UW-La Crosse Sweeps at the Jacob Kaufmann Memorial Classic

What a great tournament out in Oconomowoc at the beautiful Still Water Lake September 14th & 15th. It was a small, but efficient tournament made up of mostly Wisconsin schools and the University of Illinois. I can say confidently that there were more parents & families than actual skiers. It was great to see so many spectators supporting these hardworking teams!

UW-La Crosse Showing their Skigle Spirit!

Saturday started off a bit chilly! The air was only 50 degrees for the first few women’s slalomers. The top 5 women’s slalom spots went to the full University of Wisconsin – La Crosse A team. Star Super Senior Samantha Granec took first with 3.5 buoys – 32 mph, Jenna Meyer took second with 3 buoys – 30 mph, and Kendall Anderson took third with 1.5 buoys at 30 mph. As the men took to the water, it finally began to warm up! No surprise here, Hunter Duffy from UW-La Crosse took first place with 2 buoys at 35 off. UW-La Crosse dominated the rest of the top three spots with Evan Marcus taking second with 3.5 buoys at 28 off, and Mark Stoskopf taking third with 3.25 buoys at 22 off 34 mph.

Next the skiers got tricky! Men started on one end of the lake with women on the other and away they went. Again, we saw the UW-La Crosse women’s A team monopolized the top 5 spots. Samantha Granec took first with 770 points, followed by a tie for second between Jenna Meyer and Abby Schauer with 660 points. As for the men, University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Reid Miller snagged first with 970 points, followed by Hunter Duffy with 950, and University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point’s Parker Witt took third with 890 points.

Ben Smogard jumping into 3rd place
PC: Alaina Clague

The tournament wrapped up on Sunday with Jump. It was a very gloomy day and most of the spectators were gone, which meant skiers were left with little food and were forced to scavenge for leftovers from families the previous day. The skiers began to perk up when they saw their first few teammates hit big red. The day was perfect for PBs and it seemed as though everyone was soaring to new distances. Hunter Duffy took first with 119 feet, followed by Evan Marcus with 106 feet (PB), and UW-Madison’s Ben Smogard with 83 feet (PB). UW-La Crosse’s Laura Anderson took first for the women with 51 feet (PB), followed by UW-Madison’s Matayla Debruin with 46 feet, and UW-Madison’s Alaina Clague with 45 feet.

Big thanks to the Marquette Ski Team!

Big thanks to Tournament Director Mike Testa, the Marquette University ski team, all the drivers, judges, scorers and assistants, and the great homeowners at Still Water Lake for a fantastic tournament!

Every tournament, we are getting closer and closer to the Syndicate Waterskis 2019 NCWSA Nationals. The anticipation is building and all of these teams have been working so hard! It’s going to be a great fight again at the upcoming Midwest Regionals to see which Midwest teams will secure a ticket to Nationals. As they’ve been saying…it’s Bell Acqua or Bust!

Ski ya later!

Full tournament Scorebook.