LAKELAND (Oct 24, 2011) – Florida Southern College finished in third place at the National Collegiate Water Ski Association Championship in Zachary, Louisiana, Oct. 13-15, and the women’s team won two events to earn a first-place finish in their division.

FSC had 10,675 points in the 12-team Division I field, behind the University of Louisiana-Monroe with 11,865 points and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette with 10,905. The men’s and women's scores are combined to determine the final point standings. FSC took first place in the women’s competition with 5,855 points, while the men placed fourth with 4,820.

In the women’s individual overall competition, FSC's Manon Costard was second, Lauren Morgan was third, and Keri McClure was sixth. For the men, Alex Paradis was fifth, and Kyle Zimmerman tied for 12th.

The FSC women finished first in two of their three events, winning the slalom and jump competitions. Morgan was the individual winner in the women’s jump.

Florida Southern entered the competition ranked third in the nation. After the first day FSC was in second place thanks to a strong showing in the women’s slalom. FSC won the event, with Keri McClure finishing second, Costard third and Morgan ninth. The FSC men were third in the slalom, led by Kyle Zimmerman’s 13th-place finish.

FSC maintained its second-place position through the second day, as the women turned in another strong performance, this time in the jump event. Led by Morgan, the individual winner, and Costard in third, FSC won the event. The men had a fifth-place finish in the trick competition, again led by Kyle Zimmerman, who was 14th.

On the final day, the women finished second in the trick competition to keep that position, but in the last event, Louisiana-Lafayette surged ahead in the men’s jump and overtook FSC for the runner-up spot.

“It was a very close competition,” said FSC coach Roger Skalko. “Louisiana-Lafayette got personal bests from each of their jumpers, and we just couldn’t compete with that. I’m very proud of what our team accomplished.”