On Oct. 27 and 28, the ULM Warhawk Wakeboard team won the USA Wakeboard South Central Regional and the Louisiana Collegiate Wake Tour Competition in Shreveport. This regional was the largest competition the Warhawks have competed in, and consisted of 112 riders.
Warhawk Wake, a ULM recognized student organization, is four years old. Its founder is ULM alumni Mandi Simmons.
“We’ve really had a great season. Our performance at regionals this past weekend really put us in a great spot heading into the rest of the season,” said Simmons. “We worked hard, but had a great time, and it really paid off.”
The Warhawks won the South Central Regional Competition over the University of Texas, last years national champion, then beat UT for first in the LCWT by 510 points.
The other teams that competed in the South Central Regional were Texas Tech University, Louisiana State University, The University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, Oklahoma State University, the University of Southern Mississippi, Louisiana Tech University and Nicholls State University.
The alumni advisor for the ULM Wakeboard team, Nick McDonald, said, “The competition was by far the hardest regional this year and was the biggest regional ever with 112 riders. Due to the size and difficulty of the regional, Warhawk Wake is expected to be either the number one or number two seed heading into the CBS Sports’ Alt Games National Championships in May of 2013.”
Top three finishers for ULM: freshman Trevor Duncan won first place in the Men’s Advanced Division, junior Caden Lawhon won second in the Beginner Division, senior Kalynn Oswalt won second in Women’s Overall, sophomore Josh Brasher won third in Men’s Intermediate and junior Cody Townsend won third in Men’s Open.
Senior Justin Sonnier is in his first season with the Warhawk Wake.
“As a team we practiced as much as we could to get ready and it showed after the tournament was over,” said Sonnier. “We dominated in almost all divisions. Now we are just focusing on a national championship.”
