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The Battalion
Page 3 • Friday, December 5, 2003
Eyes on the Prize
A&M students secure top positions at national wakeboard competitions
By Nishat Fatima
THE BATTALION
onorGiia:; nent and a passion for the sport, the group was up against recog-
dFeb.1,21
schedule
outage!
has set;;
I Two years ago, five Aggies piled into a four-door Ford
Txplorer and embarked on a 22-hour drive to compete in the
Super Air Nautique Collegiate Wakeboard National
hampionships in Wisconsin. With little more than their equip-
xt week;
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lized teams who had corporate sponsors and support from their
miversities. But once the competitions began, all that mattered
ras who had the talent. They landed third place in the team com-
etition.
At the 2003 national championships, their success story was a
|ttle different.
After a year’s hiatus, the Aggies returned and took second
place in the team competition.
I Hunter Croan, who had secured third place in 2001, took first
place in the men’s title, beating out professionals such as the rep
resentative of the United States at the World Wakeboard
ompetitions, Loren Levine.
Despite their lack of external help or formal professional train-
ig, the Aggies conquered the championships on the basis of
leer talent, passion and years of wakeboarding for fun.
“I really wasn’t expecting (to win) because I wasn’t riding well
at day,” said Croan, a senior marketing major. “I went second
Irffthe dock, which is one of the worst places to be. All of that
leared my head and helped my performance.”
I Paul Sonnen, a junior industrial distribution major, said
[although the group had apprehensions about the competition, that
■still felt confident.
I “We knew we had a chance because we did well the first year
|(in the competition),” he said. “We just didn’t know what to
Ipect (there).”
id I Kristal Wright, a senior special education major, was one of
la; the riders on the wakeboarding team. Wright said the team had to
bite the bullet and step up to the challenges of the competition.
“You have to go all out. You can’t be afraid,” Wright said.
“Even though we were a little nervous, it was a lot of fun watch-
ng everybody do their tricks.”
Paul Schafer, a senior industrial engineering major, said aside
om competing with other riders, wakeboard tournaments have
(her enjoyable aspects.
“Tournaments are stressful but they’re fun because you are
laying for the team,” Schaller said. “It’s also a lot of fun to get
eryone together and go down (to tournaments).”
Croan, who has been wakeboarding for
more than 12 years, said the sport can be
defined as snowboarding on water. Croan
said he became interested in wakeboarding
because he spent his childhood near a lake.
“When you grow up on a lake, you want to
learn as many water sports as possible,”
Croan said. “When you are doing tricks and
get a lot of air under you, it feels like you are
defying gravity. It all has to do with individ
ual style. With each trick you try to add a new
grab and add your own style to it. Five riders
can do the same trick but you wouldn’t be
able to tell because they all have great indi
vidual styles.”
Croan said wakeboarding is one of the
fastest growing watersports.
Wright said the growing popularity of
wakeboarding is due to the pace at which it
can be learned.
“You can progress very fast, which is what
people love about it,” Wright said.
Wright, who grew up skiing, said she
started wakeboarding because she wanted to
try something different.
“Of all the watersports, you can do the
most tricks on wakeboards,” she said.
As with all sports, wakeboarding comes
with its own risks. Schaller said holding on
behind a boat going at high speeds with
water drops spraying everywhere can lead to
falling in the water, which is not a pleasant
experience.
“It can be painful sometimes because you can hit your head in
the water and get up and not know where the boat is or how to get
home,” Schaller said.
Croan, who has spent his past three summers show skiing for
World Entertainment Services, has taken his love for wakeboard
ing one step further. In June of 2003, Croan set up his Web site,
www.waanawakeboad.com, and began offering private wake
boarding lessons. Since the summer, word about his service has
spread, and Croan opened up his own wakeboarding school called
Wanna Wakeboard in Bryan. His clientele has expanded to
include a variety of riders, including Texas A&M construction
science professor Kim Carlson.
“1 was teaching a 7-year-old boy the other day, and his mom
Photo Courtesy of Hunter Croan
Senior marketing major Hunter Croan does a mid-air trick at the 2003 Super Air Nautique
Collegiate Wakeboard National Championships at the Aquaplex in Austin. Croan scored 68.89
points, placing first in the men's competitions. The Texas A&M team placed second in the team com
petition, with a score of 155 points.
was really nervous about it. Then Kim (Carlson) convinced her to
give it a try. Now both the mom and the son love wakeboarding,”
Croan said. “The people who have the most fun are the beginners.
They always have a smile on their faces.”
Joe Jaggers, a senior computer science major, said preparing for the
competitions is more of a fun event than anything else.
“We don’t really practice — we just ride. We don't think of wake
boarding as practice because it’s fun,” Jaggers said.
The team members hope to repeat their current success next spring,
when they compete at the 2004 World Wakeboarding Association
Collegiate Cup.
“The best of the best will be there but we feel ready. It’s all about
our radical maneuvers that are tubular and gnarly,” Sonnen said with
a laugh. “You have to use old surfer lingo to describe it.”
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...get your sticker!!
Graduates,
You're invited to,
.the next f r ,
^bnu
Your Next Move in Life... "
Discover the opportunities available to
you as a former student!
get your sticker! win door prizes!
4 free fajitas!
Jh visit with your friends!
get your sticker!!
(did we say that already??)
Wednesday, December 17 5:30 - 7:30 PM
The Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center
The Association
01= FORMER STUDENTS*
505 George Bush Dr.
College Station, TX 77840-2918
979-845-7514
www.AggieNetwork.com
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