This past weekend, I skied in a tournament for the first time since college, Green Lightning at Water’s Edge in Wilmington, Illinois. This tournament is a fun one, as it is a team competition based on averages. Plenty of current, former, and future NCWSA skiers were on hand at the tournament: Michigan State (Facebook | Instagram), Grand Valley State (Facebook | Twitter), University of Illinois (Facebook), Marquette (Facebook | Twitter), Iowa (Facebook | Twitter), Illinois State (Facebook), Arizona State (Facebook | Instagram), and more!
Grand Valley’s team comprised of current skiers and recent graduates took second in the tournament, only to be beat by the Little Nightmares – a team of kids who will likely take over the NCWSA a few years down the road if I had to guess. Bryan Condra took second in tricks with a score of 2,010, Pat Taylor scored a personal best in slalom, skiing into 34mph in his first two rounds, and Jack Phillipson scored a new personal best in trick and jump with scores of 3,410 and 136 feet, respectively.
Bryan Condra shared the following: “It was an amazing tournament! We loved the fact that no matter your skill level it was about improvement and gave the spotlight to individuals with high growth and consistency instead of just a high score. We were able to watch some incredible skiing and also network with individuals in the ski community to help grow the sport. I can’t say thank you enough to those who hosted this tournament and helped to put it on. It was one of the best run tournaments I have been to in a while and they made sure everyone had time to ski multiple sets along with lunch and dinner provided to maximize your experience.”
The team I skied for, Tully Too, took an incredible 9th (or maybe 11th – my lake sent two teams!) place in the tournament. However, our placement did not reflect the great skiing that took place from Tully Won (the team that won last year’s Green Lightning) and Tully Too. One of our teammates, and perhaps future NCWSA skier, took home 3rd place in Jump, and multiple team members skied personal bests in slalom by a full pass or more! We even had one alumnus from the West Region, Chuckie Prochaska from Arizona State, on the roster this weekend.
Team Midwest had several “old balls” on hand at Green Lightening. Our fearless Team Midwest leader, Christy Kingsmill from the University of Iowa scored a personal best in tricks while also helping ensure the tournament ran smoothly. Jim Grabowski from Marquette announced for the better part of the day on Saturday. Several former members of Team Midwest assisted with driving , judging, scoring, and dock starting throughout the weekend.
Summer tournaments are an awesome way to stay involved with skiing outside of the collegiate season. It helps get you in ski shape, and prepared to ski tournaments in the fall. Summer tournaments are also a great way to meet former NCWSA skiers and recruit new team members!
If you would like to submit photos or stories for other summer tournament recaps, email us at alumni@ncwsa.com!
- Spring Break 2018! - April 6, 2018
- Alumni Spotlight: Cole Kalkbrenner - February 23, 2018
- Auburn Volunteers at Storybrook Farm - January 30, 2018
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