On the weekend of February 23-24, 2019 the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin – La Crosse co-hosted the 2019 Midwest Winter Conference. Twenty teams of skiers spent a few days socializing, learning from the pros, and voting on rule changes at the annual captains meeting. The Great Wolf Lodge was selected as the place to host the conference.
The University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse’s president Samantha Granec explained why the Great Wolf Lodge was chosen as the location for this year’s Winter Conference. “We wanted to create a fun way to incorporate our love for water and swimsuits into this year’s conference, so we decided to host it at a hotel with a waterpark! I think it ended up being fun for the majority of the teams and created a team bonding event outside of the hotel room,” Granec said.
On Friday night all of the teams arrived at the Great Wolf Lodge. Skiers were pouring into the hotel, dressed in theme wear. This year the theme was puns. Skiers got creative with their attire and made a fun guessing game for everybody. Some of the costumes included “Where-wolves”, “Hawaiian Punch”, and “Maroon 5”.
The next morning, the captains came together to discuss rule changes, vote on proposals, and elect people for board positions. One of the proposals that the captains voted to pass was a new rule that allows teams to call into future captain’s meetings and vote remotely.
Passing Knowledge
Every year, several professional skiers are invited to attend the festivities, and share their waterskiing knowledge. This year’s pros were Siani Oliver, Zack Warden, and Freddie Winter. Winter explained what unique experiences he could bring to the Conference.
“ I’ve skied around the world in more or less every kind of slalom tournament there is so I can give some insight into the life of a water skier. I also had a rule created and added to the collegiate rule book because of me after my contentious participation at collegiate nationals a couple of years back, I’ve got some collegiate credentials ,” Winter said.
The pros shared their experience in all three events by speaking to the collegiate skeirs. Freddie Winter hosted an advanced slalom session, intermediate trick, and the beginner jump session. Siani Oliver gave advice for intermediate slalomers and jumpers, and beginner trickers. Zack Warden made his return to winter conference and hosted the beginner slalom session, and advanced trick and jump sessions.
Team Midwest Banquet
After the pro sessions, all of the teams went to Trapper’s Turn for a banquet. At the banquet dinner was served, Skiammys were awarded to teams and skiers, ski gear was raffled off, and the Midwest All-Star team selections were announced. There were twelve total awards given out at the banquet. Some of the awards include the 2019 Most Valuable Skier which was awarded to Jose Luis Tejada from Purdue, and the Most Improved Team which was awarded to Bowling Green State University.
Sunday morning the teams funneled out of the hotel and left for their homes. Oliver explained her overall experience with Team Midwest. “Meeting the skiers for sure [was my favorite part]! The event was unreal, unlike anything I have experienced before. Everyone there this weekend is a die hard Waterskier, and I loved getting to know them and talking about the sport that we love most!
The people make it, and the fact that teams travel from all over the Midwest to celebrate, learn and of course to appreciate and embrace the pure fun of Collegiate waterskiing is awesome,” Oliver said.
2019 Skiammy Award Winners
Best Team Captain – Evan Marcus
Most Improved Skier/Team – Bowling Green State University
Best Team Captain – Sam Granec
Happy Award(Most Supportive Alumni) – Andy Vespestad
Kiedrowski Award (Most supportive Skier) – Sam Reifsteck
Most Outstanding Senior Male – Jared Lutz
MOst Outstanding Senior Female – Sara Condra
Rookie of the Year – Ryan Schipper
Most Valuable Skier – Jose Luis Tejada
Most likely to go Pro – Hunter Duffy
Most Likely to hit the side curtain – Nikki Weber
Team of the Year – University of Wisconsin – La Crosse
Jeff Surdej Award – David Huisman
Officials Incentive
Each region receives funding from NCWSA dues to be distributed to teams as they deem fit. The Midwest Region (along with the West) use these funds to incentivise athletes to work towards official ratings, splitting the money between the top teams with the most new or upgraded ratings.
3rd Place (Tie) – University of Wisconsin – La Crosse & Missouri State, Awarded each $125
2nd Place – The Ohio State University, Awarded $500
1st Place – Iowa State University, Awarded $750
List of award winners and most photos were compiled by Molly Voska
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