Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: WWU water ski team makes national waves

Kelly Thees, Carl Skerlong and Kyle Foley were year-round standouts in a variety of sports during their high school days, but they discovered more fun than they ever expected when they joined the only sanctioned college water ski club in the Pacific Northwest.

They found they were pretty good at the sport, as well, as they helped the Western Washington University's water ski club advance to the national championships.

"When we learned we had qualified for nationals, we were the happiest, loudest club on the podium," said Foley, one of WWU's leading water skiers.

The Vikings just made it, taking the fifth and final qualifying spot among 13 teams at the Western Regional earlier this month near Sacramento, Calif. Western will take a team of seven men and six women, plus two alternates, to the 22-team nationals Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 22-24, at Ironwood Ski Ranch near Bakersfield, Calif.

Skerlong said the Vikings shocked many of the teams they left in their talented wakes.

"We were the ultimate underdog," he said. "Nobody expected us to get to nationals. After all, there's no other sanctioned college water ski club in Washington or Oregon."

Western had not qualified since 1992, the year the club was founded.

"We owe so much to the support of the water-ski community in Bellingham," said Thees, the team captain. "We could never have accomplished this without their support."

Teams are permitted five competitors in the ski jumping Friday, the slalom finals Saturday and the trick competition Sunday.

Western boasts seven competitors talented enough to enter all three events: Mike Eisele, Brian Zuleger and Skerlong among the men and Kaylin Bettinger, Heidi Dimmitt, Aly Howisey and Thees among the women.

Foley, a former captain and club president, and Skerlong, the current president, said Thees is the team's driving force.

"Everyone calls her 'Mom,' " said Foley, who is in his fifth year with the club.

"Kelly does 99 percent of the work for our club and provides most of our motivation," said Skerlong, whose fifth place in men's jumping was Western's top individual effort at regionals. Arizona State claimed most of the honors and won the title, followed by Chico State, San Diego State and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Skerlong, 21, has one of the most intriguing sports resumes of any Western student.

"It's really a long story," he said. "I was a competitive water skier from age 5to 12 and was third at the (American Water Ski Association) nationals when I was 8. Then I went into snow skiing and won the Junior Olympics twice, at 13 and 14.

"From there, I moved into go-kart racing, and in my second year (at 16) I was fourth at nationals in Las Vegas. I went into Formula Renault, the entry level for Indy car racing, and won two West Coast Series titles."

Skerlong took off for England "for more adventure" and finished eighth in that Formula Renault series. Last year, he said he finished sixth in the Formula Atlantic series.

"I still haven't given up the consideration of auto racing as a career, but sponsorship money slowed down because of the economy," said Skerlong, who entered Western in fall 2007 but is in his first year of water skiing. "But I'm very glad I came back to water skiing. I had the best summer of my life.

"Kelly's family knows my family, and she recruited me. What I've noticed about water skiing is that I've experienced the good things about sports and not the bad things."

In high school, Thees was captain of the girls' soccer and track teams at Stanwood. Foley was a first-rate water polo player and swimmer at Tacoma Curtis, finishing sixth in the state Class 4A 50-yard freestyle as a senior.

"I started swimming when I was six and just got burned out," Foley said, explaining why he had no interest in college swimming. "But in water skiing, I've had the most fun I've ever had. I've made so many great friends."

Foley said the team is blessed to have several local sites for practice, including its regular venue at Blaine's Borderline Lake.

"A lot of good skiers from Washington go to colleges in California and Arizona for better weather," he said. "But we actually have incredible resources and great people supporting us here in Whatcom County."

WESTERN'S NATIONAL TEAM

The Western club water skiers who will compete at the college club nationals Oct. 22-24 at Ironwood Ski Ranch near Bakersfield, Calif.:

Women: Kaylin Bettinger, sr., trick, jump slalom; Scotia Collins, soph., alternate; Heidi Dimmitt, graduate, trick jump, slalom; Aly Howisey, graduate, trick, jump, slalom; Katie Seman, jr., trick; Sarah Temple, sr., jump, slalom; Kelly Thees, sr. and captain, trick, jump, slalom

Men: Mike Eisele, sr., trick, jump, slalom; Kyle Foley, sr., jump, slalom; Jameson McEwan, jr., jump; Kyle Mortensen, sr., trick, slalom; Carl Skerlong, soph., trick, jump, slalom; Michael Spring, jr., alternate; Matt Wainhouse, sr., trick; Brian Zuleger, graduate student, trick, jump, slalom.