Rachel Seymour / Rachel Seymour/KANSAN

It was the KU waterski club’s spring tournament, and cars filled with parents lined the small lake. Happy dogs splashed in the water and shook themselves off on people while a few guys threw horseshoes.

Some competitors changed into wet suits and prepared to ski, while others curled up on the grass in blankets and sleeping bags, and tried to keep dry as the cold wind whipped the water and blew in their faces.

Caitlin Gillian, Chicago freshman, shivered near the shore with the members of the Kansas team, 45 minutes after she skied in the trick event.

“My nipples could cut glass after I got out,” she said.

The cold weather wasn’t a problem for the team and it finished in first place.

The family of Carin Olson, Minneapolis, Minn., sophomore, who made the long drive south to watch her ski, ran a concession stand to benefit the Kansas team.

On the water, a boat pulled Rachael Hudson, Topeka junior, toward the 5-foot jump near the middle of the lake. She reached the top of the jump and soared through the air. As her skis hit the water 35 feet later, she tried to lean back but her body lurched forward and crashed into the cold water.

She wiped out again on her second attempt, but landed her final jump of 35 feet. It wasn’t enough to place her in the top five.

This tournament was a tune up, said Amy Bing, KU Waterski Team president. It was an important one for the five KU skiers who will compete in the National Collegiate All-Stars on May 21-22.

“It’s just a chance for everybody to get together before All-Stars and the summertime,” Bing, Wichita junior, said. “And we’re really good friends with the other teams.”

Six teams competed in the tournament: Kansas State, Iowa State, Purdue, Emporia State, Southwest Missouri State and Missouri.

They came into town Friday night in vans, cars and buses.

Blake Hines, Southwest Missouri State sophomore, decided not to ski because of the cold. He said he enjoyed the event anyway.

“It’s good to see the same people every year,” he said. “It’s fun to go to other people’s houses. And then they come to your house. It’s kind of a reciprocal thing.”

Some of the visitors camped west of town at Lonestar Lake, while others spent the night at the house where five of the KU waterskiers live.

In past years the teams camped at MoKan Lake, a few miles east of Lawrence where the KU team practices and the tournament is held. Because camping tore up the land, teams spent the night elsewhere this year, said Jason Lewis, Anthony senior and one of the team’s captains.

On Saturday people lounged around, while others competed in the slalom and trick events in the morning and the jump in the afternoon. Some parents drove in to see their children ski.

Natalie Steutermann, Kansas State sophomore, was eager to show her skills off to her seven family members, who had never seen her ski before.

Steutermann fell on her first two jumps but landed her third. Her family congratulated her after she finished.

She learned to jump a year ago, and this was only the second time she landed a jump in a tournament.

After they competed, teams went back to Lonestar Lake for an award banquet, pizza, a bonfire and a DJ.

They wrapped up the tournament with wakeboarding and B-team skiing yesterday.