posted Aug 19th, 2009 - The NSL News story on 12 August 2009 covered the August meet of the Midwest Skydiving League. Seven teams competed at Skydive Chicago, both AAA Class teams (SDC Furies XP, SDC Rhythm XP) completed all ten rounds of the fast AAA Class competition draw, while all other teams went through the 6-round meet as usual.

The Rookie Class teams completed only three rounds, and two of the three teams (Flying Fish, Jetstream Tango) attended their third meet this year. It was another good battle for the top Rookie Class position in the Midwest region. Flying Fish had a clear upper hand at the first two meets (17 - 9 and 17 - 10). It was different this time.

Eric Bambach (Center Outside), Kati Matyka (Point), Megan Pulver (Tail) and Ellen Steckbar (Center Inside) once again increased Jetstream Tango's meet average (1.5 - 3.3 - 4.7) and were actually three points ahead of Flying Fish after three rounds.

The weather situation did not allow the Rookie Class teams to complete the meet on Saturday. Only the Flying Fish members (Tony Dommer - Point, James Lovaas - Inside Center, Jesse Townsend - Outside Center, Jeff Townsend - Tail) came back on Sunday and completed seven rounds.

Some videos of the Rookie Class teams can now be reviewed on NSL-TV, which features the first two rounds of the meet. The two AAA Class teams at the MWSL August meet, SDC Furies XP and SDC Rhythm XP, conclude the order of the meet videos in each round.

The Furies competed for the first time this year. The new 2009 lineup (Anabel Durham – Center Outside, Karyn Rees - Point, Shannon Sweet – Tail, Rhonda Wilcox - Center Inside, Charles Lane – Camera) posted already a significantly higher meet average compared to the past years.

The highest result in 2008 was an 11.0 average at the USPA Nationals. The Furies new lineup finished with a 13.7 average after the ten rounds of the August meet. The partnership with SDC Rhythm XP and Brian Johnson's coaching seems to show serious results for the Furies.

SDC Rhythm XP itself continued the pursuit of the highest meet average of an "amateur" team in the USA. The NSL News mentioned in an earlier story that Mass Defiance still owns this special record (19.3) that was posted at the USPA Nationals 2007.

The Midwest Skydiving League team gets closer to this mark meet by meet. In fact, the 19.2 average this month is obviously only one single point behind the Mass Defiance amateur record average. To make it a fair game, the new record score will have to be delivered at the USPA Nationals 2009.

The competition draw will have a big part in this game. The MWSL August draw surely was on the fast side, and Rhythm did not hesitate to take full advantage of it, with a 30-pointer in Round 7 (E,C,J,F,7) and a 37-pointer in Round 10 (B,L,O,Q,P). Laurent Beaudouin (Tail), Janette Lefkowitz (Center Outside), Steve Lefkowitz (Point), Rob Radez (Center Inside) and Kevin Naftzger (Camera) have one more opportunity to gain even more confidence. The last MWSL meet of the 2009 season is scheduled for September 12. The USPA Nationals follow a month later. More videos of the MWSL August meet will be posted soon.