posted Jun 21st, 2018 - Arizona Airspeed's performance at the Paraclete XP Summer Classic 2018 did not only carry some momentum into Arizona FM's ten rounds of the World Tunnel League's June competition. It was also inspiring for the other four AAA Class teams at Skydive Paraclete in Raeford.

Ranch 2nd Generation (R2G) mastered the two slower rounds on Sunday morning better than all other AAA Class teams and finished with a 19.0 average, which is significantly higher than last year's winning average (16.4) in the AAA/Advanced Class competition of the USPA Nationals.

Savage XP translated their own 19.9 indoor average at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2018 into an impressive 17.3 at the team's first outdoor competition.

Team member Jeana Billings was Jimmy Xu's 2015 team mate with Southern Mix at the May meet of the Southern Skydiving League 2015. Last year's Southern Mix lineup finished 8th with a 10.9 average in the AA/Intermediate Class competition at the USPA Nationals. Nine months later, Jeana Billings posted the 17.3 outdoor average with Savage XP on last weekend's AAA Class leaderboard. Former team mate Jimmy Xu has continued his own 4-way career with Arizona FM and SCZ ZEUS.

Paraclete XP Summer Classic 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA/Open/Advanced Class		F,M,C,10		14,P,A,15		19,11,9		E,B,22,7		2,K,G,12		3,O,1		4,17,J		Q,13,D,6		N,L,8,18		16,21,20		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	35		25	-1	24		27	-2	25		23	-1	25	-1	26		23		21		254	25.4
2	Ranch 2nd Generation	US	23	-1	16	-2	19		20	-1	18		19		19		19		20		17		190	19.0
3	Savage XP	US	24		17		18		20		14		16		16		17		16		15		173	17.3
4	Vega XP	US	19		13		15		14		13		11		9		12	-1	12		11		129	12.9
5	Adventure Flyers	PY	18		13		12		12		11	-1	12		12		11		-		-		101	12.6

Both former Southern Mix team members have been advancing their 4-way progression with player coaches in the lineup. Paraclete XP's John D'Annunzio was guiding Southern Mix as a player coach in 2015 and 2016, and Savage XP has Kirk Verner in the lineup.

Jimmy Xu gets his coaching from Arizona Airspeed members, together with his FM team mate Ian Pedowitz.

Vega XP moved up into the AAA Class competition after winning the AA/Intermediate Class gold medals at the USPA Nationals, the same event where Jeana Billings posted AA scores with the Southern Mix 2017 all-female lineup.

However, Vega XP continued with the same lineup that won in Perris last year, and all new AAA Class competitors met for the first time at the Paraclete XP indoor meet in February 2018. Vega XP started the AAA Class journey with a 16.2 indoor average, while Jeana Billings was back with a new lineup and player-coach Kirk Verner.

Savage XP extended the distance to Vega XP at the outdoor competition with direct access to the vast 4-way experiences of the former Airspeed 4-way and 8-way world champion Kirk Verner.

Paraclete XP Indoor 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		6,P,O,9	N,1,21	D,J,E,K,14	8,Q,L,5	10,12,F	3,19,22	17,B,20	11,13,7	C,16,18	H,M,A,G,15	4,2,6	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	40	26	45	33	27	21	33	25	26	39	-	315	31.5
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	37	27	40	28	24	22	26	22	25	37	-	288	28.8
3	Golden Knights Gold	US	36	24	35	27	22	22	25	23	23	35	-	272	27.2
4	Ranch 2nd Generation	US	34	22	30	24	21	20	29	23	20	34	-	257	25.7
5	Golden Knights	US	29	21	28	24	20	16	22	19	17	23	-	219	21.9
6	Dallas 350	US	26	18	25	23	20	18	23	19	16	27	-	215	21.5
7	Parachute Montreal Fuzion	CA	30	19	22	21	15	18	22	18	18	29	17	212	21.2
8	Phoenix XP	US	28	20	29	20	15	17	21	18	16	28	15	212	21.2
9	Fast4ward XP	US	26	19	25	20	16	16	23	16	14	25	-	200	20.0
10	Savage XP	US	24	17	25	18	17	16	21	18	16	27	-	199	19.9
11	Golden Knights Black	US	26	18	24	19	17	14	20	17	15	27	-	197	19.7
12	4Shadow	US	25	18	21	16	14	13	19	15	14	22	-	177	17.7
13	SCZ ZEUS	US	22	17	21	15	14	12	17	14	14	23	-	169	16.9
14	AZ Defiance	US	21	16	19	17	16	14	15	14	12	24	-	168	16.8
15	Vega XP	US	21	15	17	16	13	12	16	14	13	25	-	162	16.2
16	Fantasticate	US	18	14	22	12	14	14	16	13	13	23	-	159	15.9
17	CB4	US	16	16	21	16	13	10	16	13	10	21	-	152	15.2
18	Pandemonium	US	19	15	15	15	13	13	12	12	14	21	-	149	14.9
19	CoNEXTion XP	US	16	15	18	18	15	7	9	13	10	23	-	144	14.4
20	Harpia	BR	18	13	17	13	12	13	14	12	13	16	-	141	14.1
21	Can't Wait	US	15	12	20	12	10	10	12	11	11	16	-	129	12.9

The NSL News had introduced Vega XP with NSL Live Talk on 25 October 2017, which explained the AAA Class plans for 2018. The first update was posted on 17 October 2017, shortly after Vega XP won the USPA gold medals.

The NSL News mentioned earlier that the 12.9 average is a very promising AAA Class outdoor start for Vega XP and close to a position of medal contention in USPA's Advanced Class competition at the national championships. Reigning Advanced Class champion Ranch 2nd Generation will compete in the Open Class.

Only Seattle Swift seem to come back for more and better this year and are probably ahead of Vega XP at this point in time.

The AAA Class video of the Paraclete XP Summer Classic also features the Adventure Flyers from Paraguay in Round 2. They have attended four meets in the United States since the Shamrock Showdown in March 2017 and improved the meet average each time. Coach Solly Williams was in the inside center slot in Raeford and supported the 12.6 average after eight rounds.