posted Jun 23rd, 2004 - What a difference a month makes! The big story of the Midwest Skydiving League season opener in May was the weather. On June 19th the league held its second meet and the competitors took center stage - the way it should be.Hinckley 5 put on a show in the AAA Class. We certainly hope to see them next month. Good Vibrations put on another impressive performance. The team changed to a less experienced line-up and decided to give the AA Class a shot. As the scores show, the team was ready for the challenge. We look forward to seeing what the Good Vibrations decides to do at the next meet.The A Class saw some amazing improvements made by the teams. The Furies improved their scoring level from a 2.2 meet average at the first meet to the 3.7 average at this meet. Always Broke went from 0.8 points to 2.3 points average. This meet was also the first of the year for the Gravity Powered Misfits. With one team member under 90 jumps, GPM scored a solid 3.7 meet average. All the teams were happy with the improvements, but you can tell that they aren't satisfied yet.

The teams of the Rookie Class were just as incredible. Nighthooker and the Pimps improved from a 1.8 average to 3.0 points at this meet. The Sirens went from 1.5 to a whopping 4.0 average. The friendly rivalry between these two Skydive Chicago teams promises to push both teams even further in the near future. Tune in next month to see how good these teams can get with another month of practice.Seeing the teams show off their improved skills was fun. Watching the close races in A Class and in the Rookie Class was exciting.The A Class battle between the Furies and the Gravity Powered Misfits was awesome. Both teams had identical scores in each of the first four rounds. It can't be any closer than that. The Furies had trouble with the exit in round five. If we have learned one thing about the women on this team, it's that they don't give up. They regrouped and scored a team-high score of six points in the final round. GPM needed four points in round six to win. Both teams gathered at the judging station to see whether they made it or not. As the fourth GPM point started to build, everyone knew time had to be running out. It was close, but close doesn't count in 4-way. There was not enough working time left for GPM to complete the fifth point, and the two teams settled for a tie. The third-place finisher, Always Broke, stayed within striking distance in the first three rounds but fell off the pace in round four.

The conclusion of the Rookie Class competition came down to the final round, as well. The Sirens needed three points to tie with Nitehooker. The Sirens had averaged 3.0 throughout the first three rounds, so it was possible. However, nobody guessed that these women would respond to the pressure by scoring seven points in working time. It was truly amazing to watch.The MWSL teams are getting better, competition is heating up and teams are having a lot of fun. We couldn't ask for anything better. Special thanks to the manifest staff at Chicagoland Skydiving for keeping things moving along. The Midwest Skydiving League will travel to Sky Knights in East Troy for meet three next month, I can't wait!Meet story provided by Drew Hickok, MWSL Assistant Director