posted Jul 1st, 2008 - It is probably the first time in the history of the Midwest Skydiving League that a team from this region is holding the top position of the AAA Class leaderboard with an international field. CSC Rhythm XP is currently in 1st place of ten teams with a 15.0 average.

Brian Ball (Center Inside), Laurent Beaudouin (Tail), Janette Lefkowitz (Center Outside), Steve Lefkowitz (Point) and Kevin Naftzger (Camera) were already very close to the same spot on the May 31 weekend when 13 teams competed in an international field of AAA Class teams. Bodyflight Storm, the female national 4-way team of the United Kingdom, had to work hard to fend off the MWSL team by then.

CSC Rhythm XP is bringing new attention to a region of the USA that has been competitive in 4-way for a long time and still never produced a top team yet. CSC Rhythm XP seems to be committed to change that. The brilliant 22.2 average at the indoor competition of the Paraclete XP Money Meet 2008 shows the potential of the team.

MWSL Director Alan Butt provided more details of the outdoor competition last weekend at Skydive Chicago.

MWSL Meet 2

Like seemingly every weekend so far this season, the forecast was not good for skydivers in the Chicago area last weekend. But despite the forecast for a rainy, windy weekend, no fewer than seven teams were on hand for the competitors meeting at Skydive Chicago early Saturday morning.

In addition to the three teams returning for their second meet of the season were long-time MWSL veterans SDC Furies and Just4Fun as well as SDC Rookie Class team What's The Point and a AA Class pick-up team Zagoda Makes Us Look Good.

The poor forecast was accurate, but the teams successfully dealt with windy conditions to complete four rounds before the winds got completely out of hand by mid-afternoon and forced the early conclusion of the meet.

In the AAA Class the SDC Furies, whose season only just began with a recent tunnel camp in Eloy due to Point Karyn Rees' international assignment, were making their first jumps together in 2008 at the meet. In spite of this they were still able to put up a respectable 8.8 average.

Their challengers, CSC Rhythm XP, put up scores consistent with their impressive season debut, achieving a 15-point average for the day. Rhythm won a local meet prize for their performance, but graciously passed it on to the Rookie Class team What's The Point.

Rhythm also contributed to the meet by volunteering to serve as meet coaches all day. The team's Outside Center JaNette Lefkowitz commented that she was excited about the great turnout, enjoyed assisting the other competitors and is looking forward to having Kirk Verner coaching at our next meet.

The closest race of the day was in the AA Class where Just4Fun competed against Zagoda Makes Us Look Good. Both teams, who had only two team jumps between them this year before the meet, suffered through multiple busts and miscues. In the end, Team Zagoda's decision to go with more conservative exits paid off and they bested Just4Fun 19 to 15.

Just4Fun later claimed their performance was intended to put a lock on winning the PD Challenge for Meet 3. The PD Challenge is awarded to the team which improves the most upon their scores from their previous meet. The wisdom of Just4Fun's scheme remains to be seen as there will be stiff competition for that prize next month.

For Meet 2, the PD Challenge went to A Class team SDC On The Fly. On the Fly scored a solid 25, which not only netted them the PD prizes of a PD hoody and t-shirts, but also the win in the A Class competition against Victory Hop. Thanks to Isaiah McCauliffe and Performance Designs for providing the prizes.

The Rookie Class team What's The Point made their competitive debut at the meet. However, the wind conditions were too chancy for the team and they made the prudent decision to stand down after one round.

Despite the less than perfect weather, it was still exciting to have so many of the Midwest's 4-way veterans and rookies come together for the day and have some fun. Kudos to Rook Nelson and the SDC staff for hosting such a smooth event. Thanks also to Todd and Lisa DeSimone of SDC Quattro for serving as meet judges. I hope everyone can make it to MWSL Meet 3 at CSC on the 26th.

Alan Butt, MWSL Director