posted Sep 15th, 2004 - The fifth and final MWSL meet of the 2004 season took place last weekend under perfect skydiving conditions at Chicagoland Skydiving Center in Hinckley, IL. Six teams, five of whom had attended every MWSL meet this season, competed for off-season bragging rights, prizes and the opportunity to compete in the NSL Championships at SkyQuest 2004. In a format new for 2004, this event was a “meet within a meet”. Through the first six rounds, the teams were not only putting up scores for MWSL meet 5, but also for the NSL Playoffs 2004. Thus MWSL Meet 5 was completed Saturday evening and the final four rounds on Sunday finished the local NSL Playoffs. Thanks to Lisa Dexter and the CSC staff, the two-day meet went smoothly.

The closest competition in the MWSL this year was in the Rookie Class, where the Sirens and Nite Hooker and the Pimps were in a dogfight all season long. In fact, so closely matched were the two teams that they entered Meet 5 tied with 7 league points in the standings, so this meet would determine the season champions. And fittingly they stayed very close right up to the last jump of the season. The Nite Hookers led the Sirens by a single point going into round four, but the all-woman team from SDC had a rough jump which enabled the Hookers to pull ahead by six points, which wound up being the final margin of victory in their 55-49 win.

While the Hookers therefore took gold in the Rookie Class for the MWSL 2004 season, both teams were still jumping on Sunday in the remaining four Playoff rounds. While six points is a big lead with only four rounds to go, the ladies nailed a 12 in the first round of the day and kept going from there. They won each round that day and eked out a one-point victory over their rivals, resulting in a fitting split decision between two very evenly matched teams. Perhaps even more notable than the close and exciting competition between the two teams was the startling progression the teams made during the season. Both teams had an average under two points in the first meet of the season, which was also the first meet ever for both teams. They had raised that to over 8 by this meet! A real testament to their hard work and dedication to succeed.

The A Class, the most popular class in the MWSL this season, had three teams competing: home team Gravity Powered Misfits, the MWSL 2003 Rookie Class champions Furies and the SkyKnights team Always Broke (Ken Johnston, Dave Klitzke, Pam Werner, Brian Martin). GPM (Drew Hickok, Dave Bird, Jen Glassner and Karen Softcheck) put together their best performance of the season with a solid 31 and easily won the meet. The race for second between the all-woman Furies and Always Broke was very close, but Broke could never quite overcome the three-point deficit from round one and had to settle for third by a score of 22-20. It was Always Broke’s best showing of the season. Despite being beaten in the meet, the Furies still took gold for the season, with GPM finishing second and Always Broke third.

The absence of MWSL regulars Just4Fun meant that Good Vibrations would be unopposed in their meet in the AA Class, but that didn’t prevent them from posting their second solid meet in a row. The Vibes put up a 31, which was just short of their season high of 33 points from the previous meet and included some of their best skydiving of the season. However, since final standings are based on the four best meets, J4F still wound up with first place honors for the season and Good Vibrations took home silver.

It was an exciting meet and capped off another successful season for the MWSL, with lots of fun competition and skill building for the many participants. Thanks to our supporters, including SkyVenture Orlando, Perris SkyVenture, Chicagoland Skydiving Center, Skydive Chicago and SkyKnights SPC, the MWSL and NSL will wind up awarding over $3500 in prizes to MWSL teams (plus any prizes that may result from the NSL Playoffs and Championship 2004)! I would also like to thank meet coaches Lem Castro and Rich Sommers, as well as Assistant League Director Drew Hickok for their help in making it all happen. And, of course, thanks to the many competitors who make the league possible.

While Sunday marked the end of our 2004 season, I am looking forward to see what changes 2005 will bring us. And while the MWSL season may be over, remember the NSL season still has its championship at SkyQuest 2004 on November 18 - 21. Good luck to any MWSL teams that may be competing there. Everyone have a good off-season and see you next year.

Meet story provided by MWSL Director Alan Butt