posted Nov 4th, 2004 - The fifth and final meet of the Texas Skydiving League 2004 season was held October 30th-31st. For the second time this year, Skydive Spaceland hosted a highly efficient meet. This meet had 12 teams in attendance with most of the usual suspects and a few new faces. The AAA Class was made up of Dallas Thunder, Touch–N-Go, Dallas Tantrum and Mischief. Dallas Cyclone and SHEK were in attendance as guest teams for the AAA Class. In the AA Class, Avalanche, Pinky V, 4 of a Kind, and 4 Fun were all once again in attendance from across Texas. Funnel U was in town from Dallas for the rookies. A guest rookie team, The Mod SQUAD from Skydive Spaceland also participated in this meet.

With most of the teams having been at the previous meets the briefing went quickly. The judges for the day were Sherry Schrimscher and Madolyn Murdock. The judging was once again done via computers. The draw was a fast one with no slot switchers or mirrors and several all random skydives. Go the web site to see the draw. It was a fun one! The meet was completed without interruption aided by the beautiful weather.

Dallas Thunder again set the pace for the AAA Class. Outpacing their opponents this time by a blazing 2.7 points per round! With a sub at inside center, the team was composed of Ryan Smith, Scott Latinis, Dave Burton, Lou Massie (in for Jim Klinge) and Clint Hillis on video. A tie occurred for this meet in the AAA class between Dallas Tantrum and Touch-N-Go. With six teams in the AAA class there was another close race that was settled in the 6th round between guest teams SHEK and Dallas Cyclone. The full scores are posted on the TSL website.

In the AA Class, 4 of a Kind, with Kim Murphy, Kim Airhart, Kirsten Hardmant, Jorge Alvarez and Cory Kossan on video, bested their competitors by 1.8 points per round. Avalanche placed second with 1.2 points per round lead over 4 FUN. The Rookie Class had two teams at this meet with the guest team The Mod SQUAD outscoring Funnel U by two points per round in their first skydiving meet.

There was some lag time after the last round before the results were announced. During the wait, organizers at Skydive Spaceland put together a 3-point 40-way formation load in which many of the competitors were able to participate capping off a great day of jumping.

The Texas Skydiving League presents medals at the end of the season with the last meet of the year carrying twice the weight of the other meets. Just after sunset, TSL meet director Ryan Smith brought out the medals. WOW! There were probably the best looking medals ever produced for skydiving. The TSL really out did themselves this time. Smith was quoted as saying “I really thought the medals should be something worth winning”, and they were.

The rookie division gold medal for 2004 went to Funnel U. They were the only rookie team to compete all season. Great job! The Texas Skydiving League considers itself lucky to have a rookie division and teams like this one participating fully.

In the AA Class, 4 of a Kind took home the gold after an entire season of excellence in their division. Congratulations to this up and coming first year team. Avalanche went home with the silver in AA followed by Pinky V taking home the bronze.

In the AAA Class, Dallas Thunder was no surprise as the gold medalists. This team set the pace on every round during the entire season setting a league record. (Do they owe beer for that?) Dallas Tantrum took the silver medal for the AAA Class with Touch-N-Go going home with the bronze.

There were medals presented for handicapped scores as well. These awards really spotlight the teams with the most improvement over the season. The gold medal went to 4 of a Kind. What a great season for this team and you could see the joy on their faces as they received their awards. The silver handicapped went to Funnel U. These rookies were another sight to behold when the judges hung their second medal for the evening. The bronze went to Touch-N-Go who showed great progress in the AAA Class during this season. Congratulations to all of the winners in 4 way.

Now for 8-way…. The Texas Skydiving League is the only league in the country to include 8-way. The meets this year have been plagued by bad weather allowing only one competition round (and thus only one meet) to be completed prior to this final meet. The season long weather problems set up the teams in attendance for a winner take all scenario and an exciting meet. There were three 8-way teams were in attendance Deguello 9, Dallas Thunder 8 and Dallas Lightening. The briefing went quickly and the 4-round meet was underway. Like 4-way the day before, the meet was judged electronically and was completed without interruption.

Dallas Thunder 8 (Ryan Smith, Dave Burton, John Klinge, Cherie Berke, Karen Bilder, Joe Harris, Rick Duran, Mike Westbrook and Clint Hillis on video) won the gold for the day and the season with a slim one-point victory in round four over Deguello 9. Dallas Lightening won the bronze to round out the season.

The full scores and the draws from this weekend are available on the TSL website. Steve Boyd and the Skydive Spaceland staff worked safely and efficiently to make a seamless meet at their beautiful and well appointed dropzone. Wow, what a weekend.

In closing, the Texas Skydiving League is unique in some ways (8-way division, electronic judging) and lucky to have such great participation with 11 registered 4-way teams at every meet as well as guest teams, 8-way and a full season Rookie Class. Ryan Smith, league director, should be complimented for managing this league in a fun but fair manner all season. The amount of time Ryan spent highlights his love for the sport and his skydiving friends. Thanks Ryan for a great season. Sure makes this author look forward to next year.