Regional
Tournament Weekend
WOMEN'S SLALOM - The women's slalom team continued to ski extremely
well. They seem to get stronger every week they ski. Even with Gretchen
Storm unable to compete because of classes, Purdue placed 2nd in
slalom only 25 points behind the strong Badger team from Wisconsin.
Holly Blankenship opened they day filling in for Gretchen by snagging her
first buoy ever in a collegiate tournament and starting the women's trend
of PB's for the weekened. Michelle Rothfuss was the second Purdue
skier on the water as she ran the course for the second time in her
collegiate career. Michelle ran into 28 mph and got a buoy placing her
27th in the tournament. Britney Sokol followed that with a spectacular
performance. Britney was the top dog that ran into 32 mph getting 3.5
buoys. That put Britney temporarily in first place. She finished the
tournament T-8th. Traci Weis had to top her though. Traci ran into 22'
off this weekend. She placed in the top 5 T-4th by getting 2.5 buoys
which was also a PB. Abby Schmitt was the last Purdue women slalomer.
Abby did extremely well by skiing into 28' off. She tied for 2nd by
getting a half buoy.
MEN'S SLALOM - The next event on the water was men's slalom. Once
again, Purdue shined like no other. Ryan Henderson opened the event
skiing into 36 mph and picked up 5.5 buoys. That gave him 1st place after
the 1st round. Ryan eventually fell to 19th place when all was said and
done. The next skier was Dave Mahoeny. Dave ran into 35' off for the
first time this season. Dave was able to pick up a buoy at 35' off giving
him 1st place through the 2nd round. Ed Wiley (super rookie) was the
third Purdue skier on the water for men's slalom. Ed for the first time
in his collegiate career fell short of 35' off by a mere .5 buoy. Ed
still finished 5th with his skiing performance though. Matt Fillmore was
the next Purdue skier to put up a solid run. Despite what he felt was an
off day, he ran into 32' off (yeah.. talk about a bad day). Matt picked
up 1.5 buoys to place him 9th in slalom. Due to darkness, Cale Burdick
didn't get to ski until the next morning. But when the sun came up, he
shined like always taking the slalom title. Cale took the regional title
skiing into 38' off and picked up 3 buoys. Cale won the event by an
entire pass from the competitor in second (skier from... Colorado???).
The Purdue Men's Slalom team took first place overall by 600 pts over
Missouri State.
MEN'S TRICK - They ran things a little different this year by
following men's slalom w/ men's trick. This didn't seem to bother Purdue
one little bit. Purdue took men's trick by nearly 200 pts over
Wisconsin. Dan Van Cleve was the first to hit the water after Cale took
the slalom championship. Dan had a spectacular run. In fact it was the
best tournament run of his career. Dan posted a solid 450 points. Yeah,
pretty impressive considering that his first time on a trick ski was at
tryouts earlier in September. That run put Dan in 32nd for the
tournament. Brendon Nosal was the next skier on the water for Purdue.
He did quite well posting a solid 580 points and wrapping up 22nd place.
Matt Fillmore followed up that performance by nearly doubling Brendon's
score. 1120 was enough to take 7th place in trick. That trick run also
tied Matt's personal best. Ed also tied a PB this weekend by taking 4th
place with 1340 on a stand up run w/ time to spare. (that totals 5 PB's
so far). Cale Burdick finished the trick event with style. Cale took
the title with an impressive 2200 points which was 70 points better than
2nd place.
WOMEN'S JUMP - After men's trick, it was time for the women jumpers
to take flight. They did so with incredible fashion. All the women
jumpers landed this weekend. Britney was the first to hit the ramp on a
beautiful Saturday afternoon. Britney landed a 38' jump which placed her
33rd in the event. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, that was ANOTHER PB!!!
Gretchen Storm made it back from class to jump. She posted a sweet jump
of 51' that placed her 15th in the competition. Traci Weis kept the high
scores coming by jumping like she never had before (yep.. another PB).
She stuck a spectacular 48' monster to fall just behind Gretchen in the
standings in 16th place. Michelle Rothfuss bettered all the Purdue
jumpers coming through on her last jump after falling on her first two
attempts. Not only did she put a jump on the board, she went balls to the
wall and PBed as well!!! She stuck a stunning 52 footer which gave her
13th place. Abby Schmitt was the last jumper on the water for the women
in the tournament. Although not at 100%, she still managed to place in
the top 10 this weekend. She landed a 58' foot jump on her last attempt,
keeping everyone on shore holding their breath after also falling on her
first two attempts like her teammate Michelle. The women were shocked to
take the jump event over Wisconsin (I knew it all along they would kick
butt). They smoked the impressive team from Madison by 65 points.
WOMEN'S TRICK - The women didn't get much of a rest after jump
going strait into women's trick. Due to darkness, they only got in the
first 4 rounds of trick. But what they did get in on Saturday evening was
quite impressive. Britney Sokol was the first to show just how deep our
women's trick team is. She had an unbelievable run to start things off.
In fact, she trick out of her mind. (yeah, I am building up another PB).
Britney tricked 290 points which is a new PB for her. Michelle Rothfuss
followed that up with a personal best of her own. Michelle tricked a
total of 340 pts. Michelle's PB placed her 17th for the tournament.
Gretchen Strom wasn't far behind them with a 280 pt trick run. That was
good enough for Gretchen to take 21st place. Traci Weis had some big
shoes to fill with the high performances from the first three trickers.
She did so with ease posting a beautiful standup run of 810 points at the
end of the day. 810 was good enough for Traci to end the event in 7th
place. Abby Schmitt took to the water Sunday morning determined to nail
her run. And I think its safe to say she did. Abby tricked her best run
of the season with 1530 points. Her run was good enough to finish 2nd
place in trick. If you have been reading these updates all year, you will
notice that the women have been falling just behind the University of
Michigan in trick at every tournament this season. Well, not nay more.
The women stepped it up with the outstanding performances, the women
placed 1st for the first time this season in trick. They beat Michigan by
40 points.
MEN'S JUMP - By the men's jump event, Purdue had a solid lead, and
had pretty much locked up a trip to nationals. All at stake for Sunday
afternoon was a 6th consecutive Regional victory. Matt McCain started the
afternoon for the men's jump team. Matt put his first jump on the board
of 56'. He then tried to go bigger but thought better of it passing on
his next two attempts. McCain's 56' jump was enough to place him in 53rd
place. Ed Wiley took to the water following McCain. Ed jumped like a
maniac with some huge jumps, but was unable to ride any of them out. Eric
Williams took to the water next. The conditions began to worsen with a
huge head wind. Eric's setup was blown due to the wind and couldn't ride
out his first jump. Eric's second jump was set up better, but the head
wind got the better of him as the wind took his tips and turned him face
first into the water. With 2 falls, Eric took the safe road and landed a
single cut and a monster it was. Eric's last jump took him 69' and 35th
place in the tournament. Knowing the awful conditions, Matt Fillmore
played it safe and landed a solid 87' jump which was good enough to take
19th place. Cale Burdick went into his jump set knowing that 1st place
was locked up and didn't push it with the gutsy conditions. He still
managed a super 114' jump which placed him in 4th place. Overall, the
men's jump team
placed 5th.
In the end, Purdue finished Regionals in 1st place. This was the 6th
consecutive Regional win for Purdue and the 21st strait in the Midwest
conference. The story of the weekend though was the outstanding
performances from several skiers earning new personal bests. When the
tournament was finished, there were a total of 10 personal bests either
made or tied over the weekend
Submitted by Abby
Schmitt
as written by Ryan Henderson
__________________________________________________________
Week 3
In women's slalom Purdue had a first ever - their entire women's team ran
their opening pass helping them take the event. Individually Amanda
McCarty of Indiana University took 5th with 2.5 @ 34 mph, 15 off.
Purdue's Traci Weis lead the team with 4.5 @ 34 mph, 15 off. And it
was no suprise that Kayla McClure, Ball State, took the top with 5 @ 32
off.
Men's slalom had some stiff competition for the top spots. Purdue's
Matthew Fillmore and Ed Wiley placed 4th and 2nd respectively just behind
their own team mate Cale Burdick with 2.25 @ 39 off.
Women's trick saw some great tricking out of Kayla McClure, Ball State,
putting up 1810 for 2nd and Sam Ruehl, Ohio University tricking 1980
for 1st. From Purdue Abby Schmitt put up 970 for 3rd and Traci Weis had a
personal best wit 810 for 5th.
Purdue's men dominated the trick event with taking 3 of 5 spots on the
podium. Matt Fillmore and Christian Safie tied with 820 for 4th and
Ed Wiley took first with 1340.
The jump event saw several personal best from Purdue in both women and
men. Gretchen Storm leaped 51 feet for 4th place to lead the women's
jump team. In men's Eric Williams had a personal best of 95, but amazingly
enough that didn't even place top 5. Matt Fillmore rounded out the 5th
spot with a jump of 103 - Welcome to the Century Club! and Cale Burdick
took the event with a 151.
Matt Fillmore finished first overall and Traci Weis finished 3rd overall.
Good Luck to the Boilers and the rest of the teams heading to Decatur this
weekend - Michigan, Michigan State, Miami of Ohio, Cincinnati, and Western
Michigan
Submitted by Abby
Schmitt
__________________________________________________________
Collegiate Weeks
1 and 2.
Week 1: VanWert, OH
In women's slalom, first place went to Kayla McClure, Ball State, with 3 @
32 off. Second place to Abby Schmitt, Purdue Senior, skied 2 buoys at 28
off, and third place went to Amanda Griffith, outstanding rookie of IPFW.
In men's slalom Purdue took the podium with the rookie Ed Wiley in first
with 4 buoys at 32 off. Second place, Matt Fillmore with 1 ½ buoys at 32
off. Third place went to Dave Mahoney with ½ buoy at 28 off.
Going into trick Purdue led Michigan by 600 points. In women's trick Abby
Schmitt placed second with 1450 points. Kayla McClure followed with a
score of 1130. In men's trick second place went to Ed Wiley with 1260
points. Followed in third place by IU's James Feid with 990 points.
After the rain quit for a while women's jump started on Sunday morning.
First place was Ball State's Kayla McClure with a leap of 101 feet.
Second place was Amanda Griffith from IPFW with 85 feet. Abby Schmitt
followed in third with 66 feet. Matt Fillmore took third in men's jump
with a 94 foot jump.
At the end of a very wet and chilly tournament Purdue had won it's 18th
consecutive Midwest tournament. University of Michigan trailed in second
by 1235 points. Michigan State rounded out the top 3 1145 points behind U
of M. Ball State finished in 6th, IPFW in 8th and Indiana University
in 11th.
Week 2: Gaines, MI
In women's slalom Abby Schmitt, Purdue, finished in first with 3 @ 28 off,
Amanda Griffith, IPFW, hot on her tail with 2 @28 off. And in a tie at
4th was Purdue's Traci Weis, Purdue, with 3 @ 34 mph, 15 off. Purdue
again dominated the podium with senior Cale Burdick in 1st with 3 @ 39.
His teammates followed up with 4.5 @ 32 from Ed Wiley and 3 @ 32 from Matt
Fillmore.
Women's trick ended with Amanda Griffith on top of the podium with 910
points, Abby Schmitt tied in second with 730 points and Traci Weis tied
for 4th with 660 points. On the men's side it's no suprise... Purdue
dominated. Cale Burdick won with 1810, Ed Wiley was in second with 1340,
Christian Safie with 1120 and Matt Fillmore followed up with 970 in 4th
place.
In the jump event Amanda Griffith took 1st with a 79 foot jump. Followed
up by Abby Schmitt with 57 feet in second. In men's jump Cale Burdick won
with a 132 and Matt Fillmore took 3rd with an 85.
It was a great weekend, but could have been a bit warmer. The skiers
camped in 40* weather and dealt with highs of only 60 during the day.
Purdue again took the top spot. IPFW took 7th followed by IU in 8th and
Ball State in 10th.
Watch more on the collegiate skiers at mcwsa.com and ncwsa.com This
weekend will be the Great Lakes Conference Championships in Hamilton, OH.
The top teams will advance to Regionals in Decatur, IL the following
weekend.
Submitted by Abby
Schmitt
