
The award puts him in an elite class of current and former Aquanuts that includes his brother, Jordan, Jarad Meyer, Dan Amir and Arron Nelson.
“It felt really cool because my brother has won awards, and I just won one, and got a new ski and it felt good,” Shulda stated.
Shulda, 15, obtained his award-winning skills through about 12 years of practice, starting with jumps on a trampoline, later hitting the water when he was about six or seven.
His performance impressed teammate Grace Gurda, who competed in the swivel ski competition, noting the 15-year-old has plenty of years to hone his craft on the water.
“He is a really great skier, so much potential, and can’t wait to see what he does in the following years,” said Gurda, of Northbrook, Ill.
Meanwhile, joining Gurda in the swivel ski contest was veteran Kaila Coffey, who finished third in the event.
Coffey, of Chicago, came up less than a point shy of snagging second place from Rachel Zenn, who had a 14.86 score, and less than two points from the winner, Madison Hagemann.
“It was fun,” Coffey said.
Gurda, a newcomer on the swivel ski, finished 11th of 18 competitors in the event, and like Coffey, she incurred no falls on the water.
The 16-year-old first-timer credited Coffey’s leadership for giving her the strength on the water.
“It is my first year competing in state, so it was really fun,” Gurda said. “Kaila taught me so much this year.”
While the trio of Aquanuts took part in individual competitions, the team finished third at the state tournament, accumulating 1,728.02 points.
The defending National Champions accrued 200 more than the Beaverland Must-Skis.
Janesville’s Rock Aqua Jays won the event, tabulating 1,918.56 while the Mad-City Ski Team came up less than two points from first.
Teams are judged on several areas, including dock/equipment personnel, pick-up boats crew, tow boat driving, showmanship, sound crew, overall, high individual club act, jump skiing, doubles and pyramid assembly.
Shulda and Coffey each stated the third place finish took teamwork.
“I think we skied really really good, we should have placed better, but we skied a really good show,” Shulda said.
“We had a really good show from what I saw, in watching the video,” Coffey stated. “We pulled it together and worked really good as a team.”
The Aquanuts are not finished, however, expecting to compete in the Division 1 Show Ski National Championships August 12-14 in Janesville’s Traxler Park.
Shulda stated it starts, and ends, with the team’s flow.
“We just got to practice and get our good flow like we did last year,” he said.