Water skier joins hubby in HOF
Jennifer Leachman LaPoint, a 1982 graduate of Parkersburg High School, has been selected to the Water Ski Hall of Fame Class of 2015 in Florida.
LaPoint, along with three other world-class water skiers, will be inducted into the hall of fame on April 18 at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Fla.
LaPoint of Orlando, Fla., will be joining her husband, Kris, who was inducted in 2008, as a member of the Water Ski Hall of Fame as selected by the USA Water Ski Foundation this month.
LaPoint called her selection “very exciting.” A water skier is eligible for the hall of fame, celebrating its 33rd year, when he or she turns 50 years old or has been retired for five years. LaPoint remains a competitive professional skier and is 50 years old.
LaPoint is excited that her daughter Taylor May Woolsey, 20, is a professional water skier and they are competing against each other.
When asked who wins in a water skiing competition between mother and daughter, LaPoint replied, “we are pretty even.”
“Three-time world record-holder Jennifer Leachman LaPoint has enjoyed 30 years as a professional water skier and icon of the sport,” according to a press release from the USA Water Ski Foundation. “She won her first U.S. national water ski titles in slalom, jumping and overall in 1981 at the age of 15. Jennifer held or shared the world record in 1985, 1987 and once again in 1996.”
One of the highlights of her career was capturing the Michelob Light Professional World Tour Champion Title in 1991 after winning over half the events held that year. LaPoint has won more than 30 pro events and has more than 60 podium finishes in her career.
Among her many accomplishments she founded the Women of Water Skiing in 1992, an organization dedicated to teaching women and children to ski through free clinics across the United States, according to the USA Water Ski Foundation.
Jennifer and Kris LaPoint own and operate LaPoint Ski Park in Orlando that provides ski instruction and a private, man-made lake for skiers to rent.
Jennifer was inducted into the Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. She played basketball for three years at Georgia Tech before transferring to the University of Central Florida, where she became a national collegiate water skiing champion.
The Water Ski Hall of Fame and Museum – filled with exhibits and memorabilia – is situated along Interstate 4 between Orlando and Tampa.
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Parkersburg native Linda Rheinberger of Las Vegas was installed this month as vice president of the Rocky Mountain Region of the National Association of Realtors at its convention in New Orleans.
Rheinberger, who visited this week with her parents, John and Elaine Gondek of Parkersburg, also will serve on the national realtors association’s board of directors.
A former president of the Nevada Association of Realtors, Rheinberger will be representing Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the realtors association. She is the first woman from Nevada elected as the regional vice president.
Rheinberger will be traveling to policy meetings in Washington, D.C., and Chicago and meeting with realtors in the six states to discuss issues affecting the industry.
Issues of interest to Rheinberger and the realtors association are maintaining the mortgage interest deduction, bringing back the Forgiveness Mortgage Debt Relief Act, eminent domain and protecting natural disaster insurance.
At the installation, Rheinberger, a 1977 graduate of Parkersburg Catholic High School, got the opportunity to meet former President Bill Clinton, who spoke at the realtors convention.
Rheinberger is a consultant with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices-Nevada after selling her One Source Realty and Management business last year.
Rheinberger said she is trying to “make a difference in the realtors organization and the industry.”
She is looking forward to hosting a regional conference at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas in February.
Contact Paul LaPann at plapann@newsandsentinel.com






