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RistoMapple Runs 41-off; Barton Signs New Deal
B Slalom's 41-off club expanded to two when Andy Mapple ran the pass in Miami on October 3. Mapple went on to get one buoy at 43, tying Jeff Rodgers' world record. He's the first skier to make the 41 pass behind cruise control. Rodgers became the first skier to clear the 41-off pass in the fall of 1997, behind a boat with manual speed control.
B O'Brien International added to its star-studded lineup of skiers by signing Bruce and Toni Neville to three-year deals. Toni has finished second in the World Cup standings in women's slalom the past two years. Husband Bruce was the 1997 World Cup jump champion but says he plans to pull the double and slalom at all stops for the first time since the early '90s.
B In September, Regina Jaquess of Lawrenceville, Georgia, set a Girls 3 national slalom record at Trophy Lakes with one at 38 off in Charleston, South Carolina, beating Kim Laskoff's record set in 1984.
B One month after we followed 13-year-old Caroline Wolfe and her family around the 1998 U.S. Nationals (“Road To The Nationals,” December 1998), the Homer, Michigan, native broke the Midwest regional slalom record with three at 35 off for Girls 3. It was a record that had endured since former Pro Tour champion Jennifer Leachman broke the mark as a teenager 17 years ago.
B Chris Parrish set a new collegiate slalom record with 2 at 41 off during the 1998 Collegiate Nationals at Northeast Louisiana University's home site in Monroe, Louisiana.
B If you're wondering where former WaterSki contributing slalom writer and Pro Tour competitor Ken Autore has been since skiing his last tournament in 1995, you might be interested to know he's been busy managing million dollar portfolios at Olde Discount (a broker). Ken plans to ski in some tournaments this summer.
B Wade Cox had skied with a non-adjustable drop-in fin since 1992. In early September 1998, however, Wade switched back to an adjustable fin and was surprised at how well he skied. A week after changing fins he ran a tournament best with 5 1/2 at 41 off at Trophy Lakes.
B Rhoni Barton signed a three-year contract with Barnes Curci Marketing, a California-based sports marketing company that represents many of today's top NASCAR drivers.
B Peter Chase, third place slalom finalist at
the 1998 U.S. Open, was training in early November when his ski skipped out during his edge change, creating enough pressure to rip the tendons in his foot from the ankle. After having his second surgery in January, Chase has high hopes of being 100 percent before the 1999 U.S. Open in his hometown of Austin, Texas.
