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.

The 2008 National Show Ski Tournament was originally scheduled to take place at Traxler Park in Janesville, Wisconsin, but, due to the high waters that affected the southern part of Wisconsin and much of the mid-west the most prestiguos tournament was moved to Wisconsin Rapids, the same site as the Wisconsin State Show Ski Tournament.

Having Nationals in Wisconsin Rapids made it almost seem like a second state tournament for Mad-City.  It’s a ski site a lot of us love and the Wisconsin Rapid Aqua Skiers always hosts a very fun tournament and we always seem to have a good time when we visit.

The tournament kicked off Friday morning with individuals taking place and Mad-City had a number of our members competing in the individual competition.  In the individual Swivel Ski Competition, our own Ann Wittenberg took to the water first.

Ann competing in the Swivel Competition

Following Ann for Mad-City was Kristen Armstrong.  Also competing in the swivel competition and she put together a great routine, even poking fun at the fact that she had to move around to find a place to ski.

She began her year skiing for the Tommy Bartlett Ski Show in the Wisconsin Dells, however, due to the flooding and subsequent drainage of Lake Delton, the Tommy Bartlett show was no longer and on the water and she eventually made her way to the Mad-City Ski Team.

Ironically, when she came to Mad-City, Mad-City was also on the move.  Our primary ski site on Lake Monona in Madison had too much water and was “Slow No Wake” so we weren’t able to ski there.  We were able to secure a site on Lake Wisconsin, only to later find out we had to move a couple hundred yards up the shore, and then encountered some blue-green algea forcing to just hold land practices.  In spite of Mother Nature’s effort to keep Kristen off the water, she still put together a routine that was good enough for 1st place in the swivel competition.

Kristen competing in the Swivel Competition

The next event was the doubles competition.  Mad-City had a couple qualify for this event as well.  Paul O’Connor and Carly Cates competed and did very well for the first trip to Nationals.  They suffered a bit of a snafu with the sound for their short opening dance and skit, but, they took to the water with a sliding dock start.  Unfortunatly, Paul lost a ski on the start, but they skied away and completed their first couple passes before they needed to get Paul’s lost ski.  Here are a couple pictures from their run…

Paul and Carly in Doubles - Notice Just the One Ski

Paul and Carly in Doubles

After doubles, the final event taking place on Friday was the Team Jump Competition.  Mad-City features a large group of very talented jumpers, however, on that day, it simply was not meant to be.  After waiting through a two-hour delay caused by stormy weather, the Mad-City jump team took to the water and competed and that’s about all we can say about it…

One of the highlights of the act was Rock Cates jump.  Unlike some of the other jumps, he skied away.

Rock in Team Jump

Mad-City's Jump Team

After individual’s wrapped up, the team gathered together at a picnic shelter for our normal pre-tournament team meeting.  Our picnic featured some tasty pizza from a local pizza place, a slight change from our pot-luck that we have prior to our State Ski Show weekend, a pot-luck that normally features the Wang families fanstastic turkey sandwhiches.  This meeting allows us one last chance to go through all of the details of our show… our intros, our dances and our comedy skits.

One of the few changes from our State ski show was that we decided to revamp some of the comedy and we completely redid one of our skits.

A week before Nationals, Adam Schaller and Matt Baumler (our announcers) put together a brand new playlist for a new dance they planned to do and sent it to Eric Wedige (me, our sound technician) so their new routine could be put together.  After a long ski practice and late night of editing, I sent them back their new song to dance to.  At the picnic, they performed their new dance in front of a crowd for the very first time and we, the team, loved it.  (Here’s the video of them performing it at Nationals.)  Here are a few pictures from the team picnic.

Team Picnic

The Kids in the Pick Up Boat

We did take time for our team picture…

The 2008 Mad-City Ski Team

Finally, after months of preparation, Saturday arrived.  The culmination of almost 10 months of preparation and countless hours of behind the scenes work, we were about to put on the the most important show of the year. We gathered at the ski site early, where some of us grab an early breakfast, while others eat some leftovers from the night before, and others simply pace around the site anxiously.  Finally, show time arrives. Instead of a ton of pictures of every act, here’s a highlight clip of the ski show…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU9Y5DWYCqg&hl=en&fs=1]

Mad-City 2008 National Highlight Clip [video]

With the show over, now we can all relax.  The rest of the weekend is spent relaxing, watching the other ski teams’ shows and having a good time.  Sunday afternoon finally arrives and the last ski show finishes up.  All the ski teams gather on the beach for the award ceremony.

First up for the awards are some awards from the individuals.  Here is Kristen collecting her trophy for 1st Place in the Swivel Competition.

Kirsten - 1st Place National Swivel Competition

After the individual awards are handed out, they start doing the act awards for the tournament and Mad-City collected a few of those…

Mad-City Wins Best Ballet

Mad-City Wins Best Barefoot Act for the Backfoot/Backbreaker Combo Act

Best Jump Act - Tony, Cyndi and Paul

Best Swivel Act - Kristen, Kelsey, Kristen and Ann

Mad-City also won manys of the traditional box scores…

Best Pickup Boat Crews

Best Boat Drivers... and Riders

Best Sound Crew

Finally, it was time for the overall team awards and Mad-City had a long wait to find out their placement, which is always a very good problem to have.  They work their way from last to first.

Anxiously awaiting, they made their way to the final two teams…and they were both announced simultaniously.

2nd place had 1981.4 points and 1st place had 2069.22 points.

And then they announced that the Rock Aqua Jays took 2nd place meaning that we, Mad-City, had taken 1st place.  Our show directors for 2008, Matt and Kristen run down to accept the award and the team follows them down in a crowd dust.

Mad-City Celebrating 1st Place with a Mad-City Team Woo Ha!!!

Kristen and Matt Celebrate

Mad-City - The 2008 National Show Ski Champions

Much like State weekend, Nationals weekend was very successful for the Mad-City Ski Team.  We took home the awards for Best Ballet, Best Barefoot Act, Best Jump Act, Best Swivel Act, Best Pick Up Boats, Best Tow Boats, and Best Sound Crew, and had the highest scoring act of the tournament with our Comedy Act.  We also had the best showmanship and had the 2nd best pyramid act.

The 2008 National Championship is Mad-City’s 3rd National Championship in a row and 4th in the past 5-years.  We previously won in 2004, 2006, 2007 and now in 2008.

Attached is the Official Scores: 2008 National Results ]]> http://www.madcityskiteam.com/2008/10/22/a-look-back-at-nationals-2008/feed/ 0 http://www.madcityskiteam.com/2008/10/12/a-look-back-at-state-08/ http://www.madcityskiteam.com/2008/10/12/a-look-back-at-state-08/#comments Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:19:00 +0000 eric http://madcityskiteam.com/?p=435

The Wisonsin State Tournament is always an exciting time. It’s a weekend that just about everyone on the Mad-City Ski Team looks forward to. Great place to ski, a great skiing environment, and fans that are excited to see the show we’ve put together.

The tournament starts on Thursday with Individuals.  Paul and Carli were the first Mad-City members up competing in the doubles competition.  They put together a good routine that left them in 4th place.

Next up, we had Ann competing in swivel.  She also put together a good routine and finish in 2nd place.

Next on the dock for Mad-City, we had another swiveler in the competition, Kristen.  She also put together a very strong routine, which ultimately ended up puting her in first place overall.

Mad-City’s final entrants in the individual competition was the jump team.  The put together a pretty clean jump act that was good enough for first place.  Here’s one of their jumps, the 5 man front flip.

Thursday night, a lot of the team members went out to blow off some steam, relax and have a good time.  Friday, it was back to business though.  Some members relaxed at various places around Rapids, others took in some ski shows.  We all got together at one member’s cabin for a last team meeting on Friday night.  It’s a chance to go through all the intros, dances and skits one last time, sometimes for the first time.  Besides the meeting, we’re treated to a very good picnic dinner.

Finally, Saturday morning arrives.  So far, none of the many pregnant members of the team had gone into labor so we had all hands on deck for our show.  As usual, it’s always a last minute scramble to get the last few details of show ready and set everything up for the show.

Since, a common saying is a picture is worth a 1000 words, and video provides 30 pictures a second to provide the illusion of motion, here’s an essay with approximately 10.5 million words in it.  Luckily you don’t have to read it all.  Sit back and enjoy this highlight clip of our state show.  It’s just a little shy of 6 minutes.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn7HKcrGisE]

State Highlight Clip

With the show complete, the rest of Saturday is spent relaxing and having a good time.  Sunday morning arrives and the wait really begins.  But as the last team finishes their show, everyone starts to get anxious as we wait for the results.

Finally, the awards ceremony starts.  They kick things off with the individual results, handing out the.  Here are our team members accepting their awards.

Ann wins 2nd Place in Swivel

Kristen wins 1st Place in Swivel

Mad-City Jump Team wins 1st in Team Jump

Paul & Carli Win 4th Place in Doubles

After the awards for the individual competition are handed out, the act awards for the shows start.

Mad-City Wins Best Ballet

Mad-City Wins Best Jump Act

Then the traditional box scores begin…

Mad-City Wins Best Dock & Equipment

Mad-City Wins Best Tow Boat Driving

Finally, the overal results are announced…

Mad-City Wins 1st Place at Wisconsin State

Mad-City Celebrates 1st Place by Swimming in Lake Wazeecha

It was a very successful weekend for the Mad-City Ski Team… top 2 swivelers, 4th in doubles, 1st in team jump, best ballet, best jump act, best dock and equipment, best tow boat drivers and 1st place overall.  After celebrating our victory that night, the team set its focus on Nationals, which would take place just 3 weeks later.

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!!!

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)

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

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

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.

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.

“It’s an awesome feeling to be number 1 in the nation again,” Co-show director Dan Wang said. “Winning two National Championships in the past three years is a huge accomplishment for this team. The hours of show meetings and practices really paid off this year.”

Fellow show director Matt Heilman, who has now directed two national championship teams, concurred.

“It’s still hard for me to believe that we won both State and Nationals again,” he said. “It takes a lot of skill, a great show, and a lot of luck to win both of those tournaments in the same year, and we’ve done it twice in the past 3 years. It’s amazing.”

Skiing at Janesville’s Traxler Park against 14 of the finest show ski teams from the country, Mad-City scored 2,154 points to again knock off their friends from the south, the Janesville Rock Aqua Jays, who tallied 2,093. Wonder Lake, from Wonder Lake, IL, also put together an impressive show that had many nervous as they scored a strong 1,979 to round out the top three.

“Wonder Lake and Janesville skied very good shows last weekend too,” Wang said. “We each had a few acts that didn’t go so well. Wonder Lakes pre-fab act was amazing along with some great jumping. Janesville’s four barefoot pyramids were also very impressive.”

After winning the State and National title in 2004, Mad-City slipped to sixth last year, but came roaring back this summer with a show filled with some of the most impressive show-skiing ever in the club’s history.

“We really have something special going here,” Heilman said. “This team is really complete….talented skiers, helpful support people, experienced drivers, the best announcer, and great camaraderie within the team.”

This was reflected in the box-scores and in individual awards following the tournament.

The Mad-City jump team claimed top honors in Friday’s individual competition. Fighting and dragging to avoid falls on a couple of occasions, but highlighted by Paul O’Conners 720 degree helicopter to end the performance.

Scoring 403 points the Mad-City boys edged out a clean and tight performance from the Little Crow jump team, from Little Crow, MN. Highlighted by a five man helicopter, the boys from the north scored 379 points for second. The Bad Water Ski-Ters, from Spread Eagle, WI, dazzled the crowd again with an array of jumps to score 364 points good for third.

Rounding out the jump competition was host Janesville (320) in fourth, the Waterhawks (267), from Waterloo, IA, placed fifth, the Ski Broncs (264) placed sixth and the Plum Ski-Ters rounded out the competition in seventh with 201.

In the swivel ski competition, Mad-City’s own Wisconsin State Champion Ann Wittenberg, had her best finish ever at the national competition finishing fourth with a score of 16.44.

Last year’s runner up, Lindsey Basse of St. Paul, MN took top honors with a score of 17.34. Breanne Pollard of St. Louis, Mo finished second with 16.82 points and Kelley Nemec of St. Paul, MN placed third with 16.70 points.

In individual box scores, the Mad-City crew continued to make their presence felt.

The pick-up boat crew of Mike Grassy / Mellissa Grassy and Jim McKenna / Tanner Klein took top honors for pick-up boat driving.

As well as nabbing top honors for showmanship, Mad-City also took the top honors for best jump act.

The aptly titled “Jaw Dropper” featured one man, one boat, one driver and three tricks. Paul O’Connor performed a two-ski gainer, a two-ski front flip and completed what is believed to be the first 720 degree helicopter in show-ski competition ever to take home, single-handedly, the best jump act of the tournament.

For the second time in her show ski career, Mad-City’s Kristen Heilman claimed the Willa Cook award. This is given to the top female skier in the tournament. As one of only two two-time winners, Kristen’s show was highlighted by three 720’s on her swivel ski in one pass early in the show and completing a 1080 during the “Star” swivel act.

For show director Dan Wang, this championship was especially sweet. In 2004 his ski season was cut short early on when a jump crash ended up breaking a bone in his foot. Shifting his services from the water to a pick-up boat, Dan still was able to collect an award for pick-up boat driving, but, to be able to help the team on the water is where a show-skiers heart is.

“This one feels even sweeter since I was able to ski.”

After almost a year of hard work to prepare, produce, train and practice for a one hour show, the pay-off is as sweet as the disappointment is for the teams that came up just short.

“Beating great teams like Janesville and Wonder Lake makes the victory that much sweeter. They are great teams with a lot of talent,” Heilman said. “Sometimes I worry about our ability to stack up to them, but this season we had the show to beat. We fortunately had enough fire power to overcome their great shows and come out on top.”

While the sights are set already for next year’s competition, this is one to savor and remember.

“I am sure many would agree that this is one of the most entertaining shows Mad-City has put together,” Wang said. “I want to say thanks to every member of this team for all the hard work and dedication this year. Congratulations to all of you on a job well done.”

-Reported by: Bugsy Hansen

Mad-City’s 2006 Show Directors—Matt Heilman and Dan Wang

Ann Wittenberg, Laura Bernstein, Kristen Heilman and Joey O’Connor—Mad-City’s
Star Swivel—received the award for the highest scoring swivel act at the 2006 Show Ski Nationals

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.