Congratulations to our Wolverines as they placed 3rd at the 2009 Conference Championship tournament held by Grand Valley State at Lake Placid in Allendale, Michigan! This adds to our great season: 1st place at Flint Festival held at Lake Jepawhit (hosted by U of M, Flint) and at MSU’s Ripfest held at Tivoli Gardens in Gaines, Michigan.

Some notable performances from this weekend include:

-Winning Men’s A & B Slalom Overall (and Men’s B Overall)

-Our top 4 men’s slalom skiers all skiing well into short line -- creating some new personal bests for our skiers!

-Chris Vivian tricking 1040

-Brendan Kirchner jumping 83 feet

-Kevin Tague winning Men’s 3rd overall

-Jeff Jacobs winning Men’s B Overall

A HUGE thank you to the following parents that have provided meals for the past three weeks: The Cosgrove Family, Rich Guidotti, The Ivey Family, Peggy Lapinski, The Groeneweg Family, The Tague Family & The Shiffman Family. Your continued support truly keeps us going! A special thank you to all the parents, friends, and family members that have been able to come out to the tournaments to help cheer on our Michigan skiers.

Join us next weekend at Midwest Regionals held at P.I.T.S. Lake in Decatur, Illinois. Events take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. See you there…

Mark your calendar for Saturday, August 8th for the alumni tournament/reunion. It will be held at Lake Jepawhit in Fenton, MI.
This will be an opportunity to ski in a relaxed and casual tournament, or just come and hang out for the day! Everyone is welcome, bring the family. Although the event is supported by USA Water Ski, the scores will not be recorded and non-skiers are welcome as well. Come hang out, eat lunch, and participate in dry land activities. We are hoping to have a water trampoline on site!

The event guarantees participants a slalom and trick round and will use any extra time to pull events like knee boarding, tubing, or bare footing. Slalom will start at 9AM, lunch will be served around noon, and families are free to come and go as they please.

It is important that you mail the entry form and waivers (with checks made payable to The University of Michigan Water Ski Team) to Marti Guidotti before August 1st if you wish to avoid a late fee. Registration is available on site from 8AM to 9AM and will offer guest membership passes for those not yet registered with USA water ski. If you have further questions, contact Marti at (989) 859-8945, vmguidot@gmail.com.
Hope to see you there!

The information sheet, entry form, and waiver can be found at umwaterski.com/forms/2009RegistrationForm.pdf

INTERESTED IN UM WATER SKI TEAM? Come to the Spring Mass Meeting!!

Meet current team members, watch videos from previous seasons, learn about our tournament season, and find out how to come ski with us on our brand new boat!! We will talk about spring, summer, and fall skiing, as well as taking orders for ADIDAS warm-ups.

When: Tuesday, April 7th
Where: Michigan League Room 4
Time: 8pm

If you can't make it but want more information please email us at water.ski.officers@umich.edu

OR

Visit us on the Diag between 10 and 2 on Monday, April 6th

If you are interested in coming to ski school in the spring there will be a meeting Wednesday, February 18th in the Kalamazoo Room 2nd floor of the League at 8pm

Some info about ski school:

Where: Bennett's Water Ski School in Zachary, Louisiana.

Tentative week of awesomeness: May 2nd – May 9th

Bennett's Water Ski School is located right outside of Baton Rouge LA. The site has 3 private ski lakes, lodging right on the lake, a game room, and a full pro shop/boat store.

Each day consists of four ski sets in Jump, Trick, Slalom, or Wakeboard at your choosing. They are very helpful with beginners! With down time between rides, take time to nap, swim in the pool, play in the game room, or strike up a euchre tourney, whatever you choose!

You are paying for an all inclusive vacation: 4 sets per day, 3 meals per day, lodging, and use of all of Bennett's facilities with Baton Rouge a car ride away. For the cheap price, this is a FANTASTIC deal (far better than most vacations or spring break trips).

For more info and pictures: www.skibennetts.com

Congrats to the newly elected officers who will take over in 2009!

President: Kevin Tague
Vice President: Torrey Richardson
Co-Captain: Colin Ivey
Co-Captain: Marti Guidotti
Treasurer: Matt Lokar
Secretary: Chris Vivian
Public Relations: Jeff Jacobs

The Wolverines finished their season with a trip to Chandler, Arizona, for the 30th NCWSA National Championships. From Thursday (10/16) to Saturday, the Wolverines cheered and skied hard enough to earn 2nd place in Division 2, just behind Cincinatti.

Notable performances included:
-Combined slalom team tied for 1st.
-Men's trick team took 1st with the four counting scores all 810 or higher, with Mike McCrary and Kevin Tague earning 4th place medals.
-Julia Roberts took 6th overall

We will be missing our graduating seniors and thank them for all the hard work they have put into the team (pictured left):
Erika Bramlett
Maureen Donegan
Julia Roberts
Lindsey McCartney
Mike McCrary
Nick Quinnell
"Spirit Man" Dan Hohs

A big thanks also goes to the parents who drove us around and provided food at Nationals. We could not have done it without them.

With our 2nd place finish at Nationals AND the National Spirit Cup in hand, the season can certainly be labeled as a success. Congratulations to the Wolverine skiers!

The Wolverines just returned from a very exciting 3-day weekend in Decatur, Illinois for the Midwest Collegiate Waterskiing Regionals. The sixteen qualifying teams from the Great Lakes and Great Plains battled hard for the top five spots that would make it to nationals.

Friday began with the women's slalom event, and the women of Michigan ran some key opening passes to secure a 5th place finish. The men, even with Colin Ivey getting into 22' off, had some troubles and finished 11th.

Determined to catch back up, the men's trickers collectively scored the best they have all season, with scores of 810, 810, 740, and 660 for Nick Quinnel, Nick Groeneweg, Mike McCrary, and Chris Vivian, respectively. Those scores were good enough for 3rd in men's tricks. The women followed their example and also finished 3rd, with Erika Bramlett 6th with 500 points and Maureen Donegan with a solid 380, good enough for 10th.

Saturday ended with women's jump and the women showed that their practice paid off, with every skier landing at least one jump. Julia Roberts smashed her personal best with a 59 footer, and Torrey Richardson put in a 45 foot leap. This 4th place finish in women's jump helped to team jump to 4th place overall heading into men's jump, but with not much of a cushion between 4th and 6th, especially with the dominant men's jumpers from the Great Plains.

With the season on the line, the men of Michigan hit the ramp hard, and finished in dramatic fashion. Mike McCrary and newcomer Brendan Kirchner both got personal bests with 77 and 76 foot jumps. At the end it came down to Kevin Tague, and he did not make it easy by crashing on his first two attempts. His third jump, however, was a successful 100 footer and now all Michigan had to do was wait for the results...

When they came in, Michigan finished fifth, ahead of Missouri State by the smallest margin possible, 5 points. The Wolverines also won the coveted Spirit Award, by sporting their maize and blue and cheering on every skier. They are so pumped to be going to nationals for the 3rd year in a row! It will be held from October 16-18, in Chandler, Arizona on Firebird Lake. We could use all the support we can get to bring the Division 2 title back to Michigan! See you there and GO BLUE!

The third stop for the season was to Lake Lottawatta in Hamilton Ohio for the Great Lakes Conference Championships. Seventeen teams competed for the top seven spots that would make it to regionals. The Wolverines finished 3rd to secure a regionals spot, but they know they will need to ski better next weekend to have a chance at nationals. Some notable performances:

Women's slalom: Marti Guidotti finished 5th with 4 @ 34 mph
Women's trick: Erika Bramlett (pictured right) finished 4th with 540 points, upping her PB for a 3rd straight week
Women's overall: Julia Roberts 4th and Torrey Richardson 6th
Men's trick: Mike McCrary with 820 points

The Wolverines leave for Regionals in Decatur, IL on Thursday for this 3 day tournament. GO BLUE!

The Wolverine's second tournament was just up the road to Fenton, MI at Tivoli Gardens for the Ripfest, hosted by Michigan State. One word can sum up this tournament and that word is RAINY. The rain never stopped coming down on Saturday or Sunday, but our skiers never stopped either. Other teams decided to go home after Saturday, but Michigan stuck around to put in some good performances.

In slalom the women had some trouble in the rain, but put in some solid scores with Maureen Donegan running a huge personal best with 2 at 32 mph. None of the men performed to their potentials in the pouring rain, but managed to score enough to get 2nd place in slalom, the highest of the season.

Next was trick and the women dominated with the four scoring skiers all in the top 8. Erika Bramlett came in 3rd, upping her PB by scoring 450 points. The men also performed well, with Nick Quinnell taking 4th with a great score of 810 points.

With the rain still coming down Sunday, and only a handful of teams in attendance, the officials decided to just have the top three skiers jump for men and women. Julia Roberts (pictured left) earned a 4th place finish with her 48 footer. On the men's side, Kevin Tague put out a 97 footer before the rain really came down, making it an interesting clean-up for the tournament with cars and trailers getting stuck in the mud. Big thanks go out to the parents who stuck around, cooked for us, and helped clean up.

Next weekend is the Great Lakes Conference Championships which promises to be better weather, and hopefully some even better skiing for the Wolverines!

The official season kicked off this past weekend with 15 teams from the Midwest facing off in Van Wert, Ohio. Michigan brought around 20 skiers including many new faces.

Women's and men's slalom opened the tournament bright and early Saturday morning. Freshman Marti Guidotti (pictured left) made an impressive debut with 1/2 buoy at 34 MPH and led the women Wolverines by taking 6th in the event. Julia Roberts and Maureen Donegan also ran their passes, helping the women finish 1st in slalom. Junior Kevin Tague (pictured right)led the men with 5 buoys at 36 MPH.

Next was trick and the women did not disappoint here either. Michigan had 3 in the top 7, with Erika Bramlett taking 3rd with 370 points, leading the women to another 1st place finish in trick. The men, some skiing under the lights at 9pm, took 2nd with solid performances.

Jump started early on Sunday with the women who swept the events with another 1st place finish, led by Julia Roberts and her 44 foot jump. The men showed they had some ups with Kevin launching to 101 feet and 71 and 69 foot jumps by Mike McCrary and Cory Cosgrove, respectively.

Michigan took 2nd overall, just barely behind Purdue. This is a very promising start to the season and we are looking toward the top spot next weekend at the Michigan State Ripfest!! This next tournament is only about a 45 minute drive to Fenton, MI so if you missed the first one, make sure to check it out. The meeting will be on Wednesday, Sept. 10th, at 8pm, in the Blagdon room of the 1st floor of the League. See you there...and great skiing!

UM vs. MSU Head-to-head
-When: Monday, September 1st
-What: Practice tournament to get to know the team and warm up for the season
-Where: Fenton, MI (carpooling to be arranged)

Mass Meeting
-When: Wednesday, September 3rd, 8pm
-What: Learn about the team and what we will be doing this season
-Where: Michigan League - Kalamazoo Room

Also, come out and see us with our boat Sunday, August 31st on Palmer Field from 11-2, or on Thursday, September 4th on the diag at Festifall.

Send questions to mmccrary@umich.edu or any other officers.

The University of Michigan Water Ski Team does not just compete in collegiate tournaments, many of the members ski as individuals in American Water Ski Association (AWSA) summer tournaments. Here are a list of just some the tournaments multiple U of M team members attended:
MWSA Challenge
Green Lightning Team Tournament
West Michigan Record
Michigan State Championships
Midwest Regional Championships
Congratulations to all of the skiiers for some great skiing and any personal bests that were set.

Pictures: Members of the team at Michigan State Championships in Lawton (Left). Team Captain Nick Groeneweg tearing up the slalom course at Michigan State Championships (Right).

The Michigan Water Ski Team just got back from their annual trip to ski school. For the second year in a row members of the team went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and attended Bennett's Water Ski School. Sixteen members, three of them awesome brand new additions to the team, went down to learn from the pros. Skiing on Bennett's three private water ski lakes, the Michigan water skiers were able to take 4 sets a day in either slalom, trick, or jump with professional instruction. The entire time had a blast on and off the lake. Members not only increased their skiing knowledge and abilities but became closer as a team. Thanks to great weather, awesome facilities, stellar coaching, and extremely hard work, the Michigan water skiers are going to bring some super skills back to the Midwest for this years summer and fall ski season!