At the 2017 IWSA Banquet held on November 4 at the White River Yacht Club in Indianapolis the following awards were presented including the induction of Brandon Bucher to IWSA Hall of Fame as reported in a previous email report.
 
Julie Mishler-Junior Female Skier of the Year
 
Julie set State Championship Record at Timberlake skiing 1 @ 32’ off and then went to the Midwest Regionals in Minnesota where she skied into first place there setting a Midwest Regional record.  At Nationals, Julie skied her 1 @ 32’off again winning the Girls 1 Slalom National Championship.  Julie had to speed up at the Labor Day event at Cindonway due to progressing to Girls 2.  She skied 5@28’off at 32 mph.
 
Alexis Mishler-Most Improved Female Skier of the Year
 
Big sister was not to be outdone!   Alexis also set a State Championship Record for Girls 2 at Timberlake in July skiing 2@32’ off .  She placed 5th at the Regionals in Minnesota.  She also graduated to being an overall skier by jumping for the first time at Regionals and Nationals.    (Her personal best is 41’ off the jump)  Alexis placed 7th in the Nationals in Texas.  Alexis skied her personal best at the Labor Day event at Cindonway Shores skiing 4@32’ off.
  
Paul Manning – Ski Partner of the Year
 
Paul is a 27 year member of the Kokomo Ski Club.  Even though he specializes in “tricks,” he is always there to help work on the slalom course and the jump.  He faithfully changes the oil in the boat every 50 hours and makes sure that the club never runs out of gas.  He’s always there to ski and drive no matter the weather.    Prissy says, “Besides all of that, he still puts up with me and all of my temper tantrums and he also takes me to the hospital and baby sits me whenever I do something stupid….and he only complains a little!  I don’t think anyone has ever had a better ski partner than Paul.”
 
Bucher Family – Family Skiers of the Year
 
It all began when Don Bucher decided to dig/construct Indiana’s first dedicated private water ski lake.  After skiing at various public sites, Cindonway Shores came into being.  Over the years, Cindonway Shores has hosted several Indiana State Championships and promoted water skiing at all levels including fun events, sanctioned tournaments, grassroots level skiing, Tuesday Night Ski Leagues, and Regional competition.  This Club/Clan has brought numerous water skiers into the picture.  Now we see the third generation of Bucher Skiers coming on line.  Three generations skied in the State, Regional, and National level in 2017.

Coltin Bucher - Most Improved Male Jr Skier of the Year
               
Colton Bucher skied his first state tournament in 2015 at Hawthorn in Grassroots division.  In 2016 he skied state and Regionals with a fourth place finish in slalom.  In 2017, he skied Boys 1 at State and placed first in slalom and tricks.  At Midwest Regionals he was first in slalom and third in tricks.  Then came Nationals in Texas where he placed sixth in slalom, fourteenth in tricks and eighth overall.  In the Cindonway Labor Day Tournament, Colton made it official…..landed his jumps with the longest jump of 26 feet – making him Indiana’s newest “Three Event”.
  
Jared Sharkey – Skier of the Year
 
Jared performed at the Indiana State Championships for the 18th time!  He placed 1st in the State event.  Jared added to his 2017 trick career at the Nationals in Texas placing 1st in Mens 2 Tricks. In September of 2017 he "tricked" a season high of 7050 points.
  
Cody Sharkey - Trick Skier of the Year
 
Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Cody Sharkey place 1st in the Indiana State Championships in Men's 3 Tricks.  At Nationals Cody came close to 1st place but.. ... those darn judges didn't give deserved credit on two different tricks giving him a 2nd place in Men's 3. In September of 2017, he "tricked" a season high of 3390 points.
 
 Camille Clark – Collegiate Skier of the Year
 
Camille performed her personal best at the Indiana State Tournament to qualify for her first ever Nationals.  She competed with her father at Nationals in San Marcos, Texas.  This fall she led the Purdue Water Ski Team as the team captain and competed in all three events….slalom, tricks, and jump.  Her best score this year was 4.5 @ 22’ off at the Great Lakes Championships in Van Wert, Ohio.
 
Briant (B’ster) Detty – Jumper of the Year
 
In the eyes of many, (especially patents) the success of one's jump season is not gauged upon distance or placements, but rather by the ability of a jumper to walk and function normally throughout the season. By this standard, B'ster had a wonderful jump season. Although some season goals were met and others were not quite met, overall the 2017 season was filled with new and memorable experiences.
 
The season started early with B'ster's final Collegiate All-Star tournament held near Little Rock Arkansas. This year’s tournament was filled with the best of the best and even though B'ster out-jumped all of the US coalition of jump guys, the foreign competition proved to be stiff where his 160' jump on the last of jump of his college career put him on the podium with a 4th place finish.
 
Collegiate AII·Stars held near Little Rock Arkansas – Jump 4th Place with 160' and 6th Place Overall
 
With the realization of being fresh out of college and into the workforce it was difficult to attend a fair number of tournaments. Although not making it to his ultimate jump goal for 2017, he did knock out a' 190' jump which was a PB. In addition, he also had a PB in overall even though his trick PB remains unchanged in almost a decade.
 
Regular Season  - PB in Overall 3,239 and PB in Jump 190'
 
Indiana State - 1st Slalom, Trick, Jump, and Overall
 
The 2017 Nationals proved to provide a lot of fun for the Men's 1 skiers.  B'ster was one buoy shy of being in a 5 way runoff for the championship, but instead was fortunate to have been able to ski a second time in a runoff for 5th.   He came up shy in the runoff ultimately putting him in 6th place in slalom.
 
Megan Lambert – Female Skier of the Year
 
Megan is active in the waterskiing community.  She is the fitness writer for Water Skier magazine.  She was a coach for the Junior Development clinic this summer and also serves as a slalom judge at local tournaments.  Megan placed first in the Women 1 slalom at the state tournament at Timberlake.  She went on to Regionals in Minnesota and tied for second with 2 other women.  After the runoff, she placed third which was her highest Regional place ever.  Then, she went to Nationals in Texas and scored 3 buoys at 32’ off to place 5th and earn her first ever podium finish at Nationals.  Her highest tournament score this year was 0.5 at 35’off at the Silent Shores tournament in August  (But, as April Coble Eller would say…..anyone can get a half!!!)
 
Kolten Hoops – Newcomer Skier of the Year
 
Kolten Hoops started his 2017 season participating in our Indiana Junior Development Program at Brewski Lake with the great coaching of Casey Contos, Megan Lambert, and DeeDee Tucker.  Following that event we learned that the Hawthorne skiers made a late decision to include Grass Roots and “Game On” for Kolten.  Back to back weeks of the July Tournament Slalom and Trick skiing was setting him up for the 68th Indiana State Waterski Championships.  Arriving to the event early, gave him the unique opportunity to train under none other than the 2017 Rollie Williams recipient, Nate Smith.  Following the lesson with Nate, Kolten was primed and ready to ski a PB in slalom and trick skiing for the finale of his 2017 ski season.  We are looking forward to seeing what 2018 will bring.
  
Doug Stukey – Rookie Skier of the Year
 
Doug skied the 2016 Indiana State Championships at Cindonway Shores in Mens 4 division in all three events for the first time in years.  He came back to the State Championships at Timberlake this year and skied in all three events and placed first in overall in Men 4 .  Then he learned that he had qualified for Midwest Regionals so…..off to Minnesota to compete in all three events.  He placed in jumping 
  
SPECIAL RECOGNITION    (Oral recognition of these people – no award)
 
Kent Hoops - After several years of no junior development, Kent took on the responsibility for sponsoring a 2 day Junior Development event at Brewski Lake.  He got volunteers from his home lake to help run several “stations” during the day including archery, fishing, and other activities when the juniors were not skiing.
 
Steve Plummer - What would we do without the presence of Bart’s and Steve Plummer.  In addition to providing door prizes and some advertising, Bart’s has been our State Championships Sponsor for several years.
 
Timberlake families /residents - Thanks goes to the Timberlake folks for hosting the 2017 State Championships this past summer.  After a several year hiatus, we all enjoyed returning to Timberlake.

Indy Skiers/White River -  This group of skiers/members are the most overlooked group of skiers in the state.  We need to realize and encourage this club for serving as “feeder group” supplying skiers  for the future into local clubs.  Their skiing season didn’t begin until August 1st this summer due to rains and flooding conditions. 
 
Harrison Family -  Thanks to Nancy, Darryl, Molly, and Ronnie for hosting the banquet for the 3rd year here at the White River Yacht Club.