posted Oct 25th, 2017 - The NSL News covered the Intermediate Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2017 first with a story on 17 October that introduced the winner, Vega XP, and then followed up with a history of this event.

Vega XP has an interesting team story to offer, and the team members agreed to share more information with the NSL News and the audience. A new NSL Live Talk on Zoom was scheduled, and the complete lineup was ready to discuss more details of the team history and the near future on Tuesday evening, gathering online from different locations.

The previous Vega XP story put mostly the facts and numbers together that were the milestones on the road to the USPA Intermediate Class gold medals this year. This time, the update is more personal and introduces the team members, as far as this is possible during the limited available time. Even young Ashe Drennan participated live, as he had missed his usual bed time, and his big sister was already sleeping. Julie Kleinwort also included her pet cat in the show.

Only the Drennan family, with parents Annie (Point) and Ian (Inside Center), son Ashe and daughter Kaiya, was in North Carolina where the team has spent most of their time together at Paraclete XP. However, they are not residing anywhere at this time in their lives, as they are traveling around the country in their RV.

Outside Center Nicholas "Knik" Rashod Walker Sr. is not too far away from Paraclete in Georgia. Julie Kleinwort (Tail) and Amanda Kubik (Video) are both from Cedar Falls in Iowa, even though Amanda Kubik is recently working in Texas.

The geographic distances between the team members has obviously not been in the way of athletic success. In fact, the Vega story is special due to the circumstances of how the team came together and the approach to training and competition. The second video is showing that the team members do not take themselves and the team procedures too seriously, which was confirmed by Ian Drennan during the conversation.

The team story begins almost in a reversed way. There are many examples of 4-way competitors who switched to other events after years in the Formation Skydiving competition world. In fact, Ian Drennan knows some of them very well after several years with the PD Factory Team. Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo were 4-way world champions before they turned to Canopy Piloting.

Some of the Vega XP members came to 4-way competition the other way around, either from other disciplines or with hardly any 4-way experiences at all.

Original members Nicholas Walker, Annie and Ian Drennan launched their team project in 2015 when Ian Drennan decided not to continue with his swooping career. His wife Annie had a total of 130 jumps, and they asked the more experienced 4-way competitor Nicholas Walker to join them. He agreed, and then it took the 3-way more than a year to find a team specific tail.

USPA Nationals 2015		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Intermediate	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	M,E,A,G	Total	Avg
1	SDMW Next XP	13	14	15	12	15	21	12	12	9	15	-	138	13.8
2	Ragnarok	14	12	15	11	15	17	12	12	11	14	-	133	13.3
3	Air Force Allegiance	13	8	12	11	12	18	10	11	9	15	23	119	11.9
4	Southern Mix	13	12	12	11	12	17	9	11	9	13	22	119	11.9
5	4Mative	13	8	14	8	13	14	9	11	9	13	-	112	11.2
6	De Orbit Burn	12	13	12	8	8	16	10	10	8	13	-	110	11.0
7	Team Speed XF	11	10	10	10	13	14	8	9	9	13	-	107	10.7
7	Shockwave	11	9	12	11	8	13	11	11	8	13	-	107	10.7
9	SDC Jetstream Tango	8	11	12	9	12	14	9	10	9	12	-	106	10.6
9	AZ Defiance	10	12	10	10	12	17	9	9	7	10	-	106	10.6
11	DeLand Flashpoint	13	9	12	9	9	16	8	10	5	13	-	104	10.4
12	Dallas Disturbance	10	11	10	8	11	15	9	8	8	12	-	102	10.2
13	Zhills TranZend	10	10	11	9	12	14	6	9	8	11	-	100	10.0
14	Dallas HOT	11	10	12	10	10	11	5	10	7	13	-	99	9.9
15	Swift FS	10	10	13	6	10	12	8	8	6	12	-	95	9.5
16	2nd Generation	9	10	9	9	12	7	9	9	7	10	-	91	9.1
17	MeXtreme	9	9	10	9	12	12	8	7	5	9	-	90	9.0
18	Exit Strategy XP	9	8	10	7	7	11	9	9	8	8	-	86	8.6
19	.38 Special	10	8	7	7	6	12	8	8	6	13	-	85	8.5
20	Holograms 4.0	9	9	10	8	7	9	6	9	6	8	-	81	8.1
20	Flight SP	9	7	9	7	8	12	7	6	7	9	-	81	8.1
22	Plug It In Anywhere	9	8	9	7	9	12	7	6	5	8	-	80	8.0
23	Rhemix	6	7	10	7	10	8	7	7	7	9	-	78	7.8
24	Spaceland Toxic	9	10	9	8	10	6	4	7	4	9	-	76	7.6
24	L4S	9	7	10	7	7	9	8	7	6	6	-	76	7.6
26	STF Vega XP	8	9	9	7	10	6	6	3	6	9	-	73	7.3
26	Platinum VE	8	9	10	6	3	6	7	6	7	11	-	73	7.3
28	4 Shades of Grey	8	5	9	6	7	6	6	8	5	8	-	68	6.8
29	Nacho Key	8	7	6	6	6	9	5	6	6	8	-	67	6.7
30	Grand Theft Otter	9	6	5	7	4	7	5	6	7	8	-	64	6.4
31	Netflix and Chill	7	7	5	7	8	8	7	3	3	8	-	63	6.3
31	Elsinore Airscrewz	7	9	7	6	6	2	7	6	6	7	-	63	6.3
33	Don't Fear the Creeper	5	7	5	5	7	8	6	6	5	3	-	57	5.7
34	Luau	5	6	4	4	5	5	4	2	2	4	-	41	4.1
35	Screaming Eagles	5	4	4	1	3	3	4	2	2	6	-	34	3.4
36	The Filthy Five	3	4	4	3	0	3	3	4	3	2	-	29	2.9

Kevin Larson had competed with Vega XP at the USPA Nationals 2015, and Golden Knight Angela Nichols Navarro was filling the open slot regularly, followed by SDC Rhythm XP members in 2016.

Ian Drennan said that they finally convinced Julie Kleinwort to join, and "she was hooked" after her first serious 4-way experiences with the new Vega lineup. Kirk Verner and John D'Annunzio helped the new team with coaching, and the training became more focused and harder in 2017.

The Vega team family enjoys the time together, and the members encourage every skydiver to try it, as they have experienced the special team dynamics and the unlimited fun on the road to their goals. They have fully subscribed to the wisdom that it is the road that matters more than the destination. They also encourage other teams and competitors to trust themselves and make their own team specific decisions.

It is not a big surprise that the Vega fun could not be over yet. The same lineup has plans for the 2018 season in the AAA/Advanced Class, and they will work with Arizona Airspeed's 2012 world champion Thomas Hughes as their coach. Vega XP will probably show up again as a medal contender at the USPA Nationals 2018...