posted Aug 30th, 2008 - Most of the 2008 skydiving season of the Midwest Skydiving League has been plagued by awful weather. But August has mostly been beautiful with very un-Augustlike comfortable temperatures and low humidities. However, Saturday started out very much like August with high temperatures and tons of humidity presenting our six teams with challenging jumping conditions. But Meet 4, our final meet of the season, still started on time at Skydive Chicago.

While AAA Class team CSC Rhythm XP and AA Class team Just4Fun each had local competition at their last two meets, today both would be the sole MWSL representatives in their respective classes.

Rhythm continued to build their case for being the top weekend team in the country with a strong 16.3 average over four rounds at our weather-shortened meet. On their way to claiming the gold medals for our AAA Class in 2008, Rhythm effectively rewrote the MWSL record books. Their season included a 25-point round and a 17.0 average at the July meet, the highest competition round and average by an MWSL team ever. It will be exciting to follow how they do at their next meet in Eloy.

Meanwhile AA Class team Just4Fun completed their sixth MWSL season with a 5.5 average for the meet, off a bit from their last performance but still enough to win them the gold for the AA Class in 2008.

Just4Fun thanked everyone for their friendly competition over the summer and expressed the hope that next year we will have even more new faces filling out rosters at our meets.

In the A and Rookie Classes, all of the teams were using alternates or were altogether new. A Class team SDC On The Fly had Quattro member Todd DeSimone in the Point slot for the meet. Their competition, Victory Hop, had Alan Butt as the Outside Center. Neither team seemed to have trouble with the roster changes as both teams scored season highs. For Victory Hop this meant a 5.8 average or two full average points above the July meet. But OTF scored a solid 8.0 average and claimed both the meet and the gold medal for the season.

We did not have a "PD Challenge" (which recognizes the most improved meet average) at the August meet.

However, if we had one the easy winners would have been Skydive Chicago's team What's The Point. Flying with alternate Chris Wojnarowski, they scored a 3.5 average or more than triple their average at the June meet.

It's not often that you see a team make their debut at the season finale, but that was exactly what the Flying J's did on Saturday. Like many new teams the J's discovered that 4-way can be more difficult than teams like Rhythm and the Furies make it appear. But since our next MWSL meet is at least nine months away, there is plenty of time to prepare...

Thanks to Lisa DeSimone of team Quattro for serving as both meet coach and meet judge. Lisa had also judged meet two, but this was her debut as coach and gave her a chance to share her five years of 4-way experience with the teams. We also appreciate the continued support of Skydive Chicago who completed their seventh straight season as an MWSL host. Thanks to Rook, Erin, Kerry and others for keeping the meet moving despite numerous weather holds.

Despite a weak economy, terrible weather and high jump prices, participation in the MWSL was up in 2008. Our teams ran the gamut from six year veterans Just4Fun and SDC Furies to first timers, as the Flying J's and What's The Point. It was a nice mix of the experienced and the untried.

As already noted, we also witnessed a breakout season by CSC Rhythm XP who executed superbly on their 2008 game plan despite the challenging expectations and a notable lack of cooperation from the weather. Thanks to everyone who supported the league this season and good luck to those who will be competing nationally later this year. I hope to see you all back in 2009.