posted May 24th, 2005 - Skydive Cross Keys hosted the first annual Rookie Challenge and 4-way scrambles last weekend, in conjunction with the first 2005 Mid Atlantic Skydiving League 4-way meet of the year. The turnout was stellar with four Rookie Class teams, including team Chambersburg 5 who traveled all the way from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, for their first competition.

Coaching and judging were provided by former 02 Project members Tom Petzold and Karl Schuch. The team "Spongebobs" was the first A Class team in the MASL history at Cross Keys, and there were two AA Class teams battling it out on site. This made for a total of seven teams - a record turnout for the MidAtlantic Skydiving League.

Meet organizer and MASL Director Cherie Schuch was on the job making sure videographers and teams all made their planes and completed all six rounds for Rookie Class, A Class and AA Class by the end of the day on Saturday.

"Fourth Element" took the first place in the Rookie Class with a 5.8 average, edging out "Chambersburg 5" by four points total. C5 finished with a 5.2 meet average, followed by "Falling Rocks" with a 4.8 average. Rookie Class team "Superkat" experienced some exit problems and decided after the second round to drop out of the competition and spend the rest of the day working on those issues.

"Controlled Descent" and "Air Pollution" continued with their ongoing MASL competition at the first meet of the 2005 season. Both teams went already neck to neck throughout the whole MASL 2004 season. Controlled Descent attended three meets last year (6.2 - 7.0 - 6.5), while Air Pollution competed at four MASL meets in 2004 (6.3 - 8.0 - 5.0 - 5.5). Both teams ended up in a deadlock with exactly the same 6.6 season average.

The first meet of the 2005 season was not much different at all. The two MASL AA Class teams were tied after four rounds, and Air Pollution managed to take a 1-point lead in round five. Both teams tied their scores for round six, and Air Pollution carried the thinnest lead possible over the finish line after six rounds.

Controlled Descent busted inters in rounds one and three but still showed very consistent scoring throughout the meet for a 6.7 meet average. Air Pollution had a rough start and pulled it together after the second round. The scores of nine points in rounds three and four made up for the rough start and were the high rounds of the whole meet.

At the end of the day, a chilli cook-off provided dinner for most of the competitors and was followed by an awards ceremony hosted by MASL Director Cherie Schuch and USPA President Glenn Bangs who handed out the awards and trophies to the winning teams. The next MASL meet is scheduled for June 18 at Cross Keys.