Whitecaps covered Decatur’s lake as slalom skiers took the water on Friday, the first day of competition in the Midwest Collegiate Regional Championships. Skiers spent their warm up time debating their opener, trying to pick a high scoring, yet doable pass. Very few skiers ran more than two passes, and some of the top skiers fell victim to the wind and waves on their first attempt. For the women, Katelyn Redes of Grand Valley State took the gold with 2 balls at 22 off, the only women’s skier scoring into shortline. The top three in men’s slalom were Tyler Lorenz, Paul Tierney, and Ben Van Treese, who all managed to snag a couple buoys at 32 off. Saturday and Sunday brought more sunshine and weaker winds. After a mediocre slalom event, the Ohio State University’s men’s team took the trick event by storm, with four skiers scoring in the top seven. The University of Cincinnati climbed up the scoreboard after a strong women’s trick performance. Overall, it was the University of Wisconsin La Crosse that proved to be worthy of the regional title, with a combined team standing of 1st place in slalom, 2nd in jump, and 3rd in trick. They will be accompanied by the Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati in Division I Nationals in Zachary, LA. Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin Madison will accompany the wildcard University of Iowa in Division II.

Great Plaines Conference Championship

The 2011 Great Plaines Conference Championship has come and gone and the top nine teams will be headed to Decatur in a couple days to shred against the rest of the Midwest at Regionals.  The University of Wisconsin Madison and Waters Edge put on a phe-nom tournament this past weekend with the results to show it…

La Crosse took the gold home by just 235 points with Madison right beneath them.  University of Iowa took third with Missouri State following in fourth.  Illinois State, Iowa State, Marquette, University of Illinois, and Southern Illinois took the remaining places for the top nine teams going to Regionals.  A big congrats goes to University of Iowa; they qualified for Regionals for the first time in 8 years!  Tyler Lorenz from Madison cleaned up every event, including men’s overall.  Jane Erickson from Minnesota placed first in women’s trick, jump, and overall.  Maddy Baldwin from University of Iowa following Erickson very closely, and took the win for women’s slalom.

Good Luck to the teams competing this weekend at Regionals!

Brigid Burke from Madison working the slot machines.

VEGAS BABY!

Flint Tournament

The 2011 Jepawhit Collegiate Ski Fest turned out to be an awesome weekend in Michigan. The weather was great for skiing except for a little bit of fog - quite the turn-around from Michigan's wind and rain last year. The hosts were awesome and provided food and a DJ taking requests both days. Several of the teams came out strong this weekend with a large number of skiers participating. Purdue came out on top, followed by Grand Valley State and Miami of Ohio. Even though these three teams were top over all, the top skiers in each event varied a lot through the teams, so we’ll have to watch a few for what they can bring in the next few weeks. Miami really stepped up with a lot of new members. The teams had a lot of fun with the Halloween theme. One team actually brought a kids 4-wheeler as part of a girl’s costume which she rode around in that night!

Hawkeye Ski Fest 2011

. : FALL SHOWDOWN 2011: .

Registration: Please complete by Wednesday night (September 7th) at 11:00 pm.  Registration payment will be at the lake Friday night, and then once your team is done you can head to the campground.

Official MCWSA Logo

By Michael Donovan from Southern Illinois University

This Summer...

This Summer

by Suzanne Nanney

I spent most my time at: 

Coble Ski School!

I skied mainly on Lake 2 at Coble with Traci Weis, Zach Nipon, Dan Warner, Steven Greene, and Shelly Tranchita.

My biggest skiing accomplishment was: 

running 32 off in a tournament!!! YAY!

The best coaching I received was: 

Chris Eller told me to SKI STILL, and now whenever I manage to pull it off, I ski great! 

My favorite event was:

  the Malibu Open? Nationals? Skiing at Trophy on the 4th? Beaver? Too many to choose!

My favorite placed I skied was:

 Lake 2 will always have my heart. 

The song that represents this summer: 

Barefoot Blue Jean Night by Jake Owen: "Never gonna grow up, never gonna slow down!"

My favorite memory was: 

Either the EPIC Wednesday night Tiki Parties during Coble spa weeks in May OR my 10 day adventure to the Midwest at the end of the summer. I can pretend like I'm from the Midwest can't I? Our night in Wilmington at the Rustic partying with April, the Coble crew, and other awesome skiers is pretty hard to top! I love the Midwest!

This Summer

by Jordan Dutro

This Summer

by Jamie Zeal

I spent most my time at:

between Columbus, OH and Whitewater, WI

I skied mainly at White Sulphur with Debbie Daulton and in WI with Sean Qualey

My biggest skiing accomplishment was:

first backwards deepwater

The best coaching I received was:

look to the trees on the side, not the buoy

My favorite event was:

barefooting

My favorite placed I skied was:

White Sulphur

The song that represents this summer:

 Anything But Mine by Kenny Chesney

My favorite memory was:

spending time with my boyfriend, who I met at Bennett's Ski School this spring

This Summer

by Derek McLachlan

I spent most of my time at:

Cummins working.

I skied mainly at Sawmill Lake with  Kirk O'Daniel.

My biggest skiing accomplishment was:

120 foot jump at my opening summer tournament

The best coaching I received was:

Make sure I counter rotate and reach on my off-side, don't suck.

My favorite event was:

  Slalom in practice, Jump in tournaments

My favorite placed I skied was:

  Wilmington

The song that represents this summer:

  Fish, Craig Campbell

My favorite memory was:

Watching Cowboy knock himself out on his 3rd jump at states, then watching Kyle Dammeyer go OTF on his 1st jump immediately following that.

This Summer

by Tyler Thompson

I spent most my time at:

 South Farm at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

I skied mainly at Du Lac in Gibson City, IL with my Dad (Gerald).

My biggest skiing accomplishment was: 

Putting in a new Slalom Course that is directly Oriented 0 degrees North, and accurate within an inch of each bouy!

Thank you John Deere's StarFire RTK!

The best coaching I received was:

 On tricking: "Guide the ski around with your front, big toe" (April Eller).

My favorite event was: 

 Wake Surfing on 150+ ft deep Trout Lake in Minnesota.

My favorite placed I skied was: 

 Lake Waterford in New Smyrna Beach, FL with Rip Hubbard and Jason Wroblewski

The song that represents this summer: 

 "The Edge of Glory" Lady Gaga

My favorite memory was:

  I have two... Landing a new flip and the Friday Night, "In search of the Goat," Milwaukee outing with Chris and April, Alan, Daniel, Traci, Suzanne, Storm, Steve, Michaela, Ryan and probably some others!

This Summer

by Jim Grabowski

I spent most my time at:  

Water's Edge in B-E-A-Utiful Wilmington, IL

I skied mainly at Illinois Tournaments with the best group of skiers in the nation.

My biggest skiing accomplishment was: 

Pb'ing in Trick and Slalom

The best coaching I received was:

  If you're narrow on the gates, you'll be narrow through the whole pass.  Get wide to start.

My favorite event was: 

Slalom, but i finally started to enjoy jump

My favorite placed I skied was: 

Water's Edge practice set at Nationals in the dark.  really helps to get wide and early because you have little idea where you are going.

The song that represents this summer:  

 Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Home

My favorite memory was:  

My team winning the 2011 Green Lightening Tournament

This Summer

by Cris Kodiak

I spent most my time at:

My Job unfortunately

I skied mainly at _____ with  _____.

Waters Edge - Jeff Surdej, Eric Gabrielson, Chad Kodiak

My biggest skiing accomplishment was:

Not getting last in any event at Nationals including Overall.

The best coaching I received was:

You should give up slalom because you suck at it.

My favorite event was:

Jump. They were all safe and all fun this year.

My favorite placed I skied was:

Lake Purdue - West Lafayette, IN

The song that represents this summer:

No Time - The Guess Who

My favorite memory was:

Proposing to my beautiful fiance on the back of our Ski Nautique

This Summer

by Andy Bernhagen

I spent most my time at:

40 feet behind a nautique

I skied mainly at the Mike Yankaitis School of Slalom with Yanko, Ryan Brooks, and Caitlin Lundquist.

My biggest skiing accomplishment was:

Landing a flip

The best coaching I received was: Pull harder

My favorite event was:

Night Slalom

My favorite placed I skied was:

 Lake Shelby under the lights

The song that represents this summer:

Barefoot Blue Jean Night

My favorite memory was:

Late night booze cruises.

This Summer

by Brent Triplett

I spent most my time at:

Hidden Lake in Clio, MI (my home lake) as well as a few other lakes around the area.

I skied mainly at Hidden Lake with my dad and Keaden Hornyak of Florida Southern.

My biggest skiing accomplishment was:

 Running 38 off in a tournament, getting my Open rating, winning Midwest Regionals and 2nd at Nationals in Mens 1.  And more recently getting 4 @ 39.5 in a tournament.  These being in chronological order.

The best coaching I received was:

Not to try to run a pass on one ball and just let the ski do its thing.  This and a bunch of other stuff Jodi Fisher was having me do.

My favorite event was:

Regionals and Nationals because I got to see and party with everyone again.  They are always a ton of fun and Minnesota was quite the road trip.  12 hours from my house in Michigan, just a crazy amount of time in a car, then to have to do it all over again two weeks later for nationals, although that was only 5 hours.  I felt like I was living out of my car

My favorite placed I skied was:

I always enjoy skiing my home lake, but I love skiing at Bass Lake in Linden, MI.  It is a short set up, a little scary to drive, but always a fun time.  The water skis perfect, slow and the ski holds.  Plus in the first tournament of the year I ran my first 38 off since I was 16 in a tournament, it was pretty exciting.

The song that represents this summer:  

I don't know if I can represent my summer in a song.  I can tell you a song that I used before every tournament, which would be a song of the summer for me, rather a song to represent.  It was Rikki Tiki Tavi by Fair to Midland.  It is a little hard, but good music to get me amped up for a solid run.

My favorite memory was:

 Probably the feeling of winning Midwest Regionals.  Our event was pushed to the next day after waiting around all day on saturday.  So we were first off the dock at 7am, and I never ski in the AM so it was a little different.  But it was a challenge and I was pretty impressed with how I handled it.  And I will never forget my decision to wear the pink hyper freaks this year a regionals and nationals, had to show off that Midwest pride.  And it was partially because of Christy Kingsmill as well.

LA Night Jam special for collegiate skiers only!

Collegiate skiers can now enter the proam slalom tournament for half price! For just $40 you can ski in our two round class C tournament on June 18th at Bennett's! After you get in your daily dose of slalom and sunshine, you can relax and enjoy the nightly festivities with the most distinguished professional water ski jumpers in the world! Who will be the lucky team that goes on stage with the champion? Get your VIP ticket online NOW for unlimited food, drinks, and after party access.www.lanightjam.com

Enter now! It’s not too late! Registration ends June 12th.

http://www.lanightjam.com/pro-am-slalom/pro-am-slalom-entry-form.html

This is just our way of saying ‘Thank You NCWSA for some of the greatest years of our lives.’

May 2011

Sweet Summertime!

Team Midwest ALL STARS!!!

The Midwest Region tallied 11,295 points. The Eastern Region finished runner-up with 9,765 points, followed by the defending champion Western Region (4,540 points) and the South Central Region (4,400 points).

In the individual events, Arizona State's Storm Selsor won men's tricks (5,990 points), jumping (160 feet) and overall (1,030 points). Louisiana Lafayette's Matteo Luzzeri won men's slalom, scoring 5 buoys at 38 feet off. Rollins' Delfina Cuglievan won women's slalom (2 buoys at 38 feet off), jumping (119 feet) and overall (800 points). North Carolina's Rachel Shepard won women's tricks (1,870 points).

Big Spray Contest sponsored by The Wilson Bros. & Ball of Spray

As I grow in my appreciation for slalom skiing I've learned a couple important things; fin settings make a big difference and big spray makes skiing cool! I figure it's time to combine the two! Here's the deal, I want you to take a second, grab your ski, calipers and clear your mind. Loosen up those fancy hex bolts and give your fin a good yank, you're gonna need that added depth. Move that blade back and tug the tip a bit, more surface area means more spray! No wing is needed for this particular adventure, you want to go fast. Go hit up your local McD's and snag some double cheeseburgers, those extra pounds may finally pay off. Get your buddies and prepare for some back foot jamming, it's contest time.

The Wilson Bros. and BallofSpray present our first annual Big Spray Contest and you're invited. Grab your camera and now perfectly fine-tuned ski and capture your biggest spray in photo form. We're judging on spray size, creativity and uniqueness. Send your best shot to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and on June 24th we'll release our top three and let you guys vote. Drop those fins, grab that junk food and slam some turns, hello spray time! Winner gets three free lessons with The Wilson Bros. second place gets some radar gloves and third place snags a Wilson Bros. Tee.

Get on it! Warning- Small spray submissions may be mocked, BIG SPRAY RULES ALL!

52nd Masters Water Ski Tournament 

Krueger, of Winter Garden, Fla., won his seventh consecutive and 10th career men's jumping title at the Masters, soaring 229 feet in the finals. Siemers, of Windermere, Fla., won his fourth career Men's tricks title at the Masters, tallying 11,730 points in the finals. Travers, of Groveland, Fla., won the first major professional tournament title of his career, scoring 4-1/2 buoys at 39-1/2 feet off to win men's slalom.

In other water ski events, Canada's Whitney McClintock won women's tricks (7,750 points); Australia's Karina Nowlan won women's slalom (3 buoys at 38 feet off); and Belarus' Natallia Berdnikava won women's jumping, leaping a course-record 182 feet (55.4 meters).

Alex Lauretano breaks NCWSA Womens Trick Record

When a premier athlete sets their mind to something, sometimes there is nothing that can stand in their way. The collegiate water ski community was treated to such a display this Spring when standout athlete Alex Lauretano from University of Louisiana Monroe shattered the 5 year old women's trick record by posting a score of 4930 points. This record fell at the Polar Bear Classic at Stevenson Ski Ranch in Conroe Texas. The old record was held by past teammate Clementine Lucine (FSC) with a score of 4,530.

The pass involves ten unique tricks, with two repeated. Here is the record breaking run:

• Ski Line Back
• Front
• Back
• Wake 540 Front
• Back Flip
• Back Flip Half Twist Back
• Front (repeat)
• Reverse Back Flip Half Twist Back
• Back Flip Half Twist Front
• Back (repeat)
• Back Flip Full Twist Back To Back
• Reverse Back Flip Full Twist Back To Back

Alex stated that this is her usual hand pass in 3-event tournaments, although sometimes she gets a BB in time, which would have put the record over 5000 points in one pass.

The record-holder finds herself in very elite company. The other current NCWSA Record Holders are past World Champion Will Asher, past World Champion Jimmy Seimers, current World Record Holder Regina Jaquess, and past Junior World Champion Ryan Fitts. But within this elite company - Alex is the only athlete to currently hold 2 NCWSA Records. She is also the proud owner of the NCWSA Women's Jump Record - 155 Feet (47.7 meters).

When asked if breaking the NCWSA records was a goal of hers she said "Yes. I wasn't sure if I was going to do my last year of collegiate skiing, but thought it would be a fun change in my life and I really wanted to try and break the trick and jump records." Consider that mission accomplished.

The statement 'if at first you don't succeed, try try again' could apply to Alex's tireless pursuit of this record. In fact, she broke the trick record in the fall season but it wasn't approved due to not having the correct officials in place for the event. "I was really disappointed in the fall because I broke the record and it didn't get approved. So I really wanted to get another opportunity. I really loved it there (ULM) so I decided to stick around for more."

As if this record isn't impressive enough standing alone, its important to note that Alex had a hellacious jump crash at Collegiate Nationals in Texas in Fall 2010 where she separated her shoulder. When asked how she is doing health-wise she said "I took the whole winter off and after an MRI mid-January my Doctor said I could start skiing again. It's feeling pretty good, and I thought my shoulder was completely healed but I caught my arm in the water the other day doing a mobe (back flip full twist), and it really hurt my shoulder." Truly amazing that she shattered this record while clearly not even at 100% health.

NCWSA does not have the 6 flip regulation that international tournaments have in their rule book. Since Alex is quite fantastic at flipping, she weighed in on how many flips she thinks are possible in a 20 second pass. "I did a run with 7 flips a few seasons ago in a collegiate tournament, but it ended up not being more points, don't think I am quite fast enough" said Alex. "Some of the guys can definitely take advantage of that. I bet they could get 8 or 9 in."

Congratulations to Alex Lauretano on her terrific achievement. She ends her college career with 2 NCWSA Records to her name.