posted Nov 26th, 2019 - The new Arizona Airspeed 4-way lineup brings two team mates to Eloy who have known each other for a long time. Joey Marshall and Christopher Kuhlmann are original Ranch 2nd Generation members, as the NSL News reported on November 21st.

Joey Marshall and Christopher Kuhlmann have trained and competed together since 2015, and the first season with Airspeed is their 6th year together. They have also been front piece partners for the same time period, Christopher Kuhlmann outside center, Joey Marshall in the point slot.

This will most likely change now, as the returning Airspeed members, Niklas Hemlin and Mikhail Markine, plan to share their own knowledge and experiences with them in the most efficient way. Each of them will connect with one of the new Airspeed members in the according piece. Joey Marshall will probably continue in the front piece, while Christopher Kuhlmann could get a new job in the rear piece. The exact and final slot assignment is still in the works.

The Airspeed selection brings the fairy-tale 4-way story of Ranch 2nd Generation most likely to an end. Michelle Karamon and Jeana Billings both train and compete with Airspeed XP8, and Airspeed have a multi-year commitment ahead of them.

R2G was consistently on the way to catch up with the two dominating teams in the United States, SDC Rhythm XP and Arizona Airspeed, and a few years could have turned the young team into a serious challenger for the U.S. top spot.

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USPA Nationals 2015		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	J,H,2,8	6,D,18	F,9,L,O	1,17,E	K,19,N,P	3,7,5	4,A,B,12	11,16,M	15,Q,22	20,14,10	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	27	24	43	23	26	25	25	23	21	19	256	25.6
2	SDC Rhythm XP	22	21	42	25	27	20	23	20	20	16	236	23.6
3	Golden Knights	23	19	37	22	24	19	23	21	19	17	224	22.4
4	Carolina Turbo XP	22	20	34	22	25	20	19	21	18	16	217	21.7
5	HG XP	15	18	30	18	22	19	18	15	14	12	181	18.1
6	Prestige Worldwide	18	16	27	15	16	16	14	16	14	13	165	16.5
7	EOS	17	14	26	16	15	15	15	17	13	13	161	16.1
8	Dallas 350	16	16	23	15	17	17	15	16	14	11	160	16.0
9	Verve XP	15	13	27	14	17	16	16	16	13	12	159	15.9
10	Spaceland Lite	16	14	23	13	17	13	13	13	14	10	146	14.6
11	Camdak.is	14	11	21	12	12	13	12	8	10	8	121	12.1

Carolina Turbo XP at the USPA Nationals 2015

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It is not the first time that a promising team discontinued when team members were recruited for the two top teams. In fact, the current situation resembles exactly what happened to Carolina Turbo XP after the USPA Nationals 2015. Turbo was even closer to the top level than R2G this year. The 21.7 average at their last meet was significantly closer to Airspeed and Rhythm than R2G was in September in Raeford.

Original Turbo members Andrew Happick and Doug Barron were in Turbo's 6th year together, one year ahead of Christopher Kuhlmann and Joey Marshall with R2G. It seemed to be only a matter of time when they would catch up with Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP.

It was not Arizona Airspeed in 2016 who recruited Andrew Happick and Doug Barron for their new lineup. Airspeed had already filled an open slot with Rhythm member Mikhail Markine. Christy Frikken neither continued with Rhythm after the end of the 2015 season,and JaNette and Steve Lefkowitz needed two new members. They found what they were looking for with Andrew Happick and Doug Barron.

That was the end of Carolina Turbo XP, and the two top teams continued successfully with their new lineups.

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USPA Nationals 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Class		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

Ranch 2nd Generation at the USPA Nationals 2019

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All four R2G members are ending up in a better position than Carolina Turbo XP of 2015. Only Andrew Happick and Doug Barron were selected for one of the two U.S. top teams, while Joey Freeman and Nick Grillet continued with other teams and other assignments.

Joey Marshall and Christopher Kuhlmann have several years with Arizona Airspeed ahead of them, Michelle Karamon and Jeana Billings have the opportunity to win FAI 8-way gold medals with Airspeed XP8 next year in Tanay. However, Ranch 2nd Generation is most likely done as a team, even though the members of the most promising lineup in the recent U.S. 4-way history continue on the top level.

Michelle Karamon was on the list of candidates for one of the two open Airspeed slots, as well, and there was a situation in the past when Airspeed had three open slots. Only Mark Kirkby continued when the Airspeed Odyssey lineup (Eliana Rodriguez, Craig Girard, Andy Delk) was done at the end of the 2010 season. He recruited Josh Hall, Thomas Hughes and Niklas Hemlin who won FAI 4-way gold medals for Airspeed two years later in Dubai 2012.

This year, there were only two open Airspeed slots, and the three R2G members were in competition with each other in the selection process. The results of the current selections have moved all four R2G members into different situations: Michelle Karamon and Jeana Billings together for Airspeed XP8, Christopher Kuhlmann and Joey Marshall together for Arizona Airspeed. Niklas Hemlin and Mikhail Markine are the bridge between both teams, as they train and compete with Airspeed XP8 and Arizona Airspeed both...