Jennifer Leachman LaPoint wins 4th annual SportsInsurance.com Queen’s Cup in NC

Hall of Famer Jennifer Leachman LaPoint outlasted Phillipa Shedd in a battle of wills to win the fourth annual SportsInsurance.com Queen’s Cup at Little Mountain Lake in Maiden, N.C., on Sunday, Sept. 22.

Both skiers ran into 38 off in the final three of four rounds of head-to-head competition, with Shedd scoring 1.5 at 38 in the final, and No. 1 seed LaPoint following her with 3 at 38.

Jill Knutson of Washington state finished third, with 2.5 at 38 in her semifinal loss to Shedd, who got 3 at 38. Fourth place went to Michaela Cooper Bagwell as she scored 2.5 at 35 off in her semifinal round against LaPoint, who completed the pass. Fifth place went to Lori Krueger.

The SportsInsurance.com Queens Cup, also sponsored by area Nautique dealer Race City Marine in Mooresville, N.C., gives women slalom skiers a weekend of camaraderie, friendly competition and excellent skiing conditions on a lake known for world record performances. This year’s event drew 38 skiers representing 13 states and Canada.

The top 16 skiers after two rounds of Saturday qualifying advanced to Sunday’s head-to-head competition. The top eight seeds were LaPoint of Florida, No. 2 Knutson, No 3 Shedd of Indiana, No. 4 Joy Kelley of Tennessee, Cooper Bagwell of Colorado, Krueger of Texas, Trish Burt of Florida and Jennifer Wood of South Carolina.

Seeds 9-16 were Leza Harrison of Florida, Sandra Cummings of Michigan, Ellen Bennett of Florida, Crystal De Bey of New York state, Linda Springs of Texas, Tina Lindsey of Texas, Jeannette Van Akelijen of Ohio and Marjo Rankin of North Carolina.

Skiers who didn’t advance to the Sweet 16 got a third round of skiing Sunday morning before the head-to-head rounds.

LaPoint earned $1,400 and prizes for winning, and Shedd got $800 and prizes. The top five places earned cash and prizes.

Performance-based prizes and other prizes donated by numerous sponsors were also distributed at Saturday night’s banquet, which included a keynote speech by Krueger.

The fourth annual SportsInsurance.com Queen’s Cup is set for Sept. 21-22 at Little Mountain Lakes near Charlotte, N.C., returning with its unique slalom format and created to provide women the opportunity to compete for cash and prizes at a world record site. 

The Queen’s Cup, with a purse exceeding $10,000 in cash and prizes, is presented by SportsInsurance.com and area Nautique dealer Race City Marine of Mooresville, N.C. 

The event is designed to parallel the men’s Nautique Big Dawg World Tour and to give women the opportunity to take center stage at an elite event. Little Mountain Lake is the site of numerous national and world records. 

Regional, national and world champions are among the skiers entered, with some 15 national champions on the running order. The event is open to any level, from first tournament to skiers in their 70s. 

Among those skiing this year are Hall of Famer Jennifer Leachman LaPoint of Florida and perennial national champion Joy Kelley of Tennessee. Other former or current national champions entered include Gail Case of North Carolina and Trish Burt of Florida. 

Skiers ages 30 and older from throughout the United States as well as Europe, Australia and Canada competed in the first three Queen’s Cups. 

The top 16 after two rounds of Saturday qualifying advance to Sunday’s head-to-head finals. Those outside the top 16 get a third round of skiing Sunday morning. 

Cash and prizes are awarded to the top three skiers who most exceed their average scores Saturday, based on a handicap system, regardless of whether they advance to the Sweet 16, thus giving skiers of all levels multiple ways to win cash and prizes. 

 

The most unique aspect of the Queen’s Cup is parity. All ages compete on equal footing, as boat speeds are taken out of the equation. For example, women whose maximum boat speed is 30 or 32 mph get the same buoy scores as those whose top speed is 34. A 28-off pass — or any other — counts the same at any boat speed. 

That format propelled Kelley, 58 years old at the time, into the head-to-head final against 34-year-old Josefin Hirst at the inaugural Queen’s Cup in 2016. Kelley’s top boat speed was 32; 

Hirst’s was 34. Kelley defeated 34-mph skiers Brenda Baldwin and Chelsea Mills in the rounds of 8 and 4, before falling to Hirst in the final. 

Australian Vennesa Vieke, who trains and lives in Florida, won the 2017 crown, and tournament host skier Mills won in 2018. 

To enter, go to usawaterski.org for tournament information. For sponsorship opportunities and other information on the Queen’s Cup, contact tournament director Jeff Gilbert at gilb41@hotmail.com. 

MAIDEN, N.C. — Chelsea Mills defeated Lori Krueger Covington in the head-to-head final to win the third annual SportsInsurance.com Queens Cup at Little Mountain Lakes near Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday, Oct. 7.

Mills, skiing on her home lake, ran 4½ at 38 off, topping Covington’s 3 at 38 in the final, and claimed the $2,000 first-place check. The Queens Cup, also sponsored by Race City Marine and the Women’s Sports Foundation, was originally scheduled for Sept. 15-16 but was postponed because of Hurricane Florence.

Mills was the No. 1 seed throughout the two rounds of Saturday qualifying and Sunday’s Sweet 16. Covington, of Texas, was seeded third throughout and defeated No 2 seed Joy Kelley of Tennessee in the final four, running 1¼ at 38 off to Kelley’s 1 at 38.

Mills and Covington are Masters Women skiers, and Kelley skis in the Women 6 age group.

Kelley, 60, represented the mature skiers in the field and held her spot as No. 2 seed through the two qualifying rounds and into the final four. She has been a podium finisher in all three years of the Queens Cup, and also got the skiers fired up with a motivational speech at the Saturday night banquet.

“It would be impossible to duplicate how special a weekend we all had,” Kelley posted on Facebook on Sunday evening. “There is no other event like it … lives greatly impacted and inspired on and off the water! Really happy to get third with so many strong and tough women!”

Strong and tough were keywords in her speech Saturday night as she encouraged everyone present to be emotionally, mentally and physically strong.

“Put blinders on. Find a way that works for you and make it happen,” Kelley said.

The Queens Cup is for women ages 30 and older, and uses a format that allows all ages to compete on equal footing. The event included five Women 7 skiers (ages 65-69), and four of them made the Sweet 16.

Rounding out the money winners and podium finishers were Trish Burt of Florida in fourth place and Erin Peckham of New York in fifth. The rest of the elite eight were Jennifer Wood of South Carolina in sixth place, legendary Leza Harrison, a Women 7 skier from Florida in seventh, and Marla Lott of Indiana in eighth place.

Among the tournament officials were world record holders Nate Smith of Indiana and Jeff Rodgers of South Carolina, renowned drivers Tommy Harrington and Pat Bloodworth of North Carolina, and P.A. announcer Seth Stisher of South Carolina.

Tournament directors were Jeff Gilbert and Mills, who put countless hours into securing sponsors at every level, putting together gift bags for all skiers and special cash and merchandise awards for the three who ran the highest scores above their averages.

Those three were led by Selena Stowe of North Carolina, who won a Connelly GT-R ski, $300 cash and several gifts from sponsors. The others were Yvonne Austin of Ohio and Ellen Bennett of Florida, who also won cash and prizes.

Skiers came from 10 states: Washington, Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Florida, Tennessee and North and South Carolina.

The unique format of the Queen’s Cup was created to provide women’s slalom skiers the opportunity to compete for cash and prizes at a world-record capability water ski site. With a purse exceeding $10,000 in cash and prizes, the tournament is presented by SportsInsurance.com and Race City Marine of Mooresville, N.C. The event is designed to parallel the men’s Nautique Big Dawg World Slalom Tour in giving women the opportunity to take center stage at an elite event.

Regional, national and world champions are among the skiers who entered in the first two years, but the event is also open to water skiers of all levels.

The inaugural Queen’s Cup champion, Josefin Hirst, will return after having to miss last year’s event. The 2017 champion, however, will not be eligible to defend her title because of her placement in the 2018 Moomba Masters. Vennesa Vieke was third at Moomba. Queen’s Cup rules prohibit skiers who place in the top seven of an elite tournament from entering.

Previous Queen’s Cup skiers include USA Water Ski & Wake Sports Foundation Hall of Fame inductee Jennifer LaPoint, a former world record holder, as well as winners of multiple regional and national championships, such as Leza Harrison, Joy Kelley, Trish Burt, Chelsea Mills, Shirley Coble, Gail Case, Brenda Baldwin, Cyndi Benzel and more.

Skiers ages 30 and older from throughout the United States as well as Europe and Canada competed in the first two Queen’s Cups. The top 16 after two rounds of Saturday qualifying advance to Sunday’s head-to-head finals. An award is also given to the skier who most exceeds her average score, based on a handicap system, regardless of whether she advances to the Sweet 16.

The most unique aspect of the Queen’s Cup is the parity it brings. Skiers of all ages compete on equal footing, as boat speeds are taken out of the equation. For example, women whose maximum boat speed is 30 or 32 mph get the same buoy scores as those whose top speed is 34. A 28-off pass – or any other – counts the same at any boat speed.

That format propelled Joy Kelley, 58 years old at the time, into the head-to-head final against 34-year-old Hirst at the 2016 Queen’s Cup. Kelley’s top boat speed was 32; Hirst’s was 34. Kelley defeated 34-mph skiers Brenda Baldwin and Chelsea Mills in the rounds of 8 and 4, before meeting Hirst in the final.

To enter, click here. For sponsorship opportunities and other information on the Queen’s Cup, contact tournament director Jeff Gilbert at gilb41@hotmail.com.