Three Fort Mill High School graduates carry lessons from the Carolina Show Ski Team into military service.
By Kirsten Gordon
On Friday nights in Tega Cay, Windjammer Park becomes bleachers, and Lake Wylie provides a stage.
For decades, members of the Carolina Show Ski Team have entertained crowds with colorful costumes, high-speed jumps, human pyramids and precisely timed routines. Behind the music and spectacle, however, something more enduring is taking place: young athletes are learning to trust one another, confront fear, accept responsibility and contribute to a team that becomes a family. Behind the demanding routines, leaders are being forged.
For three of the seven recent graduates of the Carolina Show Ski Team and Fort Mill High School Class of 2026, those lessons are now guiding them toward military service.
Chase Barrington-Hughes is beginning his journey at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, where he will also play lacrosse. Van Jantzen will attend Montana State University in Bozeman and participate in Army ROTC. Marlee Cook will attend Campbell University, compete in cross country and track, and serve in the Army National Guard.
Their destinations and talents differ, but their stories share a common thread: a willingness to work hard, move beyond their comfort zones and commit to something larger than themselves.
The Carolina Show Ski Team is more than a performance group. Founded more than three decades ago, the nonprofit organization competes in regional and national tournaments, promotes water safety and gives back to the community.
Show skiing requires athletes to master disciplines such as barefoot skiing, swivel, doubles, jumps, ballet, trick skiing and human pyramids—all while traveling at speed with little margin for error. Every performance depends on the coordination of skiers, boat drivers, spotters, dock crews and volunteers. In this sport, trust is not optional.
Cook’s athletic journey reflects perseverance across several sports. In addition to performing with the Carolina Show Ski Team weekly at Windjammer Park in ballet line, swivel ski, doubles, trios, and pyramids and at Regional and National Competitions, she competed at a high level for Fort Mill High School in Varsity cross country, track and field, and wrestling.
At the 2025 South Carolina Class 5A Division II cross-country championship, Cook finished second overall in 19 minutes, 7.78 seconds, helping Fort Mill’s girls capture a third consecutive state championship.
Her success continued upon the track. During the 2026 season, she won the 1,600 meters at a Fort Mill meet in 5:24.75 and placed second in the 800 meters in 2:27.82. She was named to the South Carolina All-State Track and Field second team in both events. Campbell University signed her as part of its 2026–27 cross-country and track recruiting class.
She plans to participate in the Army National Guard’s Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP), which allows students to serve in the National Guard while also participating in their college’s Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program. Through SMP, Cook will gain military experience while completing her education and preparing for leadership as an officer. Upon graduating and successfully completing her ROTC requirements, she will commission as a Second Lieutenant. She ultimately plans to continue her education and become a physician assistant, combining her commitment to service with a career in healthcare. The path will allow Cook to put the endurance developed through running, the strength gained through wrestling and the courage practiced on the water to work in service to others.
For Barrington-Hughes and Jantzen, the show ski team’s lessons were reinforced via another demanding team sport: lacrosse. Both played defense for Fort Mill High School. Both were Varsity Captains and long-stick defensemen.
During his senior season, Barrington-Hughes received Fort Mill’s Leadership Award and earned First Team All-Region Defense honors, an Upper State defensive award and selection to the South Carolina North/South All-Star Team. He was also recognized as a South Carolina High School League Scholar-Athlete.
In June, Barrington-Hughes reported to the Air Force Academy to begin Basic Cadet Training as a member of the Class of 2030. Having successfully passed through boot camp, he was accepted into the Academic Wing and plans to study aeronautical engineering while continuing his lacrosse career. Air Force Academy graduates are commissioned as as a Second Lieutenants.
Barrington-Hughes’ high school record combined academics, athletics, leadership and service. He was a South Carolina Junior Scholar and Palmetto Fellow, served for four years on the Student Council, and participated in Beta Club and three years with the St. Jude Leadership Society. His fundraising efforts raised over $13,000 for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the City of Tega Cay recognized him for his community service for other efforts.
Show skiing remained a constant throughout those years. Barrington-Hughes spent nine seasons with the Carolina Show Ski Team, performing jumps, barefoot, tricks, around the boat, and doubles at Windjammer Park. He traveled with the team to compete in Regional and National competitions and performed in and out of state community events.
Jantzen also performed with the team for nine seasons at Windjammer Park, regionally and nationally and, in addition to doubles, pyramids, and other events, he distinguished himself as an accomplished competitive barefoot water skier. In 2021, he was named the U.S. Barefoot Water Ski National Overall Champion in the Boys B division. He had already won both the junior Figure 8 and timed-endurance competitions at the 2020 Banana George “Blairfoot Bananza”, recording a winning endurance time of 7 minutes, 25 seconds.
In 2024, Jantzen won the Open Division of the Lake Norman New Year’s Day Barefoot Challenge. He scored 387 points and defeated nine-time event champion Jeff Blair in a competition combining barefoot starts, tricks and endurance. Jantzen returned in 2025 and placed second in the Open Division, further establishing himself as one of the region’s most accomplished young barefoot skiers.
His path will now take him west to Montana State University, where Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) will add military training, further his physical fitness and continue his leadership development during his college experience. For someone whose formative athletic experiences repeatedly required him to depend on and lead others, ROTC is a natural progression. Third and fourth year students serve as an officer following graduation.
Barrington-Hughes and Jantzen also participated in a community-service initiative connecting Fort Mill lacrosse players with younger students. Barrington-Hughes enjoyed greeting children by name and encouraging them, while Jantzen found purpose in helping students with their schoolwork.
Those moments reveal something important about both young men: Leadership was not simply an accomplishment to list. It became something they practiced.
It would be easy to focus only on where these graduates are going—Colorado Springs, Bozeman and Buies Creek. The more meaningful story may be where they came from.
They came from Fort Mill classrooms and athletic fields, Tega Cay trails and community-service projects. They learned from coaches who expected more, teammates who depended on them and families who supported years of early practices, late nights, competitions and performances.
They also came from a sport in which athletes place their safety in one another’s hands. A routine succeeds only when the timing is right, and a show comes together only when skiers, drivers, spotters and volunteers work as one. The result is more than entertainment. It is an education in discipline, resilience, courage and service.
As Barrington-Hughes, Jantzen and Cook begin their next chapters, their example offers a message to the younger athletes waiting on the Windjammer Park dock: The lessons they are learning today may become the foundation for opportunities they cannot yet imagine.
For these three Fort Mill graduates, the next adventure has begun—and they will carry the lessons of the Carolina Show Ski Team with them.
To learn more about joining the team or upcoming Learn to Ski Days, visit the Carolina Show Ski Team’s website or follow the team on Facebook and Instagram. Whether you are ready to get on the water or would rather lend a hand from shore, there is a place for you on the team.
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
