posted Jul 23rd, 2011 - Last weekend's large leaderboard also included two different Teiwaz lineups. One was attending the second summer heat meet in Sebastian, while Teiwaz North competed at the Karp Cup at Cross Keys. Cherie and Karl Schuch, Teiwaz members of many years now, accepted two new members, Marty Schneider and Rob Fields.

Both have been active 4-way competitors at local, regional and national competitions for a long time. They won gold medals in the Intermediate Class at the USPA Nationals 2007 with Cross Keys Air Pollution. Their team mates in 2007 were - Cherie and Karl Schuch. However, the actual Air Pollution reunion happened under the big Teiwaz umbrella last weekend.

Another Cross Keys 4-way competitor has caught the NSL News attention in the past, and the inquiry for more information was successful. Mariaelena Rodriguez does not only have an in the skydiving community very famous last name, she is also just as passionate about 4-way as Airspeed world champion Eliana Rodriguez has always been.

MASL July 16th, 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	H,7,19	C,J,17,11	K,P,12,G	M,8,15	L,F,16,6	9,18,10	Total	Avg
1	Teiwaz North	12	9	10	12	10	9	62	10.3
Rank	AA Class	H,7,19	C,J,11	K,P,G,21	M,8,15	L,F,6	9,18	Total	Avg
1	STL Monkey	10	10	9	7	10	7	53	8.8
2	CK 500	4	7	3	3	4	-	21	4.2
Rank	Rookie	H,E,B	C,J,Q	K,P,G	M,N,O	L,F,D	A,H,C	Total	Avg
1	Karp Diem	5	2	3	5	5	5	25	4.2
2	We Dont Care	3	3	2	1	2	0	11	1.8

Mariaelena Rodriguez competed with Rookie Class team Karp Diem at the MASL Karp Cup last weekend, and she has not missed an MASL meet yet this year. She did her first jump on her birthday, October 5th, 2007, at Skydive Sussex NJ. That’s when she fell in love with the sport instantly.

It was expensive for her at that time, and she wasn't able to continue, unfortunately, as she remembers: "Every time I thought of it, my heart rate raised and my chest was filled with, I don’t really know how to describe it, is like when you think about your first love and your chest is full of joy."

She got a better job and was able to do her second jump in March 2009. She was still only averaging two jumps per month and tried to do her best to be current and save money: "I was reducing my budget as much as I could to afford skydiving; no more shoes, fancy restaurants. I was even annoying my family with 'how much? That’s a jump ticket! No thanks'..."

It was one day before her birthday in 2009 when she had her first cutaway on jump number 18, and she remembers it well: "My exit was stable, my arch was very good, I did all I was supposed to do. But I had such a bad line twist that I was not able to put my fingers above my head to try to kick me out of it. I was still so calm, and all the emergency procedures were so clear in my head, like if the instructor was right there telling me what to do."

She landed, and the first thing she wanted to do was jump again before the fear invaded her. So she was trying to get another rig. She was told that she would first have to pay for the lost canopy. She dropped what she was doing and went to find someone to go with her to the woods and find the canopy. They brought it back two hours later...

She did not tell anyone in her family about it: "I knew they would beg me to stop jumping. So it made me a bit blue not being able to share such experience with them." Then the temperatures dropped, and the cutaway was her last jump in 2009.

She used the winter break to focus on getting a raise to be able to jump more the next year, and it worked out well. She got her license in May 2010. Then Nathan Freeman and Laticia Craig introduced her to Dennis Miller, the current MASL Director, who took care of her and her passion for skydiving:

"I consider Dennis my mentor, my skydiving dad. He took the time and wasted jump tickets, taught me belly flying. At my 30th jump I was doing 4-way with people who had so much experience, and I felt so privileged. There is so much to learn, and being able to actually compete is even more amazing!!!! I’m always welcoming new skydivers and encouraging new students to get their license and be part of thie awsome community I'm fortunate to belong to, and I'm also looking for people to commit to a team. I want to be on a team and keep competing."

Sounds like Eliana Rodriguez 12 years ago... Marialelena Rodriguez made her 200th jump in Round 2 last weekend. Her 100th jump was an MASL meet jump, as well, and she wants to continue with this pattern: "Hopefully it becomes a tradition and all my important jumps are on meets."