posted Sep 21st, 2005 - The final meet of the Midwest Skydiving League 2005 season took place Saturday under gorgeous blue skies at Chicagoland Skydiving in Hinckley, IL featuring five veteran teams. The meet's results would determine the final MWSL rankings and also represented the last chance for the teams to improve their NSL season standings. Lisa Dexter and the rest of the staff at CSC, the most senior supporter among the MWSL dropzones, did their usual great job managing the meet.

Once again, Rebeca at Performance Designs was generous enough to provide prizes for a second "PD Challenge", which was again based on performance compared to each team's previous meet. Since each team had achieved its highest scores ever at MWSL Meet 4, the bar was set quite high.

The results were still strikingly similar. CSC Steel Breeze, coming in from a second place by a single point last time, now finished in second place by two points. 4-Play, winner of the PD T-shirts in August, this time went home with a set of five PD Factory Team DVDs with a total of 45 points and a 7.5 meet average, a new team high.

CSC Steel Breeze competed at every MWSL 2005 meet, as well as at the USPA Nationals 2005. Steel Breeze was the sole AAA Class representative at the September meet. With seasoned 4-way veteran Gene Vetterli filling in ably in the tail position, Steel Breeze scored a solid 6.8 average, just one point shy of the team's season high. Steel Breeze's efforts in 2005 were rewarded with the AAA Class gold medals and a 15-minute SkyVenture Orlando certificate.

With an impressive total of six teams at one time or another, the A Class has seen the most competition in the Midwest Skydiving League this season. However, on Saturday there were just two teams: the Chicago Sirens and 4-Play.

The Sirens, fresh off an impressive performance in the AA/Intermediate Class at the USPA Nationals, put another solid meet together and took the first place with a 9.0 meet average, the team's second highest NSL meet ever. The Sirens won a meet prize of five free jumps at the Chicagoland Skydiving Center as a result.

And, as mentioned above, 4-Play capped off a great 2005 season with a 9.0 average team record. For the MWSL 2005 season, the Sirens also took the gold medals with 16 MWSL league points and were awarded 45 free tunnel minutes at SkyVenture Orlando.

The SDC Furies, who raised the team's average from under 4.0 in 2004 to 9.4 this year, took the silver medals with 14 MWSL league points and received 15 minutes of SkyVenture Orlando tunnel time. Nite Hooker and the Pimps finished with 12 MWSL league meet points and won the bronze medals along with a $100 SkyVenture certificate.

4-Play, while finishing out of medal contention, had the impressive distinction of raising their average from 3.3 at MWSL Meet 1 to 7.5 at the last MWSL competition, a truly impressive achievement over just a 4-month season. In fact, these teams, along with Team One Fifty One, make up the top five teams in the A Class nationally. The Furies, Sirens and Pimps are all expected to move up to the AA Class in 2006, which guarantees stiff competition for many NSL AA Class teams next season.

The AA Class had two representatives this past weekend. Good Vibrations returned after a 2-meet hiatus, and Nite Hooker and the Pimps got a jump on their expected competition class in 2006. The team had already essentially jumped a 10-round AA Class meet at the USPA Nationals in Perris where they finished with a 6.7 average in 28th position.

Nite Hooker and the Pimps handled the step up well and finished the last MWSL meet with a 6.8 meet average, the same score the team had posted in their usual A Class in MWSL Meets 1 and 2. That effort won Nite Hooker and the Pimps a MWSL meet prize, as well.

Good Vibrations' roster at the last meet included newcomer Steve Lefkowitz with a total of 100 jumps in the tail position and showing real promise. Good Vibes had to settle for the second place with 15 points and a 2.5 average. The team also took the second place for the MWSL 2005 season, the absent Just4Fun had already clinched the gold previously.

The Rookie Class, the MWSL's most popular competition class in 2004, had only one single team this year.

Chasing Amy, a team comprised of recent AFF graduates, attended three MWSL 2005 meets and had doubled their average by the team's third competition. Chasing Amy won a $100-off SkyVenture Orlando tunnel time certificate as a result.

Midwest Skydiving League Director Alan Butt provided a summary of the 2005 season and was more than satisfied with the outcome:

"While our season only lasted four months, a lot of effort and cooperation went into producing the very successful season we enjoyed. We had great weather and a perfect safety record, and I am grateful for both. We had three great DZs: Skydive Chicago, Chicagoland Skydiving and SkyKnights SPC enthusiastically supporting our league and the sport of competitive 4-way. The fact that we could run smooth meets with as many as ten teams competing is a real statement of the commitment of the DZs and their staff to provide first rate service.

Matt Mikos, Lem Castro and Eliana Rodriguez helped our teams prepare with their skillful coaching. And thanks to SkyVenture Orlando and Perris SkyVenture for their continued support, as well as the aforementioned sponsorship from Performance Designs. And of course thanks to the many competitors and Kurt Gaebel for making it all possible.

In several ways the 2005 season was probably our best ever. We twice had ten teams competing at a single meet, an MWSL record and an impressive number for any regional meet, especially one far from the traditional hotbeds of 4-way in Arizona and Florida.

We also saw remarkable progress and accomplishment. Most teams had their best meets ever at some point during the 2005 season. We saw more double digit rounds than ever before, probably more than in the previous four years combined. Several teams doubled their average over the course of the season.

And thanks to the great participation and high scores, MWSL teams won more prizes than ever before. As always our season is far too short here in the upper Midwest, and now it's time for teams to begin to prepare for 2006, which promises to be a very exciting one with the teams and talent we have in place.

But while our season is over, the NSL still has its Championship in November at SkyQuest 2005, so stay tuned."