While getting on the lake doesn’t seem ideal during chilly Michigan falls, this particular club team’s mantra is “a bad day on the lake is a better than a good day at school.”

The Grand Valley State University club water ski team certainly had a good day at the National Collegiate Water Ski Association (NCWSA) Midwest Regionals over the weekend in Decatur, Ill. The Lakers took eighth place overall, and are currently considered a wildcard team.

The team will find out its fate on Monday after learning the results of a simulated tournament, which consists of the sixth, seventh and eighth place teams from each region. The top three teams from the simulated tournament are invited to compete at Nationals in Zachary, La.

The top skier for the GVSU men’s team, Jack Phillipson, said he is confident the Lakers will be picked to head south.

“Our goal this year is to go to nationals again and be the top Division II school in the country, and at least top 10 in the Division I schools,” Phillipson said. “We were competing against kids who have full ride scholarships for waterskiing, so we get to compare ourselves head-to-head with some of the best skiers in the country.”

GVSU qualified for nationals for the first time in 2012. Last year, the Lakers placed fifth at regionals on their way to securing a spot at nationals, where they finished 10th.

There are three components of waterskiing that make up the scoring: slalom, trick and jump. However, the Lakers attribute their success not only to technique, but also to the support that their teammates offer on the water and off.

Allison Saunders, the top skier on the women’s side, said the chemistry of the team is one of a family. She said the people on the team are “probably the most relaxed people you’ll ever meet,” and sums the members up as “lake people.”

“The team doesn’t only compete together but we are also best friends,” said club president Bryan Condra. “We want to help each other improve, not only on the water, but in school as well.”

Even though the water ski team has made a name for itself nationally since the club started in 2006, it still accepts all skill levels. Condra said the majority of the team is just people who get out a couple times a summer to water ski, and that the Lakers added some new members this season who had never skied before.

However, such inexperience hasn’t showed up in the results.

Prior to the eighth-place finish at regionals, the Lakers posted top-three finishes in each of the four events they’ve competed in this year, including a third-place finish among 17 teams at conferences on Sept. 20 in Van Wert, Ohio.

While waterskiing is usually considered a summer activity at the collegiate level, their season is in the fall, which can make for challenging practices and competitions.

Phillipson said he and his teammates have practiced in chilly, 50-degree temperatures despite wind speeds of 20 mph.

“With the colder weather you can always wear a wetsuit, but you mostly need to bite the bullet and hope that the other teams aren’t willing to practice in those kinds of temperatures,” Phillipson said. “We are getting the leg up since we are always willing to get in the water.”

To learn more about the Lakers, follow them on Twitter @GvsuWaterSki.