posted Oct 31st, 2019 - The NSL News has covered the extremely exciting 4-way Open Class competition at the USPA Nationals comprehensively and followed up with the close 5-point battle between three teams for the USPA bronze medals in the Advanced Class on October 24th.

Last and not least, there was another even closer battle for silver medals in the 4-way Intermediate Class. Silver medalist Stockholm Syndrome carried a 1-point advantage over Carolina Ice XP barely over the finish line, and Spaceland Toxic in 4th place was only three points behind the 2nd place.

Even the next two teams, SDC Rheology XP and Jumptown Precision, were in serious contention for medals throughout the ten rounds and shared some of the highscores for single rounds.

Platinum XP won with a dominating performance, even though the team had to overcome some serious obstacles throughout the whole year. Actually, the 2019 lineup (Jason Adams, Don Hurd, Matthias Kaminski, John D'Annunzio) completed only one meet together, the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship.

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USPA Nationals 2019		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Intermediate	E,F,K,22	13,15	19,8	J,P,M,L	7,18	1,9	D,14,Q	11,20	B,A,2	21,O,G	Total	Avg
1	Platinum XP	13	11	11	22	11	15	12	9	14	15	133	13.3
2	Stockholm Syndrome	14	10	11	16	11	13	10	6	12	12	115	11.5
3	Carolina Ice XP	11	9	6	21	9	13	11	7	14	13	114	11.4
4	Spaceland Toxic	12	8	10	17	10	13	10	8	12	12	112	11.2
5	SDC Rheology XP	13	9	7	19	8	11	11	9	12	10	109	10.9
6	Jumptown Precision	13	6	7	18	9	12	10	8	12	13	108	10.8
7	MWFF Mad Props	12	8	8	16	8	10	10	8	12	11	103	10.3
8	4 The Hard Way	10	8	6	21	9	10	9	7	10	12	102	10.2
9	Tail Spin	12	10	9	18	8	9	8	5	10	10	99	9.9
10	Get Schwifty!	8	7	8	17	9	12	10	6	11	10	98	9.8
11	SCZ ZEUS	6	9	6	17	10	12	10	6	10	11	97	9.7
11	4Tune	10	8	6	15	9	12	10	7	8	12	97	9.7
13	Perris Bold & Beautiful	12	7	7	15	8	11	8	7	11	8	94	9.4
14	Khaboom	9	8	8	15	8	10	5	6	11	13	93	9.3
15	STF Precision	12	7	7	15	6	9	7	7	13	8	91	9.1
16	inXPerience	6	7	7	15	10	10	10	3	8	10	86	8.6
17	Perris Twirly Pants	9	6	7	11	5	9	9	7	13	7	83	8.3
18	Burble Me Softly	10	5	7	9	7	8	6	6	11	8	77	7.7
19	Post Exchange XP	8	7	7	12	7	4	5	6	10	7	73	7.3
20	AF Brainfreeze	9	7	7	11	6	6	6	2	11	6	71	7.1
21	Turbulence	9	6	5	9	7	8	5	4	8	9	70	7.0
22	Carolina Bootie Babes	8	5	4	12	6	6	7	5	7	6	66	6.6
23	Perris Oddballs	9	5	5	9	5	7	5	3	9	7	64	6.4
24	Spaceland Toxic Thunder	6	4	3	11	4	5	6	5	9	9	62	6.2
25	Carolina Relative Humility XP	7	6	4	7	5	6	5	4	9	6	59	5.9
25	7 Foot 4-Way	5	6	5	9	3	7	6	4	9	5	59	5.9
27	C.I.A.	0	5	2	8	7	4	5	7	10	9	57	5.7
28	DeLands Hit Show	7	3	1	7	5	8	1	5	7	5	49	4.9
29	Strangers in Flight	2	4	5	7	3	4	4	3	5	7	44	4.4
30	OS Quad Squad	4	4	3	6	5	5	4	1	5	5	42	4.2
31	Ranch Victorious Secrets	4	2	3	2	3	4	1	3	2	4	28	2.8

Platinum XP at the USPA Nationals 2019 - Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/IPC/OmniSkore!HD

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John D'Annunzio was not available for the the Paraclete XP Summer Classic. Platinum XP were fortunate enough to find Paraclete XP8 and Ranch 2nd Generation member Jeana Billings to fill his slot for the meet. She had to perform double duties, as R2G competed at the same event.

Platinum XP founder Don Hurd and Jeana Billings even share parts of their 4-way history together, as they know each other from the days of the Southern Skydiving League.

They competed against each other regularly, after Jeana Billings had launched her 4-way career with Southern Mix. John D'Annunzio also had a player-coach position with both teams in the past, this year with Platinum XP.

Platinum XP won the Paraclete XP Summer Classic with a new team record average (13.4) and the NSL News pointed out on July 2nd that the team would be one of the top contenders for USPA medals this year.

Then Matthias Kaminski had to step back with a health issue shortly after the XP Summer Classic, and the next obstacle occurred when Don Hurd was injured right before the USPA Nationals. He had to withdraw, as well. Jeana Billings would not be available for the event, and Platinum XP had to find two substitutes with very little time before the competition.

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Stockholm Syndrome - Carolina XP - Spaceland Toxic at the USPA Nationals 2019 - Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/IPC/OmniSkore!HD

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However, Platinum XP was committed to the 2019 plans, and they were able to replace Matthias Kaminski and Don Hurd with Max McParland and Ryan Weeks, organizer of the Northern Plains Skydiving League. Matt McLean was filming the team at the USPA Nationals.

The alternate lineup managed enough training to get familiar with each other, and they were then able to match Platinum XP's meet average at the Paraclete XP Summer Classic almost exactly. It was enough to win the gold medals without too much serious opposition.

Remarkably, all Top 5 teams had previous competition practice and experience this year. Platinum XP and Stockholm Syndrome both competed at the Paraclete XP Summer Classic, and the USPA silver medalists added an average-point to the scoring level in the three months between the two events. Carolina Ice XP completed ten rounds at Carolina Skydiving League events this year before winning the USPA bronze medals.

Spaceland Toxic attended the San Marcos Showdown of the Texas Skydiving League and missed the USPA bronze medals by two points. SDC Rheology XP posted a 9.3 average at the August meet of the Midwest Skydiving League and finished with 10.9 at the USPA Nationals. Competition practice and experiences obviously pay back - so go compete if there are blue skies...