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By eric, June 28, 2010 11:44 am

This past weekend, the Mad-City Ski Team, along with 9 other teams, competed at the Mercury Marine Open in Janesville, WI at Traxler Park. Mad-City has always used this first tournament of the year as a way to gauge our progress as the team prepares for the state tournament and after skiing a very nice show on Saturday, our state tournament preparation is coming along nicely.

Mad-City’s Opening Pyramid

In the tournament, Mad-City took 5th place overall and was only about 160 points from 3rd place.  With lots of places in our show for our team to continue improving, we were very happy with our overall show and placement. The state tournament is just 3 weeks away and we plan to put on a great show for everyone up in Wisconsin Rapids on July 19th.

Final results of the all the teams were as follows:

1. Rock Aqua Jays
2. Wonder Lake
3. Webfooters
4. Water Bugs
5. Mad-City
6. Beaverland
7. Lauderdale
8. Aquaducks
9. Five Seasons
10. Minneiska

To view more pictures from the tournament and all of our shows, please visit Jim’s Photos.

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By eric, August 19, 2007 1:09 am

The Nationals weekend was a long, hot weekend for the Mad-City Ski Team. The culmination of almost a years worth of hard work, sacrifice and dedication paid off in the most amazing way imaginable. We put on one of the best ski shows in the history of the Mad-City Ski Team.

The Following is a picture recap of our weekend, special thanks to Jim’s Photo’s and Eric Wedige for the pictures. Please visit www.JimsPhotos.com to view our complete seasons worth of pictures.

Friday Jump Competition

For the second year in a row the Mad-City Jump Team took home top honors for the best jump squad in the entire country. The competition allows every team five-minutes to perform any number and combination of jumps and are judged on difficulty, flow, crowd appeal and execution.

Our team hit the water first and put on a show that no one was able to match! You can view more pictures of our team jump competition at Jims Photos (Link)

Double Gainer

Four Man Front Flip

Quad Helicopters

Ladies and Gentleman, Your national champion Jump Team!!

Saturday Nationals Ski Show

The temperatures on Saturday were climbing into the mid-80s by 9:00 A.M, we knew we were in for quite a day. Mad-City skied third after the Janesville Rock Aqua Jays and host ski team the Ski Broncs. Our show finally hit the water at about noon. More pictures can be seen at Jims Photos Website (Link)

The story behind our show is that with the addition of announcer Matt Baumler, who brings with him a theatrical style all his own, he is looking to make the Mad-City Ski Team over, make us into a theatrical ski show. However, our incumbent announcer, Adam Schaller is resisting, satisfied with Mad-City’s free-wheeling, rock and roll, style ski show. Who will win? Lets find out!!

Sandy, Libby, Taryn, Ann, Kristen and Teri welcome you to our show with a pre-show dance!

The trumpets begin to blare, and that means only one thing…

Welcome to a “Tale of 2 Ski Shows”!!

Kicking our show off in style, a 7-man Bacwards Barefoot Line

Matt Baumler, your court jester!

Our 4-2-4 Opening Pyramid Team

Adam doesn’t look like he is enjoying this! Lets try something in Mad-City Style.

Montage – Jeff on a sky ski

Montage – Kirk and Beau on shoe skis

Montage – Paul on a wakeboard

One Act Show – A Mad-City Original! Shoe Skis, Four-High Pyramid, Strap Doubles and a Pinwheel!!

Now, back to Matt’s style. Hey Meistro, Give me some rhythm!

Ballet – Your Mad-City Dream Girls

Ballet – Dream Girls on the water

Ballet – Dream Girls on stage w/ Matt.

Now we head back to Adams style of ski show, some freestyle jumping

Jump 1 – Paul and Scott perform a double gainer

Jump 1 – On the Dock

Matt won’t stand for this, here comes a pirate theme….

A Pirate Theme? Jack Sparrow thinks so!!

Star Swivel – Kristen Heilman on the water

Star Swivel – Ann Wittenberg, Joey O’Connor, Laura Fick and Kristen Heilman

Adam has other ideas about this Pirate theme! Here comes the Mad-Ciy Big Act!

Big-Act – Trio

Big-Act Doubles

Big-Act Swivel Line

Big-Act Star Staggered Swivel

Big-Act – Conventional Doubles

But wait, what is this? Matt coming in as Adam? This should be good.

And it is…here comes our national champion jumpers again!!

Jump 2 – Dan Wang, Paul O’Connor and Kirk Schultz perform the hangman (Flip over Helicopter and Flip)

And now, Taryn and Adam have a little ditty…or two!

Fellowship and Fun!!!

However, here comes Mad-City’s biggest pyramid ever!!

Our Ending Pyramid – 4-2-4-2-4!

Together at last, Matt and Adam in the “Original” Evolution of Dance

The “Original” Evolution of Dance

Evolution of Dance

Evolution of Dance

But, now its back to business. Welcome the tournament MVP, Paul O’Connor!!

Jaw Dropper – Gainer

Jaw Dropper – Front Flip

Jaw Dropper – 720 Helicopter!!

Stickin it!!

The Skip Gilkerson Award Winner for Best Male Skier – PAUL O’CONNOR!

Not to be left out, a tweak on a Mad-City Original. the Guy/Girl Combo Line!!

The guys on the dock!!

15 guys and 15 girls = 30 person ballet line!!

Combo Ballet on the water – HUGE!

Ladies and Gentleman, YOUR 2007 Mad-City Ski Team!

Sunday Awards Ceremony

After an entire weekend, numerous shows and a amazing amount of nerves…the time has finally come to reveal the winner of the 2007 national championship!

First up, the award for best Ballet Line!

Chris accepting the award for best ballet line of the tournament, our 30 person combo ballet line!!

Next, award for best jump act…no surprise, its….

Paul O’Connor with driver Tony Wang and rider Cyndi Pickney for the Jaw Dropper. A Front Flip, a Gainer and a 720!!

Next award is for best swivel ski act of the tournament…and the winner is?

The Mad-City Star Swivel, Ann Wittenberg, Joey O’Connor, Laura Fick and Kristen Heilman! The best group of swivel skiers in the nation!!

Mad-City doesn’t stop here, next up is the award for best Male skier at Nationals. The Skip Gilkerson Award goes to?

Paul O’Connor!

Turning our attention to the behind the scenes action, the award for best dock crew goes to?

Mad-City! Our ladies behind the scenes get some well deserved recognition!

An important part of every show is the pick-up boat crew, and the award goes to?

Mad-City! Jim and Liz McKenna and Caprice and Lee Vanderkolk take home the award for best pick-up boat crew!

Turning our attention to the tow-boat crew, could it be a sweep of the boat driver awards?

YES!! Tony Wang, Gary Pickney, Don Heilman and Jerry Wesner, the best tow boat drivers in the country!

Bringing the announcers words and the music to your ears, here is the award for best sound crew.

Mad-City Again!! Matt Baumler, Adam Schaller and Eric Wedige claim the award as best sound crew!!

And now…the drum rolls.

The best ski show in the entire country goes to?

MAD-CITY!! Show Director Chris Coupland picks up our award, with show committee in tow!!

and now we celebrate with the traditional dip in the water!!!

Your 2007 National Champion Mad-City Ski Team!!!

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By eric, August 17, 2007 7:12 pm

Following our National Championship, and right before, the Mad-City Ski Team has got quite a bit of publicity!! The following are some links to various articles and other media about the Mad-City Ski Team.

Mad-City Team Up – Isthmus The Daily Page (Thursday August, 16 2007)

Mad-City Ski Team Retains Title – Wisconsin State Journal (Tuesday August, 14 2007)

Show Ski Gold – Wisconsin State Journal (Saturday August, 11 2007)

Watch The Ski Team Perform – Wisconsin State Journal Video (Saturday August, 11 2007)

Mad-City Ski Team to Compete – Wisconsin State Journal (Friday August, 10 2007)

Here is what some of our competition had to say following the National Waterski Tournament:

Wonder Lake Ski Team (Wonder Lake, IL)  2nd Place – Northwest Herald (Tuesday August, 14 2007)

Janesville Rock Aqua Jays (Janesville, WI) 3rd Place – Janesville Gazette (Monday August, 13 2007)

Ski Broncs (Rockford, IL) 11th Place – Rockford Register Star (Monday August, 13 2007)

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By eric, August 13, 2007 1:52 pm

Note: The following article is taken from The Capital Times, you can view the original article at www.madison.com

The Mad-City Ski Team got all wet Sunday afternoon and they couldn’t be happier.

The team won its third national championship in four years Sunday on the Rock River in Loves Park, Ill., a victory that came with a trophy and a most welcome tradition on a hot summer’s day.

“The winning team goes for a swim,” said Mad-City show director Chris Coupland when contacted by phone Monday morning. “It was a very welcome celebration.”

Mad-City won the national show skiing title in 2004 and again in 2006.

“It was pretty convincing win,” Coupland said. “We swept the box scores and Paul O’Connor was voted the most valuable skier at the event.”

14 teams, mostly from the Midwest, competed in the division 1 championships, with each show ski team getting an hour on the water to perform 13 separate acts of the team’s choosing.

Judges award points for each of the 13 acts, with the winning team amassing the most points based on execution, difficulty, spectator appeal and flow.

Mad-City competed on Saturday, the third of seven teams going that day, with the other half of the teams skiing Sunday.

Coupland said the conditions weren’t the best when the team’s 57 skiers hit the water Saturday morning.

“It was a strong current and a little breezy, but the team did a fantastic job,” he said. “The team really came together the past two weeks.”

The team puts on Sunday evening shows all summer on Lake Monona, skiing off of Law Park next to Monona Terrace. It has three free shows left this year, Aug. 19 and 26 and Sept. 2, all starting at 6 p.m.

About 80 people, including skiers, boat drivers, announcers and support staff, went to the national championships from Mad City. The skiers range in age from eight years old to 52 years old.

The show ski championships also award titles in three events besides the overall team trophy. Mad-City won first in the team jumping competition.

Bill Novak — 8/13/2007 11:25 am

Links:
Local ski team wins national title again

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By eric, July 25, 2007 11:20 am

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6418177765762841909&hl=en]

Competing in the Wisconsin State Show Ski Tournament, the Mad-City Ski Team edged out the Janesville Rock Aqua Jays to lay claim to their second straight Wisconsin State Championship!

The ski show, entitled “A Tale of 2 Ski Shows”, featured two stand-out announcers in longtime favorite Adam Schaller and new comer Matt Baumler facing off on stage to determine once and for all which is better, Mad-City Style or Traditional Show Ski Style.

During the course of their epic battle, Mad-City had some incredible performances.

Highlights include: Highest Scoring Ballet Line, Highest Scoring Jump Act, Best Tow Boat Crew, Best Sound Crew, Best Comedy, Best Overall Female Skier in Kristen Heilman, First ever four-tier One-Act Show and Mad-City’s first ever Triple Four-Tier Pyramid!!

Mad-City Dream Girls! – Highest Scoring Ballet Line

Mad-City Jump Team – Highest Scoring Jump Act

Mad-City Comedy Team – Best Comedy

Kristen Heilman – Best Overall Female Skier 

Mad-City Sound Crew – Best Sound Crew 

Mad-City Drive Team – Best Tow Boat Crew 

The Wisconsin State Show Ski Tournament is the largest such tournament in the world and is a four-day long event that celebrates everything that is good in the show ski world, Competition, Camaraderie and of course some fantastic skiing.

There was 26 teams total from three different divisions that compete in this event, held on Lake Wazeecha near Wisconsin Rapids. While only one team competed in Division 3, the Aqua Devils from Three Lakes, WI, there were 25 teams combined competing in both Division 1 and Division 2.

Our neighbors to the south, the Janesville Rock Aqua Jays, came in second for the second year in a row with a steller show of their own. They layed claim to a couple impressive feats of their own as they claimed the highest scoring individual act with their barefoot pyramid act, best dock and equipment and best pick-up boat crew.

However, it was not enough as Mad-City scored a total of 2008 points to Janesville’s 1983.

Coming in third were the Webfooters from Freemont, WI.

In Division 2, the Beaver-Land Must-Skis notched their second consecutive championship as well knocking off the Browns Lake Aquaducks, 1704 to 1644.

With the win, the Beaver-Land Must-Skis, from Beaver Dam, will now join Division 1.

Links:

Complete Scores and Team Placements

Complete Photo Gallery from Jims Photos

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By eric, June 27, 2007 1:52 pm

Photo Courtesy of Jims Photos

In what is the unofficial kick-off to the Show Ski tournament season, the Mad-City Ski Team competed in the annual Mercury Invite on June 24, taking home third place.The host team, the Janesville Rock Aqua Jays, took home first place honors with the Wonder Lake Ski Team, from Wonder Lake, IL, coming in second.

It is always a fun tournament to be a part of, getting a chance to re-connect with some of your fellow skiers from competing teams in a low-pressure, fun environment.

The weather was outstanding, with temps in the upper 70′s to low 80′s for the most part of the day, while being mostly overcast untill early in the afternoon when the sun peeked out from behind the clouds to reveal many a sunburn!!

This was also the first real run-through for our new theme, “A Tale of Two Ski-Shows” and judging from peoples responses post-show, it looks to be a hit. Our tag-team announcing crew, Adam Schaller and Matt Baumler, kept much of the show close to the vest as to not reveal to much to our competitors until the State and National tournaments!!

The Aqua Jays, as always, ran a first class tournament and were great hosts.

With every team holding back slightly for the bigger tournaments, this could prove to be quite an exciting summer!

Here is a complete run-down of the final standings:

1) Rock Aqua Jays (Janesville, WI) 2,057 points

2) Wonderlake (Wonderlake, IL) 1,926

3) Mad-City Ski Team (Madison, WI) 1,831

4) Waterbugs (Muskego, IL) 1,191

5) Minneiska (Whitewater, WI) 1,077

6) Lauderdale Aqua-Skiers (Lauderdale, WI) 1,031.

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By eric, August 15, 2006 12:12 am

Facing the strongest teams from the nation, the Mad-City Ski Team capped off their phenomenal summer in the finest fashion imaginable.

Competing in the 31st annual Division 1 Show Ski National Championship, Aug 11-13, the Mad-City ski team claimed the national crown for the second time in three years. Continue reading 'Mad-City Wins Division 1 2006 National Show Ski Championship'»

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By eric, July 22, 2006 8:51 pm

Competing in the biggest show-ski tournament in the world, the Mad-City Ski Team picked the perfect time to ski one of the best shows in club history.

Taking part in the 40th annual State Wisconsin Show Ski Tournament at Lake Wazeecha’s Red Sand Beach, Mad-City pulled out all the stops and claimed the Division 1 State Championship for the second time in three years.

“It’s an amazing feeling to be back on top,” co-show director Matt Heilman said. “All the hard work we put in really paid off. It was one of the best shows Mad-City has ever performed.”

Dan Wang, the other co-show director, concurred with Matt: “Standing on stage as a leader of the team was a great feeling Sunday,” Wang said. “It was great to see everyone celebrating and enjoying the win, all the time and effort that had gone into the show really paid off.”

Mad-City scored 2155 points to knock off last years champions, the Janesville Rock Aqua Jays, who came in second with a strong 2092. Last years surprise team, the Webfooters from Freemont, WI, rounded out the top three with 1985.

Along with claiming top show honors, the Mad-City crew also claimed numerous individual and team awards.

Heading up the list was Ann Wittenberg, skiing on Thursday to the soothing sounds of Phil Collins, successfully defended her individual state swivel ski title. With a score of 16.56, Ann edged out Heather Addie who came in second with a 16.26. Ellie Pesek rounded out the top three with a score of 16.02.

The Mad-City jump team also competed on Thursday and performed a no-fall jump routine, scoring 398 points, to edge out the Badwater Ski-Ters from Iron Mountain with 390. The Plum Ski-Ters from Sayner nipped close at Badwater’s heels to round out the top three with 387.

To top it all off, Mad-City also had the highest scoring individual act in the tournament, which was the scored comedy. This included announcer Adam Schaller and his side-kick Cory Gessler, and Adam’s show stopping number, the “Show-Ski Evolution of Dance”.

“The skiing at state was outstanding, the Rock Aqua Jays had a great show,” Heilman said. “They are always tough to beat because they do so many things well. The Webfooters skied a great show as well, they are creative and really produce a great show that’s fun to watch.”

However, the work doesn’t end here, in a few short weeks the national competition will be held at Janesville’s home site and there will be even more strong competition looking to knock Mad-City off its perch.

“There are a lot of great teams this year at nationals, so we have our work cut out for us,” Wang said. “We can win, but we need to work hard and ski our show. With the talent we have on this team, bigger and better things are possible in the next few weeks.”

Team scores: 1. Mad City 2,155; 2. Rock Aqua Jays 2,092; 3. Webfooters 1,985; 4. Aquanuts 1,620; 5. Badgerland 1,583; 6. Water Bugs 1,477; 7. Aqua Skiers 1,475; 8. Hydroflites 1,465; 9. Shermalot 1,410; 10. Lauderdale 1,387; 11. Waterboard Warriors 1,354; 12. Ski Sprites 1,238; 13. Minnieska 1,177.

Box scores (top 3)-Dock and equipment: 1. Mad City 114; 2. Rock Aqua Jays 100; 3. Webfoorters 101. Pick-up boats: 1. Mad City 321; 2. Rock Aqua Jays 305; 3. Webfooters 290. Tow boat driving: 1. Mad City 868; 2. Rock Aqua Jays 848; 3. Web footers 807. Sound crew: 1. Mad City 1,133; 2. Rock Aqua Jays 1,074; 3. Webfooters 1,072.