posted Mar 1st, 2017 - There is no doubt that the audience has been eagerly waiting to watch the competition rounds by SDC Rhythm XP and Arizona Airspeed at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2017. The wait is over, and the Paraclete videos have been edited and uploaded.

The audience now has the opportunity to review the whole first showdown between the two U.S. top contenders for this year's USPA championship title and the tickets to the FAI World Meet 2018 in Australia. Paraclete XP's 4-way lineup (John D'Annunzio, Kirk Verner, Brian Krause, Thomas Hughes) was obviously right in the middle of the top mix; however, XP has no plans to compete for the gold medals in Perris later this year.

The drama of the competition began with Airspeed's nightmare in Round 1, which gave Rhythm a 7-point lead after a good round and the highscore. However, Airspeed was not discouraged at all and had completely caught up after Round 6. The last round on Saturday then gave Rhythm a new 3-point lead.

Paraclete XP Indoor 2017		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	7,20,G	17,J,4	10,16,B	12,F,D,E	O,P,22,19	K,N,6,15	3,14,M	C,1,21	13,2,L	9,18,8	Total	Avg
1	SDC Rhythm XP	28	25(-2)	25(-1)	30(-1)	27	27(-1)	26	26	23	23(-1)	260	26.0
2	XP4	27	28(-1)	24	30(-1)	27	27(-1)	26	23(-1)	22	24	258	25.8
3	Arizona Airspeed	21(-2)	29	25	31	27	29	23	25	23	24	257	25.7

The three rounds of the second day did not change anything at all, and SDC Rhythm XP won the meet with a consistent performance and Airspeed's help in Round 1 and Round 7.

Team captains JaNette Lefkowitz and Niklas Hemlin were available for a brief NSL Live Talk after the completion of Round 10 and the award ceremony, and they both confirmed what the numbers on the scoreboard have been showing. Round 1 was obviously the meet-maker at Paraclete, and both teams seem to be on eye level at the start of the 2017 season.

Niklas Hemlin explained for Airspeed that his team was at the beginning of the 2017 training before visiting Raeford. Airspeed is also not focused much on the indoor performance. He said that his team is using the wind tunnel as a training tool for technical development, while the outdoor performance has the highest priority.

JaNette Lefkowitz said that beating Airspeed and getting to the very top position has always been the team goal. The circumstances at Paraclete were not different compared to previous events. However, this was the first time that SDC Rhythm XP finally took the top spot on the podium.

Both teams are now getting ready for the first outdoor competition this year, the Shamrock Showdown 2017 in DeLand. SDC Rhythm XP has attended each Shamrock Showdown since 2010, and Arizona Airspeed is the undefeated Shamrock champion since 2007.

Airspeed has never lost in DeLand, even when the French national teams or NMP PCH HayaBusa were visiting. There is no doubt that the new lineup wants to maintain this unique streak, while Rhythm wants to repeat what they just did in Raeford. It will be another real showdown in DeLand...