posted Oct 4th, 2019 - The 4-way Open Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2019 also included the qualification for the 4-way Women slot in the U.S. delegation for the FAI World Meet 2020 in Tanay, Russia.

The NSL News covered the special competition on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard with a few previews. The story on July 22nd pointed out that Texas Skydiving League team Aviatrix was in a strong position after a 13.9 performance at the end of July. The Aviatrix inroduction was posted on June 30th after the 14.5 average at the San Marcos Showdown.

Three contenders for the status of the U.S. national team in 4-way Women in 2020 seemed to be in the qualification race: Phoenix XP, Perris Force and Aviatrix. The NSL News expected the U.S. national team of 2018, Phoenix XP, to be back for the next battle with Perris Force, as the preview of the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship on February 17th explained. Aviatrix was not on the 4-way landscape at that time.

The battle between Phoenix XP and Perris Force took place as expected, and Perris Force had the upper hand at the indoor competition at Paraclete XP, after finishing behind Phoenix XP at the USPA Nationals 2018. Phoenix XP was also the best 4-way Women team at the USPA Nationals 2017, which qualified the team for the FAI World Meet 2018. Both teams continued with preparations for the outdoor season after the Paraclete indoor meet.

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USPA Nationals 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		7,C,H,P		J,21,20		O,3,11		B,2,K,E		8,Q,10		15,D,F,12		N,L,M,14		6,1,9		A,18,13		G,4,5		17,16,22		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	45	-1	24		27		37		21		25		34		25	-1	26	-1	25	-4	-		289	28.9
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	41		22		21	-1	33		21		23		27		25		24		25		21	-1	262	26.2
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	40	-1	24		22	-2	32		19	-2	24		29		25		21	-2	26	-1	20	-2	262	26.2
4	Defiance	US	30	-1	21		15	-4	28		16		19		22	-3	21		18	-1	18	-1	-		208	20.8
5	Ranch 2nd Generation	US	26		19		19		24	-2	16	-1	17	-1	24		18	-1	19		19		-		201	20.1
6	Kinetix	AU	26		18		17		22		13	-1	17		18	-1	17		17		17		-		182	18.2
7	Lite XP	US	24	-1	17		17		22		15		17		20	-2	16	-1	14		17		-		179	17.9
8	No Name	US	22	-4	17		14		19	-2	12	-2	13		14	-3	15		14		16		-		156	15.6
9	Aviatrixx	US	21		14		13	-1	18	-1	12	-2	15		17	-1	14	-1	12		14		-		150	15.0
10	Perris Force	US	20		13	-1	14		18		11	-1	11		18	-1	13	-1	12		12	-1	-		142	14.2

Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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Phoenix XP had to deal with injury troubles. First, original member Morgan Womble missed the world meet in Australia, where Megan George was filling the slot for her.

Then, the new 2019 lineup with two new members (Sheryl Benner, Irina Meshcheryakova) had to take a break when Lauren Byrd was injured, and Phoenix XP missed the Paraclete XP Summer Classic on her home turf.

Perris Force had a new lineup, as well, that defeated Phoenix XP at the indoor competition in February. However, 2017 and 2018 member Shannon Catalano did not come back after the promising start, also due to an injury.

Phoenix XP's 2017 and 2018 member Amanda Lampton helped out after she had left Phoenix XP at the end of the 2018 season.

At the same time, Aviatrix had launched their team project in Texas, while the other two 4-way Women contenders were dealing with injuries and changes in the lineups. The Aviatrix lineup included another former Perris Force member, Sandra van der Bilt, who trained and competed with Christy Frikken's team in 2017 and 2018.

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Paraclete XP Indoor 2019		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	P,N,Q,1	G,2,17	14,18,D	K,12,10	5,H,J,L	19,M,7	15,13,8	C,6,B,9	20,16,11	E,3,O,A	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	38	30	25	25	42	31	23	44	23	36	317	31.7
2	SDC Rhythm XP	39	31	24	23	44	30	22	35	22	36	306	30.6
3	Golden Knights Gold	30	27	22	19	34	26	20	35	21	29	263	26.3
4	Ranch 2nd Generation	31	26	23	22	30	27	18	30	21	28	256	25.6
5	XPG4	30	22	20	19	31	24	19	28	17	27	237	23.7
6	Lite XP	25	19	16	17	23	24	17	26	17	27	211	21.1
7	Great Expectations	27	15	18	17	24	23	16	24	13	24	201	20.1
8	Air Force Shadow	25	20	15	15	27	20	16	25	15	22	200	20.0
9	Perris Force	27	16	16	16	20	22	14	23	14	23	191	19.1
10	Vega XP	22	13	15	12	21	23	15	24	15	20	180	18.0
10	Phoenix XP	22	17	15	16	20	20	14	20	15	21	180	18.0
12	SDC Rhevolution XP	23	14	14	14	19	20	14	21	15	17	171	17.1
13	Fire Ball XP4	23	14	15	14	21	18	15	16	12	21	169	16.9
14	Air Force Boomers	22	16	12	14	22	18	15	18	10	15	162	16.2
15	Lucky Joshua	21	13	14	13	17	17	14	17	13	20	159	15.9
16	SCZ ZEUS 3.5	19	15	13	12	18	15	10	18	11	17	148	14.8
17	A Bunch of Misfits Winto a Bar	17	13	13	14	20	18	13	11	11	16	146	14.6
18	Airtrocity	18	14	12	12	18	17	13	17	10	14	145	14.5
19	NSL4XIC	18	12	10	9	16	15	10	15	10	13	128	12.8

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Aviatrix did not meet their two 4-way Women opponents at any competition before the USPA Nationals, while most of the team members knew each other from other teams and events. However, the competition at Skydive Paraclete XP still turned out only as a duel between Aviatrix and Perris Force, as Phoenix XP decided not to attend.

Aviatrix finished with a new team record average, which was posted at the team's first 10-round meet. Both previous meets of the Texas Skydiving League were concluded after six and eight rounds.

Perris Force used the August meet of the Southern California Skydiving League as a test before the national championships and then followed up with a significantly improved 14.2 performance in Raeford. It was still not enough to threaten Aviatrix seriously, and the Texas team will compete for the U.S. delegation next year in Russia.

The U.S. delegation for the upcoming FAI Outdoor World Cup 2019 at Skydive Arizona includes four U.S. teams in 4-way Women. They qualified for the event at the USPA Nationals 2018 and will be introduced soon.