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Iowa State Skifest Wrap Up |
An outstanding 16 teams showed up to compete at the Iowa State Ski Fest this past weekend in Huxley, IA. The competition was stiff, and proved to be a definite preview of what next weekends Conference Championships might have in store. With a lot of outstanding young skiers dominating the leader boards, this year is one to watch. Iowa State had their hopes high for another victory; however the University of Wisconsin Madison put on the pressure and they were battling it out right from the beginning.
Men’s Slalom and Women’s Jump were the first off the dock Saturday Morning.
In Men’s slalom sophomore Matt Knafla of Iowa State took the win for the second weekend in a row with a score of 2.5 @ 35off. DJ Gratzer of Colorado took 2nd with a score of 5 @ 32off, and rounding out the top 3 was freshman Paul Tierney of Missouri State with 3.5 @ 32’ off. Iowa State took the men’s slalom team title, with University of Illinois edging out UW-Stout by 10 points for 2nd.
Women’s Jump hit the water bright and early with Mel Cyra taking another title in jump with a leap of 90ft. In second was Minnesota’s all-star rookie Jane Ericson with a 76 foot kicker, and coming in 3rd by only 4 inches was Madison’s sophomore Heather Donen with a jump of 76ft as well. Madison took the women’s jump team title, with Marquette coming in 2nd and University of Iowa taking home 3rd.
Next on the water was men’s trick. Madison really put the pressure on Iowa State with 3 men finishing in the top 5. In first was one of the Midwest’s top skiers; freshman Tyler Lorenz of Madison with 2560. John Roberts of Northern Illinois took 2nd with a score of 1270. Madison skier Brandon Rose scored 1250 to round out the top 3. Madison took the men’s trick team title, with Iowa State and University of Illinois coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Women’s trick followed with some amazing skiing by 2 first time collegiate skiers. Jane Ericson of Minnesota took the top spot with a score of 1300. University of Iowa freshman Madalyn Baldwin took 2nd with 1260. Marquette’s Marcy Holtz came in 3rd with 970. Marquette took the WT team title, with Madison in 2nd and UW-Stout in 3rd.
Sunday’s weather conditions were less than ideal with cold, wind and rain but we still saw some great skiing.
Women’s slalom and Men’s jump concluded the events on Sunday.
In women’s slalom Madison’s Heather Donen scored 5.5 @ 34mph for the win. Iowa freshman Madalyn Baldwin coming in 2nd with 4.5 @ 34mph, and Missouri State’s Sara Nicely on her heals with 4 @ 34mph to take 3rd. Iowa State took the team title for this event, with Madison in 2nd by only 15 points, and UW-LaCrosse in 3rd.
Despite a pretty nasty tail wind, the men jumpers posted some very solid scores. Chad Rietz of UW-LaCrosse kept his spot on top by booting an outstanding 137, to give him his 2nd win of the season. In a tie for 2nd were Madison’s Tyler Lorenz and Illinois’ Mark Cassidy both with a jump of 132ft, exactly 40.3 meters. Southern Illinois University, with some remarkable young jumpers, took home the men’ jump team title. Madison coming in 2nd, and Iowa State in 3rd.
For the overall men’s competition, Jon Bice of UW-Stout, one of the Midwest’s most improved skiers, took first. Chad Rietz of UW-LaCrosse took 2nd, and Mark Cassidy of Illinois took 3rd.
In the overall women’s competition it was again Minnesota’s Jane Ericson to take the win, and Madalyn Baldwin of Iowa taking 2nd, both to upset some veteran skiers. Madison senior Mel Cyra took 3rd.
The top 3 men’s team overall went to Iowa State in 1st, Madison in 2nd and Illinois in 3rd. The top 3 women’s team overall were Madison in 1st, Iowa State in 2nd and Marquette in 3rd.
With Madison and Iowa State taking the 1-2 spots in the overall women’s and men’s team scores, we knew it was going to be a tight race for number one, but when the water settled it was Madison who came out on top. Let’s see if they will do it again next weekend or if Iowa State can upset when it really counts.
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