posted May 17th, 2012 - It happened again - the female lineup of the Golden Knights outscored the Black team last weekend...

CASL Director Andy Honigbaum provided the missing scores of the Carolina Skydiving League, and he could announce a very successful season opener with 13 teams in Raeford. It was not only the number of teams that made his debut as the new league director so successful. There was also a super exciting battle going on in the AAA Class competition.

CASL 2012 - May		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	5,E,3	B,K,18,22	11,13,2	A,L,1,8	21,O,4	F,C,D,20	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights Women	19	16	14	18	18	23	108	18.0
2	Golden Knights Black	19	17	15	18	16	20	105	17.5
3	Carolina Turbo XP	19	16	12	18	16	23	104	17.3

The Golden Knights Black lineup, second half of the US 8way team, and the female 4way lineup, which is also going to represent the USA delegation at the World Meet 2012, continued their internal duel for the bragging rights last weekend, and the ladies took back the upper hand.

Paraclete XP Indoor 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	C,20,13	B,18,O,8	K,A,16,Q	H,F,J,4	2,11,10	M,E,21,22	P,L,3,12	14,6,D	G,1,19	N,5,9	Total	Avg
5	Golden Knights Black	22	23	27	28	18	23	21	23	19	26	230	23.0
6	Golden Knights Women	18	21	17	29	16	23	21	21	19	26	211	21.1
7	Carolina Turbo XP	16	15	15	25	15	17	19	20	16	23	181	18.1

The NSL News pointed out the same duel after the Paraclete XP Indoor Championships 2012 with the story on 18 February 2012. The Black team had taken back the top position that the female lineup had after the USPA Nationals 2011.

CASL 2011 - August		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	N,15,20	G,K,Q,E,16	F,6,D,1	11,22,L	21,13,8	7,18,M	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights Black	13	21	20	11	14	20	99	16.5
2	Golden Knights Women	14	20	19	14	13	18	98	16.3

The same internal battle began at the August meet of the Carolina Skydiving League 2011 season where the Black team won by one single point after six rounds. The Golden Knights Women team then won by three points after ten rounds in Eloy, and the difference was again three points last weekend, this time after six rounds.

Only the indoor competition at Paraclete XP in February produced a larger margin when the Black team won by 19 points. The top position between those two Golden Knights lineups has switched back and forth at every single meet so far, and the ladies are back in the lead.

Paraclete Outdoor 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	Q,8,H,22	16,19,13	10,14,2	E,C,20,K	5,M,9	A,6,F,17	D,21,N,B	P,O,G,J,1	18,4,7	12,15,3	Total	Avg
3	Golden Knights Women	17	12	13	19	20	17	22	22	16	14	172	17.2
10	Carolina Turbo XP	17	11	13	21	15	17	19	20	14	13	160	16.0

Especially the female lineup benefits from the internal competition with the Black team. Last weekend's 18.0 average is another new outdoor team record for the Golden Knights Women. The pressure is very helpful, as the medal level in the female 4way competition of the World Meet 2012 is a challenging goal this year. Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders posted a 20.1 average after ten rounds at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2012.

There is another team that quietly takes advantage of the internal Golden Knights battle. Carolina Turbo XP competed at five of the six meets that either of the two Golden Knights lineups attended since August 2011.

The NSL News recently covered the impressive and promising Turbo progression with the story on 9 May 2012. Last weekend, the young team from Carolina provided additional evidence for this progression.

CASL 2011 - September		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	17,5,16	L,A,9,21	20,15,2	19,M,1	Q,22,E,F	B,P,13,G	Total	Avg
2	Golden Knights Black	22	20	15	17	18	17	109	18.2
3	Carolina Turbo XP	16	18	12	14	18	10	88	14.7

Carolina Turbo XP was quite far behind the Golden Knights Black (14.7 - 18.2) at the September meet of the Carolina Skydiving League last year. The difference was significantly reduced at the USPA Nationals 2011 and grew again at the indoor competition in February 2012.

Turbo then moved closer at the first outdoor competition this year in DeLand and has now caught with both Golden Knights lineups.

USPA Nationals 2011		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA/Open Class	M,5,13	21,14,22	12,20,D	11,Q,16	O,C,10,K	P,L,19,8	18,6,2	15,9,G	7,F,17	A,B,N,J,3	Total	Avg
10	Golden Knights Women	18	12	15	18	19	18	16	14	21	23	174	17.4
11	Golden Knights Black	18	14	15	16	16	18	16	17	21	20	171	17.1
12	Carolina Turbo XP	14	10	13	15	17	14	13	16	18	20	150	15.0

The 16.0 average at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2012 was Turbo's highest meet average so far, which was now shattered by the 17.3 last weekend in Raeford. A closer look at the scores shows how well the young Carolina team kept up round by round with both Golden Knights lineups.

This AAA Class battle of the Carolina Skydiving League has the potential to keep pushing all three teams to higher performance levels this year. By the way, there was also a well known guest from Ireland, but that's another story...