Event Calendar

1/28-30/05 - Winter Conference
Winter Conference began as most skiing events do - leaving late from the Barnes & Noble parking lot. After a four hour ride we pulled into the HoJo in Madison, unloaded our gear, and headed to the Nitty Gritty. The top floor of the bar was reserved solely for ski teamers. So we got to bum around with skiers from all over the region. A few pros even showed up to prove they could still indulge with the best of us. I think it's safe to say that the evening was thoroughly enjoyed until the bar closed. Then we walked the half block back to our hotel where we got to sleep (most of us) in actual beds and didn't have to worry about the rain or wind.

Our fearless leader and his faithful sidekick (Craig & Diesel, respectively) arose before the rest of us to attend the Captains' meeting. Having the conference split into three groups was discussed but nothing permanent had yet been decided.

A little while later, the rest of us drug ourselves through the cold to join in the fun. Winter Conference opened with a video showing exactly how crazy we all are and then the pros talked a little before we broke out into sessions. The sessions covered everything from the different skill levels of slalom and jump to wakeboarding to health and fitness to fundraising. We attended two sessions of our choice to listen to a pro talk about what they do best. The speakers included Cory Pickos, Regina Jaquess, Scott Ellis, Freddy Krueger, and Ben Carley. Then we had lunch and an "Ask the Pro" session that brought up some very interesting questions and even more interesting answers. After lunch we had two more breakout sessions. Then came time for the awards. Various Ski-Ammys were given out; two of our very own received this honor:

• Kerri Kulovitz was named to the Number 1 spot on the Midwest Women's All Star team for trick.
• Cory Cassidy was named to the Midwest Women's All Star team for jump, trick, and slalom. Cory was also honored for breaking the Great Plains Conference jump record with a jump of 74 feet and then breaking it again with a jump of 86 feet.

With this the conference portion of Winter Conference came to a close. We trekked back to the hotel where we proceeded to wait two hours for our supper. After this we scrambled to get into costume - 70s Luau - and headed out to the barn party. After a half hour ride through the lovely Wisconsin countryside on four school buses, we arrived at what appeared to be an ordinary barn. However, after getting leid at the entrance, we discovered that this was no ordinary barn. It had been beautifully refurbished. For this reason we got to drink out of sippy cups all night. We had the pleasure of hearing the musical stylings of Jeff Surdej aka DJ Dirty and got to compete in games out back. The party lasted until two when we again boarded the school buses and returned to the hotel.

After a wonderful night's rest we awoke to the sounds of hammering and screwing - the hotel was under construction and the maintenance men were going at it in a nearby room. We packed up and headed out. After a quick fill up, with both gas and taco bell, we made record time (3 hours) back to Champaign. And that was Winter Conference 2005.

11/3/04 - Election Dinner at Olive Garden
We all met at Olive Garden because when you're there, you're family. They sat us in the back room and only gave us one waiter, poor guy. After a lot of eating, a little drinking, and being merry, elections began.
The elections were close, except in the case of webmaster where the decision was unanimous (one person ran). After much deliberation, the following members were selected:

President - Craig Blean
Vice President - Ryan Dussault
Secretary - Cory Cassidy
Treasurer - Brad Kubick
Social Chair - Kristin Hartmann
Wakeboard Captain - Adam Wallace
Webmaster - Meghan Smith

So skiers, next tournament you get to hear Craig and Diesel's lovely voices shouting "wakey, wakey". Congratulations to all of the new members, and good luck living up to the old board.

9/12/04 - The weekend began at the usual meeting place, Barnes and Noble as well as the usual mood, excitement. So we embarked on the long journey across the beautiful state of Indiana. After some traffic and detours, we made it to Van Wert, OH for our first tournament of the fall season: the Ball State Spring Fling. It was late and most of the other teams were already settled in, but we managed to squeeze our tents in to the crowded site and then mingled with the other teams for a while before turning in for the night. Saturday started with Women’s and then Men’s Slalom. Craig Blean ran a personal best of 2.5 buoys at 34mph and the team finished 5th. The tournament was moving along quickly and we got to see some B slalom skiers get a shot at the course. In the afternoon, the trick skiers hit the water with the women taking a 4th place finish. The men took an impressive 2nd place in trick with three men in the top 20 skiers. Day one had turned out well for the team with much hope for a great season ahead. So we celebrated with a big (maybe too big) dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. With full bellies, and smiles on our faces, the team went back to their tents in preparation for the big day of jumping ahead. Sunday morning started out with Women’s jump. With two women in the top ten including Cory Cassidy’s 3rd place finish with a jump of 58ft., the women took a strong second in jump and an overall ranking of 4th. Later on, the men hit the ramp and ended up with a 4th place finish in jump and an overall 4th place finish. After all was said and done the Illinois water ski team took 2nd behind a strong Purdue team. This tournament gave the team a look at the Great Lakes conference and proved that the team has a great chance competing against them. The weekend overall was a huge success, some people got their first taste of skiing in a tournament situation in a more relaxed environment. Thanks to everyone who went. See you all next weekend at Dual Conference in Wilmington, IL where Illinois hopes to repeat their top 3 performance from last year.

9/12/04 - A small contingent of the Illini Waterski and Wakeboard Team traveled to the Wisconsin Dells for the College Extreme Championships Barefoot Nationals and Wakeboard Open Competition hosted at the Tommy Bartlett Show Ski Sky Stage. Individual performances were subpar due to a hectic travel schedule and a lack of sleep. The barefooters started the 7:00AM competition with a performance that was less than ideal. A combined effort resulted in a respectable overall team ranking of 5th in the barefoot portion of the competition, but unfortunately no individuals qualified for the finals. The wakeboarders, aided by the AM nap they were allowed while waiting out the barefooters, had slightly better luck, with team member Adam
Wallace qualifying for the semifinals. Despite his and other strong showings, the tough competition led to an overall ranking of 8th place in the wakeboarding portion of the contest. Overall, the team placed a very respectable 6th in the tournament. In a less formal competition staged late Saturday night at the Copa Cabana Hotel, the Illini were robbed of the Hot Tub/Kiddie Pool Relay Race Championship by an opposing female member of the Wisconsin-Madison team that illegally pulled one of the Illini's shorts down. Placing second nonetheless, the stacked Illini relay team guaranteed they will bring home the championship next year.

4/26/04 - This past weekend, we officially kicked off our spring season by competing in a Spring tournament hosted by Kansas University. The weather was not exactly on our side, but the team managed to finish the weekend with a solid 4th place finish. This was partially made possible by spectacular finishes by Glen Baurhyte and Michelle Alvarez finishing 4th in men's trick and 5th in women's jump respectively. This weekend we are hoping for a first place finish to one up our second place finish last year at the Wisconsin Open (where they didn't even put us on the T-Shirt!)

3/8/04 - This news is coming in a little late, but you know what they say, better late than never. Back on January 24th, the Illini Waterski and Wakeboard Club attened the 2004 Winter Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. At this event, our team was voted the Midwest Team of the Year. This was the first time this award was given. Go Illini! On another great note, our former Team President, Matt Frye, was voted Captain of the Year. Congratulations Matt.

2/4/04 - The official event calendar is up and running. Just use the link above to access dates and information about what's coming up in the near future. If you would like an event added to the calendar, send me an email at webmaster@illiniwaterski.com with all of the required information.