Midwest Teams Kick Off Spring at Purdue Springfest

The annual Purdue University Springfest at Swerve Watersports Center in Hillsboro, Tennessee was a beautiful tournament that 14 teams attended this past weekend. These teams traveled from all over the Midwest, coming from both Great Lakes and Great Plains conferences, to compete in their first tournament since the brutal winter.

The weekend started with Friday’s practice sets and American themed shenanigans. The following morning, the teams woke up for an 8:00am start time on Saturday with women’s A slalom first off the dock. This was the first time many skiers had dipped into the water since October! An amazing first place score was posted by Michigan State’s Sara Condra with 3 buoys at 22 off. Ohio State University took the gold overall for women’s A team slalom with a combined 890 points.

The day then moved on to the men’s A team slalom skiers. Miami University took first place overall for men’s slalom with a combined score of 1,430. Their very own Jared Lutz took first place with 3.5 buoys at 32′ off. There was a break during the day as boats were gassed up, and changed out for jump to begin. Skiers tanned along the lake side, played spike ball, and caught up with their ski friends from other schools.

After the break, women’s A team jump began and four rounds were pulled before sunset. Many teams brought new members to Springfest and this was their first time seeing someone hit big red in person! Although B team didn’t ski this weekend, it got the skiers excited to try jump in the fall. Saturday night the teams all dressed in their best Canadian tuxedos for the denim, denim, and more denim theme.

All of the teams woke up again on Sunday morning to finish up the tournament strong starting with women’s A team fifth round jump. Ohio State University’s fifth round jumper Claire Hansel placed first with a jump of 64 feet. Michigan State University women took the gold overall for jump with a combined score of 770. Following the women, the men’s A teams skied their way over big red. OSU’s Samuel Reifsteck also took first with a flying jump of 104 feet. Overall Michigan State’s men had the highest combined jump score of 950 points.

Following men’s A team jump, many teams who had long drives began their journey home. For those who stuck around, the trick event began. Claire Hansel placed first in trick with a score of 600. Her teammate, Matthew Kalbacher, also placed first with a score of 810. Their team, Ohio State University, took first in trick for both men and women.

Combined Team Results

The Ohio State Buckeyes narrowly beat out the Michigan State Spartans to take first place overall for the combined team results. With Michigan State in second, Miami University rounded out the top three for combined team results. This amazing tournament could not have happened without the help of all the officials and Michael Bullock for hosting. The skiers were ecstatic to get back on the water and are looking forward to more warm weather and skiing!

Place	Name	Slalom	Trick	Jump
1	Ohio State University	1	1	4
2	Michigan State University	4	8T	1
3	Miami University	3	3T	3
4	Purdue University	2	8T	2
5	Western Michigan University	8	3T	5
6	University of Wisconsin – Madison	10	2	6
7	Indiana University	5	8T	9T
8	Grand Valley State University	7	8T	9T
9	University of Dayton	6	8T	11
10	Bowling Green State University	9	8T	7
11	University of Wisconsin – La Crosse	11	5	12
12	University of Michigan	14	8T	8
13	University of Cincinnati	12	7	13
14	University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point	13	6	14

The full scorebook can be found on USA Water Ski & Wake Sports website.