posted Dec 18th, 2014 - It is time to go back to the 4-way thriller between M4trix and Creeps for the 2nd place in the AAA Class at the ISR Grand Prix 2014.

Both teams, M4trix for the Netherlands and Creeps for Belgium, gave each other a 10-round battle, which ended with a 1-point advantage for the 4-way lineup of M8trix. The 22.1 average for Creeps was the team's highest indoor average by far. Creeps has attended indoor competitions since 2012, and it was the first time that the team broke through the 20-average level. The M4trix lineup competed for the first time at an indoor meet.

The Sun Path Products NSL News story on 16 December 2014 had explained the plans of the Dutch 8-way team M8trix. The 4-way lineup has additional plans for the 2015 season, as well.

ISR Grand Prix 2014		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	B,7,14	E,N,2,22	10,F,17	A,Q,6,M	5,K,D,O	L,11,21	P,9,18	12,G,J,15	Total	Avg
1	Thunder ISR (BE)	28	25	26	37	34	24	29	24	227	28.4
2	M4trix (NL)	23	19	20	28	27	19	23	19	178	22.3
3	Creeps (BE)	22	19	21	28	27	17	24	19	177	22.1

M4trix won the Dutch Nationals 2014 without much competition and is officially the national team for 2015. Mechie Voermans, Leon van Leeuwen, Jaap Keuter, Leander van Schriek spun off from M8trix this year. Former Whooops members Leon van Leeuwen and Mechie Voermans had joined the M8trix lineup for the 2014 season, while Jaap Keuter and Leander van Schriek have trained and competed with M8trix for a while.

Leander van Schriek said that the 4-way lineup was quite active "on the side-line of the FS-8 project":

"We did about 100 training jumps in 4-way at Texel and managed to get about eight hours of wind tunnel time in."

Dutch Nationals 2013		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	18,L,N,Q	19,5,F	M,20,21	K,J,10,22	E,9,7	1,O,14	B,4,17	P,11,C,2	8,H,16	3,G,6	Total	Avg
1	Whooops	16	14	15	15	20	14	16	16	14	14	154	15.4
1	NRG	16	13	16	15	20	14	16	15	15	14	154	15.4
3	Cool Runnings	12	12	13	11	15	9	10	12	9	10	113	11.3

The new 4-way team also had high goals. M4trix had to use the training time to get two team members familarized with new slots, and the goal was to post a meet average that would be higher than any of the M4trix competitors had done before.

Leander van Schriek said that it was a serious challenge, as all M4trix members were standing with a 15.4 average after the ten rounds at the Dutch Nationals 2013, where they had a jump-off for the 1st place against each other (Whooops members Leon van Leeuwen and Mechie Voermans vs. NRG members Jaap Keuter and Leander van Schriek).

M4trix felt confident until Round 8 and was on the way (16.3 after Round 7) to the desired record average. Then desaster struck with a 1-pointer in Round 8, and Leander van Schriek said that "all hope of setting new personal records went overboard". He said that he could not even explain what happened in Round 8 and that his team still has nightmares...

M4trix repeated Round 8 later in training in order to set things right and add the new personal best average to the team's own records.

The same team then proved at the ISR Grand Prix what M4trix is capable of. The 22.3 indoor average met the team's expectations and showed the potential, as Leander van Schriek explained: "M4trix can grow fast. I am certain that the team has the potential to reach out for a 17-18 outdoor average in 2015."

As the Dutch national team, M4trix will compete for the Netherlands at the World Cup 2015. Goal is also to defend the national title next year and compete at the Mondial 2016, as well. This means double duties with M8trix and M4trix for all four members in the next two years...