"Just to qualify for open women and finish in third in her first [senior] event ... and it was very close, only 30 points [to second]."
Trick event competitors follow the speedboat and have two runs to perform their chosen moves - one for hand tricks and the other for toe tricks.
Judges assess which tricks were done correctly and give them their predetermined points values.
Meade was also fifth in the open women's jump and has immediately left town to continue her training in Whangarei.
Four other Wanganui competitors got medals over the six days.
Simon Meade himself was first in the senior men's 1 (aged 35-45) slalom, while Ron Bakker picked up third placings in the senior men's 2 (45-55) trick and slalom.
Sara Deroles was third in the slalom for senior women's 2, while Nick Bakker was first in both the trick and jump for the Men's B division.
They were among the 17 medals won by skiers representing the central region, which extends down the North Island from Taupo.
One of the big prospects to watch was Christchurch's Alex King, ranked No1 in the world in the Under 21 Men's jump division.
It was expected King would clear the 55m mark at Lake Wiritoa, and indeed he was looking good for the open men's title after a 58.8m jump in qualifying.
"He likes the ramp, feels good. He's been pushing out some good jumps," said Simon Meade on Saturday before the open finals were held the following morning.
King's girlfriend Nancy Chardin, the French competitor ranked fifth in the world, broke the all-comers trick record.
"They brought over the big guns, it's good to have the support," said Simon Meade.
However, it was Auckland's Cole Atkinson who would win the open men's jump on Sunday, beating King by just under 1m.
Gaining success at these nationals was even more noteworthy considering the size of the competition was the largest in a decade.
In total, 126 skiers took part. Meade put the increased interest down to Lake Wiritoa having a good reputation for competition, and unlike many locations of other nationals, being a short distance from the host town.
A recovery in the economy meant people were also more able to financially commit to taking part.
The other central region medal winners included Otaki's Murray Anderson (senior men's 3) and Lower Hutt's Colin Smith (senior men's 4), both coming first in slalom. Linda Shailer came third in jump and was second overall for women's, while Scott Cameron won the men's B slalom.