The 2007 US Barefoot Nationals
Lake of Dreams
“Build it and they will come”
By Scott Jones A.K.A “Jonesy” and Teri Jones A.K.A "Teri larson"
In 2004 Blake Heller attended his first nationals in Austin, Texas with his family. While he was there, Blake made a decision: either ski on the water he had or make the water he needed. So Blake and Janell (his wife of 27 years) literally “paced” off the distance of the private lake in Austin and headed home. In the fall of 2005 they began to dig (or we should say Cody did), and in true Blake fashion finished the 2,850 foot long lake in three months. The existence of the lake took off like an urban legend, and soon everyone was asking “have you heard about the Heller’s place?” As Blake says, “the ladies pay the bills” and what he means by that are his dairy cows. The “Blue Moo” is set in Alma Center Wisconsin, just 16 miles to the north of Black River Falls on the Heller family farm. They milk 1200 cows 24 hours a day and produce 10,000 gallons of milk during that time (not to mention 50,000 gallons of manure). So indeed, the “ladies pay the bills” in the Heller abode. Soon after the 2006 season a push began for Blake to bid for the 2007 Nationals, and as we know that is exactly what happened.
The Minnesota Barefoot club stepped up to organize the 2007 US Nationals and put all the sweat and tears into hosting it. Our hats go off to everyone involved; there are too many to list. This years Nationals started off on Tuesday, August 14 and ran until Saturday, August 18th. The tournament went off without a hitch, however, Mother Nature let us know she was still boss on Saturday (more on that later). There were numerous extra activities for kids and adults alike. Blake and others had set up horse back riding, four wheeler rentals, paintball, and a playground. Tours of the farm were given daily with the proceeds being donated to the ABC. Money was also raised by a “cow milking contest” and a “turkey shoot” (people bid on the opportunity to shoot Blake with a paintball marker).
The Blue Moo set the stage for several pending national records. The first event on the water for the 2007 Nationals was Men’s 5 tricks. Mike Holt won with a score of 2760 (a pending national record) and never looked back. On Wednesday Mike scored a 14.0 in wakes (another pending national record) to become the oldest person to go into the Open division in US history. Mike ended up with the overall, followed by Paul Oman and Mike Hartman. Holtzy has been an avid supporter of the Super Fly High and it looked like it paid off this year. (Don't know what the SFH is? Check it out here! ) Girls 2 overall winner Jacklyn Kumlien set a pending national record with an 1150 in tricks. Ryan Jameson jumped big in Boys 2 setting a national record at 9.9 meters ( 32.6 feet), winning all 3 events, and of course the overall title. Sharon Carlson set a Women’s 6 national record in slalom at 2.35 In the Open Men’s division Kevin Towers got the crowd screaming by setting a pending national record of 17.0 in slalom, but unfortunately the score was later denied.
Jamie Kumlien won the Boys 3 overall. On an interesting side note; Jamie had a potential score of 5700 points for his trick run. The timer failed to start at the beginning of Jamie’s second pass, causing the score to go to video review. The score was later adjusted to 2800 points. Afterwards Jamie said, “I’m not disappointed with the score. They took us into the trailer to watch the video and showed me where I hitched. It just gives me the opportunity to come back next year and set a National record.” Obviously Jamie is on the brink of something big! Derek Koch finally won an overall title in Men’s II after seeking one for 15 years. Doug Jordan won the Overall title in Men’s IV and would like to forget his “close encounter with the jump.” Judy Meyers, A.K.A “the old lady,” pulled out the overall win in Womens 6. Kevin Towers won the Open Mens overall with a win in jump and 3rd in tricks, all while competing with a broken hand.
The Open Womens division looked like a paid advertisement for Barefoot International! All the competitors were sporting the new BI iron suit. The overall went to Rachel Normand with wins in all three events. Nipping at Rachel’s heels was Elaine Heller followed by Laura Szwed. Elaine Heller showed us all what it takes to be a champion by getting out and landing her final jump after a close call with the ramp on her second attempt. Shannon Heller took the bronze in Open jump while sweeping the Girl’s 3 division.
The finals in both the Open Mens and Open Pro jump events were cancelled due to weather. After meeting with all the competitors it was decided the first round scores would be used as the final scores. Keith St. Onge won the Open Pro overall with wins in tricks and slalom with scores of 10,150 and 18.6 respectively. In the jump event, Lane Bowers was able to hang onto a 80.5 foot jump to beat Ryan Boyd by almost 16.5 feet. However, Lane was unable to make the finals in tricks, losing any chance for the overall title. Lane incurred a C-Spine injury earlier in the season causing a loss of grip strength in his hand. Lane said, “I was extremely disappointed in my performance in the tricks event, but it did leave me extra time to help coach my students in the Open Womens jump event.”
By the way, three of the four girls in the Open Womens jump division are coached by Lane Bowers. As Rachel Normand explained, “Lane has always been an inspirational force in all aspects of my skiing. I was able to train with him before the Nationals and it really helped because I hadn’t had much time on the ramp before that.” Rachel came off shoulder surgery in September after the Worlds and hasn’t lost a beat. Her shoulder “feels great,” and actually feels better than the one she didn’t have surgery on. At this years Nationals, 35 of Lane’s students took 96 medals! And out of the 125 competitors 64 have trained with Lane !
Team Toes Up brought home three gold medals. Teri Jones also came back from a shoulder surgery and won Women’s III tricks, missing the overall by just 80 points. Scott Jones won Men’s III jump, Men’s III overall, and moved up to the Open division in all three events. We trained very hard this year and sacrificed a lot. We’d like to thank our sponsor Barefoot International for all their help and support, Lane Bowers for his jump instruction, and Jim Taylor for his priceless coaching and friendship.
The tournament had an anticlimactic ending with cold and rain. Everyone left the site early to head for the banquet and awards ceremony at the Castle Hill Supper Club. Everyone except Team toes up, that is. We drove 80 miles to get to the banquet...which is only seven miles from the hotel! (Note: Guys, lose the testosterone and ask for directions!) The food was excellent with plenty to go around. One of the highlights of the evening was an award given to Blake Heller and family for everything they put together for this tournament. The award was followed by John Patterson serenading Blake ! (Watch the video here )
The 2007 US Barefoot Nationals was a definite success ! Lots to do, lots of glass water, and lots of fun! Blake has plans to improve next years tournament and thanks everybody for their suggestions. Blake said, “Next year we’re going to have one big tent with all the vendors under one roof. We’re going to add bigger TV screens to see the action on the water and cut down on the screen glare”. Also, Black River Falls is a huge RV and off road riding area. There are lots of rooms available but make your reservations early. We blocked off plenty of rooms at the host hotel, but we’re going to post alternate accommodations in case you need to make last minute plans.”
We’d like to thank the Heller’s and the Minnesota Barefoot Club for putting together a World Class ; ) Nationals! We look forward to coming back next year !
Click here for all the results
If you are one of Lane’s students and have a story about training with Lane Bowers that you would like to be featured on Toesup.us, send us an email at info@toesuporfaceplant.com
