DeBelak dominates Footstock to win his 5th Open National Endurance Barefoot Title

Crandon, Wisconsin – Wind, waves and cool temperatures tested the nation’s best barefoot skiers as they competed in the National Figure Eight Barefoot Championships this past weekend in Crandon. The two-day championship pits the world’s best endurance barefooters head-to-head over a figure eight course to see who can barefoot the farthest.

A steady north wind buffeted the south end of the famed Figure Eight course on Peshtigo Lake all weekend, making step-offs challenging and full figure eights few and far between.

But the story of the weekend was the continued dominance of two perennial favorites, Jon DeBelak and Marc Donahue. This year was a re-run of last year’s championship but this time it was DeBelak’s turn to shine and take the Open National Championship. It was his fifth such championship, moving him into second place all-time behind only Peter Fleck who has 10 Open titles.

Despite the rough water, DeBelak and Donahue pulled off the second longest run in tournament history in the semi-finals, a 9-1/4 figure eight epic battle that took just over 15 minutes to complete.

“We knew we could pull off a long one,” said an exhausted DeBelak as he climbed into the boat after winning his run. “We wanted to break the record of 13 eights, but with the water so rough, we’re really happy with this run.”

A few runs later, DeBelak finished off Donahue with a comparatively short 2-1/4 eight run to win the title.

This year also saw the continued emergence of Junior skiers Owen Schattschneider, TJ Hasse, Kaden Ducane and Jack Nolan. The young skiers pulled off the only multiple figure eight runs on Saturday, pushing each other and the rest of the Open Division.

In the end, Schattschneider prevailed over Hasse and Ducane for his second straight Junior championship. All four juniors also finished in the top 16 in Open, with the Junior Champ taking third overall, the highest finish by a Junior in Open in tournament history. Schattschneider is 16 years old.

In the Masters Division (60 and over) Canada’s Wayne King outlasted Mike Netzer and 74-year old Paul Elsen to take his fourth straight National Master’s title. Greg Daigrepont from Lousiana finished fourth.

For the women’s division, it was the Miljevich sisters (Sophie and Ella) of Rhinelander, Wisconsin who continue to dominate. It was Sophie’s 5th Women’s National Championship in the last 6 years. Ella again took second.

The Senior’s saw a new National Champ, as Travis Lepak beat out Canada’s Wayne King for the 40 and over championship. Crandon’s own Jay Schaefer also made the podium with a strong third place finish.

In all barefooters from 6 states and 3 countries competed in the grueling, two-day championship. Skiers from Arizona, Lousiana, Florida, Canada and New Zeeland took part.

“The entire tournament ran so smoothly,” noted Chief Judge Austin Smith. “The Crandon Ski Club does such an amazing job every year putting this on. This is the biggest endurance barefoot tournament in the world, and no one does it better than Crandon.”