Guidelines for Midwest Region Water Ski Records

If you’ve set a Midwest record, please email our Records Coordinator, Jill Smith at bsmith32946@yahoo.com with the information regarding your record, including the record you’ve set, the tournament name and date so that it can be verified and updated.

“The Midwest Region recognizes skier performance records in three categories: Midwest Regional Championship Records: Records based on performances at Midwest Regional Tournaments. Midwest Tournament Records: Records based on performances at any sanctioned class “C” or higher tournament held in the Midwest Region. Midwest Skier Records: Records based on performances by Midwest Region skiers at any record capability tournament regardless of tournament location. Records in this category are recognized for performances starting 1/1/1999. A single performance may be recognized in two or more categories if it meets the requirements for each. Records are recognized for performances by skiers who are legal residents of the Midwest Region at the time of the performance. Students are not considered to be legal residents. It is the responsibility of the skier to submit proof of performance to the Record Committee for recognition of records other than Regional Championship Records. If a rule or guideline change causes an existing record to be incomparable with current conditions, the record may be moved or adjusted to meet the new conditions or it may be retired. Records are recognized in the division in which the individual actually skis in the affected tournament. i.e. open vs. age bracketed.” – Jerry Hosner (1/17/2000)

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Midwest Region Records:
Midwest Skier Records
Midwest Tournament Records
Midwest Regional Championship
Midwest 1st Place Rankings

2021 Regional Tournament Records

The 2021 Midwest Regional Championships saw sixteen new records set: six in Slalom, five in Tricks, and five in Jumping.

Some of the records broken were fairly new as in the case of records in the recently created Boys/Girls Divisions II and IV. In B/G Division II, two of the five records established last year were broken. In B/G IV, all six of last year’s records were broken. However, at the other extreme, some records that were broken had stood the test of time. Frequently, we put our concentration on the new record and all but ignore the old record holder. It’s worth noting that the existing record holder set the bar and was the inspiration that encouraged others to shoot higher. The longer the old record stood the more the existing holder should be recognized for being ahead of their time. Some of these are shown below:

• The oldest record broken was a Women’s VII trick record set by Artis Price in 1998 and broken by Beth Pesek this year.
• The next oldest was the Open Men’s jump record of 194 feet set in 2000 by Charles Crescenzo and broken by Johnathan Leutz with a leap of 210 feet.
• In Girls V, Annemarie Wroblewski set a new record in Slalom at 98 buoys previously held by Kari McClure since 2007.
• Jared Sharkey eclipsed the Men’s II Trick record by 1050 points. That record was set in 2003 by Jeff Surdej and tied by Cale Burdick in 2017.
• Bode Bulfer beat a Boys I Trick record held by Wm Montavon since 2007. He also tied the Boys I Slalom record held by Nate Smith since 2000.

Of course, all record performances are worthy of note. The new records are shown in red on the Midwest Regional Champions record sheet.

2020 Regional Tournament Records

2020 was an unusual and stressful year due to the pandemic and accompanying restrictions. However, a number of records were set at the Regional Championships. The introduction of two new age divisions created numerous opportunities for records. All top performances in these divisions were treated as records since the divisions had not previously existed in their present form. This allowed for a total of eighteen new records. These are shown in red on the Regional Championship record page. Existing records from the old divisions II and III were moved to new divisions III and V respectively. By doing this no records were lost.

There were two records set that did not involve the change created by the introduction of the new divisions:

Men VI Slalom – Mark Brandt 1.5 buoys at 55k -10.75m line

Boys III Tricks – Reid Meinhardt 6690 points

The above records also carry over into the Midwest Skier and Midwest Tournament record categories where appropriate.

2019 Regional Tournament Records

The 2019 Midwest Regional Championships held in Maize Kansas saw 8 performance records broken: Five in Slalom and two in Jumping.

Highlights:

-Evelyn Duvall set a new Women’s VI Slalom record with a score of 3 buoys a 32 off
-Bruce Kunde increased his Men’s X Slalom record by scoring 5 1/2 buoys at 28 off
-Pat Fischer increased her record by one buoy scoring 3 at full line in Women’s X Slalom
-Mary Parcheta entered the Women’s X record tally by tying with Pat Fischer with 3 buoys at full line
-Roger Wahl who is no stranger to the record books entered his first slalom record in Men’s XI with a count of 2 at 15 off
-Bruce Kunde, also no stranger to the Midwest Record scene, logged a Men’s X Jump record with a leap of 37 feet.
-Dean Chappell improved his Men’s VII jump record with an astounding leap of 113 feet.

Note: Where applicable these performances were also rolled over into the Midwest Skier ALL Record Tournament and Midwest Tournament Categories. Consult these record sheets for details.

Also two of the performers improved their records in the Midwest Skier ALL Record category at the US Nationals held in West Palm Beach Florida:

-Dean Chappell added two feet to his jump record by scoring a jump of 115 feet
-Evelyn Duvall likewise added two to her score by rounding 5 balls at 32 off.
-Sandra Cummings, who did not figure in this year’s regional records, set a Women’s VII Slalom Midwest Skier Skier record with a score of 1 ½ at 35 off

2018 Regional Tournament Records

The 2018 Midwest Regional Championships held in Wilmington Illinois saw 8 performance records broken: Four in Slalom, two in tricks and two in Jumping.

Highlights:

-Dan Wamhoff broke Jerry Hosner’s  thirteen year old Mens VII slalom record with a score of 2 at 10.75m.
-Bruce Kunde improved his own Mens X slalom record by 2 bouys scoring 3 on as 14.25m line.
-Sandra Cummings ran 4 ½ on a 13m line to establish a new Women’s VII Slalom record. The previous record of 1 ½ at the same line length was set in 2010 by Janet Piercy.
-Bruce Kunde improved his Mens X trick record by 20 points scoring 1140 points.
-Pat Fischer established the first ever Womens X trick record at 500 points. Pat also established a new entry with a Womens X slalom score of 2 bouys.
-William Roberts soared to 176 feet in Boys III jumping adding 11 feet to his previous record from 2017
-Dean Chappell improve his Mens VII jumping record by 2 feet with a leap of 108 feet.

Midwest Skier Records set at 2017 Nationals

Four skiers from the Midwest set records at the 2017 US Nationals held In San Marcos, Texas.
Alyssa Drake – Girls 2 Jump – 91 feet. This jump ties the existing record held by Tianna Kosek.
Benjamin Leutz – Men 1 Jump – 198 feet. It is worth noting that Brandon Schipper also broke the old record with a leap of 194 feet. However, that jump was eclipsed by Benjamin’s in the same event.
Jared Sharkey – Men 2 Trick – 4520 points
Bruce Kunde – Men 10 Trick – 1140 points
The Midwest Skier category recognizes record performances by skiers from the Midwest in any record capability tournament regardless of geographic location.

2017 Regional Tournament Records

The 2017 Midwest Regional Championships held in Center City Minnesota saw 13 performance records broken or tied: two in Slalom, four in tricks and seven in Jumping.

Highlights:

-Julie Mishler kicked off the record spree by becoming the first Girls 1 skier to ski into 32 off in slalom with a score of 73 buoys (1@49k – 13m).
-Men 1 jump saw not one but two skiers tie for a new record. Brandon Schipper and Benjamin Leutz both soared 191 feet breaking a record set back in 2003 by Brody Reid.
-William Roberts jumped 165 feet in Boys 3 to handily breaking Brody Reid’s 2002 record of 141 feet set in 2002.
-Bruce Kunde matched his earlier National record performance with a jump of 101 feet. Bruce further commemorated his introduction into Men 10 by setting records in both slalom and tricks for a sweep of the categories.
-Cole Kalkbrenner jumped 189 in Men 2 to eclipse a record set 24 years ago by Brandon Meredith.
-Dean Chappell broke a 1999 Men 7 record with a 106 foot jump. The previous record was held by Lloyd Meredith who happens to be the father of Brandon mentioned above.
-Lisa Lamb improved her own record in Women 4 jumping with a leap of 102 feet.
-Cale Burdick tied the Men 2 trick record with a score of 4150 points.
-Buddy Piercy tied the Men 9 trick record with a run of 1670 points.
-James Olsen became the first Men 11 skier to hold a regional record with his trick run of 540 points.

Some of the above performance also qualified as records in the Midwest Skier and Midwest Tournament record categories. Consult the newly revised record sheets for details.

2016 Records Updates

Seven skiers set records at the 2016 Midwest Regional Championships held at Mystic Lakes in Maize Kansas. Four were in slalom, one in tricks, and two in jumping as follows:

Girls 2 – Slalom – Annemarie Wroblewski – 87 buoys (3 @ 52K – 12 m)
Men 2 – Slalom – Casey Contos – 106.5 buoys (4.5 @58k – 11.25m)
Men 5 – Slalom – Jeff Nate – 105 buoys (3@55k – 10.75m)
Women 8 – Slalom – Gwen Wamhoff – 67 buoys (1@49k – 14.25m)
Women 8 – Tricks – Janet Piercy – 1940 points
Boys 2 – Jump – William Roberts – 141 feet
Women 4 – Jump – Lisa Lamb – 101 feet

Janet Piercy’s performance also qualifies as a record in the Midwest Skier all record tournament category.

Congratulations to all the new record holders and congratulations to those whose existing records provided the inspiration that pushed these skiers to new heights.

Note: The Midwest Skier category is for skiers from the Midwest skiing in any record tournament regardless of location.

Any updates to the records should be directed to Jill Smith at bsmith32946@yahoo.com