posted Jul 25th, 2016 - The Sun Path Products NSL News posted the first preview of the USPA Nationals 2016 with the introduction of Seattle Swift on July 20th. The Northwest Skydiving League team became instantly one of the top contenders for medals in USPA's Intermediate Class with the 11.1 average after eight rounds.

An 11+ average is usually bringing AA/Intermediate Class teams into medal contention at USPA Nationals. The July 16 weekend brought together several AA Class teams on the overall leaderboard who might meet each other again under live event conditions and for ten rounds at the national championships in Eloy later this year.

The Sun Path Products NSL News used the opportunity to take a closer look at the current AA/Intermediate Class situation in the run-up to the USPA Nationals.

USPA Nationals 2015			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		22,K,F	B,11,21	D,Q,H,13	8,1	P,15,J	L,O,N,C	20,4	19,2	18,14	6,7	Total	Avg
1	Skydive Midwest Next	MWSL	13	14	15	12	15	21	12	12	9	15	138	13.8
2	Ragnarok	CASL	14	12	15	11	15	17	12	12	11	14	133	13.3
3	Air Force Allegiance	USAF	13	8	12	11	12	18	10	11	9	15	119	11.9
3	Southern Mix	SSL	13	12	12	11	12	17	9	11	9	13	119	11.9

Ten U.S. teams competed in the AA Class on the July 16 weekend, together with six teams in France and five teams in the United Kingdom. Seattle Swift was not only the best U.S. team but also outscored the French and British AA Class teams.

SDC eXtreme finished not too far behind and has enough time to move from a 10-average to medal level at the USPA Nationals. The competition in Eloy is still three months away.

There is always a question mark behind the fully sponsored teams of the Air Force Academy, who have much better resources than all other Intermediate Class teams, including coaching by former Arizona Airspeed member Andy Honigbaum. At least one set of Intermediate Class medals has to be reserved for teams of the U.S. Air Force if they sign up for Intermediate Class competition.

July 16th, 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		14,22	19,P,H	1,C,6	21,Q,D	9,A,13	8,B,L	K,11,G	E,M,4	7,20	N,F,O,J	Total	Avg
1	Seattle Swift	NWSL	7	12	10	13	11	13	9	14	-	-	89	11.1
3	SDC eXtreme	MWSL	5	11	8	12	6	10	8	14	8	17	99	9.9
8	Suffolk Sabotage	VPC	7	10	8	7	9	9	-	-	-	-	50	8.3
12	A Team Has No Name	SSL	7	9	7	7	7	-	-	-	-	-	37	7.4
13	DeLand Kickers	FSL	5	5	8	7	7	7	9	10	7	-	65	7.2
14	Platinum 3.0	SSL	4	7	6	8	7	-	-	-	-	-	32	6.4
15	Threat Level Orange	VPC	5	8	8	4	6	4	-	-	-	-	35	5.8
17	SDMW 2GPRD	MWSL	3	6	5	4	4	3	6	7	-	-	38	4.8
18	ZeuZ	FSL	5	1	6	8	3	5	-	-	-	-	28	4.7
18	3 Men and a Turbine Baby	NPSL	3	7	3	5	5	5	-	-	-	-	28	4.7

Rank	Teams - Top 10	League	Meets	Average
1	SDC Rhemix	MWSL	15.0	15.0
2	DeLoreans	NCSL	12.8	12.8
3	Z-Hills PreciZion	FSL	11.9	11.9
4	Seattle Swift	NWSL	11.1	11.1
5	SDC eXtreme	MWSL	11.0 - 9.9	10.5
6	Erin's Last Score	VPC	9.4	9.4
7	Perris Franz	SCSL	8.3	8.3
8	4 Shades of Gray	TSL	8.3	8.3
9	Suffolk Sabotage	VPC	8.0 - 7.2 - 8.3	7.8
10	A Team Has No Name	SSL	7.4	7.4

The AA Class leaderboard of the July 16 weekend does not show all the teams who will compete for medals at the USPA Nationals this year. The additional AA Class rankings of the 2016 season are showing previous meet results in addition to the weekend's leaderboard.

The three teams in the top spots may or may not compete in Eloy, and at least SDC Rhemix will have a different lineup. JaNette Lefkowitz will not be available, as she will challenge Arizona Airspeed with SDC Rhythm XP in the AAA/Open Class competition.

Z-Hills PreciZion, with player coach Sally Hathaway, posted an 11.9 average at the FSL June meet and will be in the mix for USPA medals. And then there is also the 2nd Generation from the Blue Sky Ranch, introduced by the Sun Path Products NSL News on March 14th...