posted Aug 24th, 2006 - A lousy weather forecast for Saturday held down attendance, and a stubborn layer of low clouds delayed the start of our fourth meet of the season at Chicagoland Skydiving until the following day. We have not had serious weather issues for a meet for over two years here in the Midwest, but our luck finally ran out. Sunday did open with gorgeous clear skies and nice skydiving weather, but by then only three teams had returned to take advantage of it.

Whether it was the long delay or just coincidence, all three teams got off to rough starts on Sunday. In the AAA Class, CSC Rubicon (Rich Madsen, Brian Darnell, Laurent Beaudouin, Steve Lefkowitz, Kevin Nafztger-v) started slowly, but then put together four solid closing rounds for a total of 45 points.

Rubicon's point, Steve Lefkowitz, is an impressive example of how much is possible in 4-way with the right combination of commitment and talent.

Steve only graduated from the CSC student program last summer and has successfully made the huge leap to the AAA Class in the NSL with its complete dive pool, slot switchers and occasional 12-point non-repeaters.

Like Rubicon, the CSC Sirens were coming off a five-day training camp with well known 4-way coach Robert Chromy and were anxious to put their recent training to good use. But, like Rubicon, they would take a couple rounds to hit their stride. In an impressive round three, the Sirens (Barbra Carqueville, Susan Crowe, JaNette Lefkowitz, Karyn Rees, B-Rad –v) missed the 12th point by a fraction of a second and then followed up with a 12-pointer in round four. They wound up with 51 points for an 8.5 average for the meet.

Our third team was the Rookie Class team CSC Dropouts (Brad Fowler, Butch Connelly, Ben Jacob, David Crowe, Troy Church – v). Meet 4 included challenging exits for the Rookie Class in nearly every round, and the Dropouts had their hands full trying to adapt. The Dropouts made progress, but unfortunately they were shut out in this meet.

However, for inspiration they need look no further than their own videoflyer, Troy Church, whose former team Unexpected went on from their own shutout in an MWSL meet in 2002 to scoring 32 points in the AA Class equivalent, the Intermediate Class, at the USPA Nationals later that year.

Would-be AA Class competitors Just4Fun (whose point could not jump on Sunday) won the MWSL special award for dedication by flying to Baldwin to jump the draw once it became clear that the weather would not allow them to make it to Hinckley. Alas, such determination to compete won our respect but did not permit them to make it onto the Meet 4 scoreboard.

Also, thanks to Chasing Amy for making the trip to CSC Saturday despite the weather. And thanks again to the three teams who did return to compete on Sunday after having spent most of Saturday at the DZ hoping for the clouds to somehow move along.

Chicagoland Skydiving once again were great hosts for the MWSL in 2006. Our thanks to Lisa, Melissa, Doug, TD and the rest of the CSC staff; we look forward to seeing you all again in 2007. While this was the last MWSL meet at CSC, remember that the MWSL is holding 4-way Scrambles here on September 9th. Anyone with at least a "B" license is eligible to participate. There is no fee, but there is a $10 deposit to hold your slot. Contact me or CSC to sign up.

The MWSL has only one meet left this season: Meet 5/NSL Playoffs weekend at Sky Knights SPC in East Troy, Wisconsin. Our Meet Coach, courtesy of Sky Knights and the MWSL, is Airspeed's Todd Hawkins, so be sure not to miss this great opportunity for world class coaching. See you soon.

Alan Butt, MWSL Director