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Five 4-way Women teams had registered for the 4-way Open Class competition at last year's national championship (Phoenix XP - Perris Force - Victorious Secret - SNE Fly Girls - Spaceland Heatwave), and they had their eyes on the four 4-way Women slots at the world cup a year later. Three of them (Phoenix XP - Victorious Secret - SNE Fly Girls) eventually signed up for the world cup, which took place this month at Skydive Arizona.
Defiance member Ben Liston, who won his first Open Class bronze medal at the USPA Nationals in September and competed at the world cup in 4-way and 8-way, remembered that SNE Fly Girls were first planning to compete in USPA's Advanced Class at the national championship last year. He knows the team well, as they are also located in New England and have participated for years in his annual indoor competition at SkyVenture New Hampshire.
He was also helping the team with coaching and advice during training camps at SkyVenture New Hampshire and Skydive New England, as all Defiance members have been doing. Ben Liston and his team mate James "Bu" Klinge both encouraged the SNE Fly Girls to sign up for the Open Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2018, so they would have at least a shot at one of the four slots that would qualify U.S. 4-way Women teams for the FAI World Cup 2019.
USPA Nationals 2018 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | Avg | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | 4-way Open | J,19,K,22 | P,13,A,E | H,G,Q,B,21 | 9,2,L | C,14,4 | O,16,3 | 1,15,10 | M,20,11 | F,D,18,6 | 5,12,17 | Total | Avg |
1 | Arizona Airspeed | 23 | 29 | 34 | 28 | 23 | 24 | 19 | 24 | 26 | 25 | 255 | 25.5 |
2 | SDC Rhythm XP | 20 | 25 | 33 | 26 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 21 | 23 | 20 | 223 | 22.3 |
3 | Airspeed Odyssey | 20 | 25 | 28 | 22 | 18 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 206 | 20.6 |
4 | Defiance | 19 | 23 | 25 | 21 | 18 | 21 | 15 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 203 | 20.3 |
5 | Ranch 2nd Generation | 17 | 22 | 20 | 22 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 19 | 188 | 18.8 |
6 | Spaceland Lite | 15 | 19 | 24 | 19 | 16 | 18 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 171 | 17.1 |
7 | Phoenix XP | 17 | 17 | 21 | 18 | 13 | 17 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 161 | 16.1 |
8 | Perris Force | 12 | 11 | 21 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 144 | 14.4 |
9 | Spaceland Dallas 350 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 20 | 16 | 143 | 14.3 |
10 | Victorious Secret | 11 | 13 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 115 | 11.5 |
11 | SNE Fly Girls | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 92 | 9.2 |
12 | Spaceland Heatwave | 9 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 84 | 8.4 |
SNE Fly Girls and Victorious Secret had their re-match in Eloy this month, and the New England team even turned the outcome a year after the first match that Victorious Secret had won easily.
The Fly Girls had continued with training and competition after the USPA Nationals 2018, while Victorious Secret only came back for the world cup. In fact, SNE Fly Girls were the only U.S. team who even managed to score higher at the world cup than at this year's national championship, and they were one of the very few teams who posted new team record numbers with the slow competition draw in Eloy.
The SNE Fly Girls had a change in the lineup at the end of the 2018 season when Beth York stepped back to become the alternate and Monique Lai took the outside center slot. The new lineup competed for the first time at the SkyVenture New Hampshire Indoor Championship 2019 and then again in the Advanced Class of the USPA Nationals 2019.
FAI Outdoor World Cup 2019 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | Avg | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | 4-way Women | 13,11,16 | P,22,4 | O,7,21 | 9,20,G | 18,15,L | K,10,3 | 6,14,C | 1,M,A,17 | F,D,Q,8 | 2,5,E | Total | Avg | |||||||||||
1 | Aerodyne Weembi Girls | FR | 17 | 19 | 25 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 23 | 25 | -1 | 21 | 209 | 20.9 | |||||||||
2 | NFTO | UK | 17 | 17 | 23 | 19 | -1 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 23 | -1 | 20 | 193 | 19.3 | ||||||||
3 | Phoenix XP | US | 13 | 13 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 12 | -1 | 14 | 17 | 18 | -1 | 14 | 145 | 14.5 | ||||||||
4 | Skynamite | DE | 13 | 12 | 18 | 16 | 11 | -2 | 13 | 13 | 15 | -1 | 16 | -3 | 16 | 143 | 14.3 | |||||||
5 | SNE Fly Girls | US | 11 | 11 | -1 | 15 | -1 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | -1 | 16 | 12 | 129 | 12.9 | |||||||
6 | Victorious Secret | US | 9 | 11 | -1 | 14 | 10 | -2 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 16 | -1 | 14 | 14 | 122 | 12.2 | |||||||
7 | Alola | UK | 9 | -1 | 10 | -2 | 13 | 10 | -1 | 9 | -1 | 9 | -1 | 9 | -1 | 12 | -1 | 16 | 11 | 108 | 10.8 |
Victorious Secret alternate Sandra Van Der Bilt competed with Aviatrix, as well, and will travel to Russia next year together with Christy West.
The SNE Fly Girls members have their competition history in New England where they competed with different lineups of Brian Touhey's indoor teams at the SkyVenture New Hampshire indoor competition. Ben Liston said that they also used a great opportunity in January this year. He had invited Eliana Rodriguez as the meet coach for the event, who had agreed to offer additional coaching prior to the event.
The Fly Girls were excited and inspired after the training with the most successful female 4-way competitor in history. They met Eliana Rodriguez again at the world cup this month and could share their experiences. Ben Liston said that they were very elevated after the world cup and that they were already thinking about plans for the near future. Ben Liston himself is now changing direction. At this time of the year, he is now switching to his role as the meet director and to the preparations for the next SkyVenture New Hampshire meet in January...