posted Dec 21st, 2019 - The NSL News has followed the development and progression of the U.S. shooting star 4-way team Ranch 2nd Generation (R2G) since 2016, and the story on November 26th provided an overview of the current situation. Original team members Chris Kuhlmann and Joey Marshall had joined Arizona Airspeed as the last step in disbanding the promising young team.

Michelle Karamon and Jena Billings had already been invited by Paraclete XP8 in 2018, and Ranch 2nd Generation still continued for a year in 4-way. Chris Kuhlmann eventually had a Paraclete XP8 slot in 2019, as well, when JaNette Lefkowitz did not continue after winning an 8-way gold medal at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019. Only Joey Marshall and videographer Kamuran "Sonic" Bayrasli were left without a job.

Ranch 2nd Generation still posted a new team record average at the USPA Nationals 2019, which would be the team's last 4-way competition. However, Michelle Karamon, Jena Billings and Chris Kuhlmann competed together again with Paraclete XP8 at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2019.

The latest XP8 member Chris Kuhlmann then lost his 8-way job when three Arizona Airspeed members (Niklas Hemlin, Mikhail Markine, Matt Davidson) decided to join the new national 8-way team, Airspeed XP8. The last step in the dismantling of Ranch 2nd Generation was the new Airspeed 4-way lineup, where Chris Kuhlmann and Joey Marshall both found a new home.

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USPA Nationals 2015		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Intermediate	22,K,F	B,11,21	D,Q,H,13	8,1	P,15,J	L,O,N,C	20,4	19,2	18,14	6,7	M,E,A,G	Total	Avg
1	SDMW Next XP	13	14	15	12	15	21	12	12	9	15	-	138	13.8
2	Ragnarok	14	12	15	11	15	17	12	12	11	14	-	133	13.3
3	Air Force Allegiance	13	8	12	11	12	18	10	11	9	15	23	119	11.9
4	Southern Mix	13	12	12	11	12	17	9	11	9	13	22	119	11.9
5	4Mative	13	8	14	8	13	14	9	11	9	13	-	112	11.2
6	De Orbit Burn	12	13	12	8	8	16	10	10	8	13	-	110	11.0
7	Team Speed XF	11	10	10	10	13	14	8	9	9	13	-	107	10.7
7	Shockwave	11	9	12	11	8	13	11	11	8	13	-	107	10.7
9	SDC Jetstream Tango	8	11	12	9	12	14	9	10	9	12	-	106	10.6
9	AZ Defiance	10	12	10	10	12	17	9	9	7	10	-	106	10.6
11	DeLand Flashpoint	13	9	12	9	9	16	8	10	5	13	-	104	10.4
12	Dallas Disturbance	10	11	10	8	11	15	9	8	8	12	-	102	10.2
13	Zhills TranZend	10	10	11	9	12	14	6	9	8	11	-	100	10.0
14	Dallas HOT	11	10	12	10	10	11	5	10	7	13	-	99	9.9
15	Swift FS	10	10	13	6	10	12	8	8	6	12	-	95	9.5
16	Ranch 2nd Generation	9	10	9	9	12	7	9	9	7	10	-	91	9.1
17	MeXtreme	9	9	10	9	12	12	8	7	5	9	-	90	9.0
18	Exit Strategy XP	9	8	10	7	7	11	9	9	8	8	-	86	8.6
19	.38 Special	10	8	7	7	6	12	8	8	6	13	-	85	8.5
20	Holograms 4.0	9	9	10	8	7	9	6	9	6	8	-	81	8.1
20	Flight SP	9	7	9	7	8	12	7	6	7	9	-	81	8.1
22	Plug It In Anywhere	9	8	9	7	9	12	7	6	5	8	-	80	8.0
23	Rhemix	6	7	10	7	10	8	7	7	7	9	-	78	7.8
24	Spaceland Toxic	9	10	9	8	10	6	4	7	4	9	-	76	7.6
24	L4S	9	7	10	7	7	9	8	7	6	6	-	76	7.6
26	STF Vega XP	8	9	9	7	10	6	6	3	6	9	-	73	7.3
26	Platinum VE	8	9	10	6	3	6	7	6	7	11	-	73	7.3
28	4 Shades of Grey	8	5	9	6	7	6	6	8	5	8	-	68	6.8
29	Nacho Key	8	7	6	6	6	9	5	6	6	8	-	67	6.7
30	Grand Theft Otter	9	6	5	7	4	7	5	6	7	8	-	64	6.4
31	Netflix and Chill	7	7	5	7	8	8	7	3	3	8	-	63	6.3
31	Elsinore Airscrewz	7	9	7	6	6	2	7	6	6	7	-	63	6.3
33	Don't Fear the Creeper	5	7	5	5	7	8	6	6	5	3	-	57	5.7
34	Luau	5	6	4	4	5	5	4	2	2	4	-	41	4.1
35	Screaming Eagles	5	4	4	1	3	3	4	2	2	6	-	34	3.4
36	The Filthy Five	3	4	4	3	0	3	3	4	3	2	-	29	2.9

Southern Mix at the USPA Nationals 2015 - Video footage courtesy of USPA/Omniskore

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Michelle Karamon and Jeana Billings have now turned into 8-way experts, while Chris Kuhlmann and Joey Marshall both continue with 4-way training and competition. Ranch 2nd Generation will not threaten the two 4-way powerhouses in the United States any longer with their impressive 4-way progression. However, the shooting-star career continues for all team members, only in a different way from here on forward.

Michelle Karamon and Jena Billings were selected together for the new Paraclete XP8 lineup and have reached the top scoring and performance level in the United States and in the world. Chris Kuhlmann and Joey Marshall will carry on the Ranch 2nd Generation momentum to the same level in 4-way competition.

The latest Ranch 2nd Generation member, Jeana Billings, was actually matching Chris Kuhlmann and Joey Marshall's team career when they launched R2G in 2015, with Brenn Richards and Dean Van Tassell in the lineup. Jeana Billings was training and competing with Southern Mix in the AA Class of the Southwest Skydiving League in 2015.

Both teams met in the Intermediate Class competition of the USPA Nationals 2015, where Southern Mix placed far ahead of Ranch 2nd Generation.

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USPA Nationals 2016		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Advanced	20,D,E,22	M,9,5	12,8,7	H,L,16,15	F,A,N,J,17	G,6,3	K,B,Q,P,C	18,10,11	13,21,4	14,1,19	Total	Avg
1	Skydive Midwest NEXT	16	21	12	13	26	16	31	11	14	9	169	16.9
2	Ranch 2nd Generation	13	17	13	15	20	14	24	11	13	10	150	15.0
3	AF Bachelor Party	13	19	13	15	18	14	20	11	12	12	147	14.7
4	CSC Survival Instinct	12	20	11	14	23	13	23	11	7	12	146	14.6
5	AZ Defiance	13	18	12	14	18	13	22	9	12	11	142	14.2
6	AF Obsidian	13	18	11	12	18	14	21	9	10	10	136	13.6
7	Four Horseman	11	15	13	15	19	11	19	7	13	11	134	13.4
7	CSC Swift	12	16	10	14	20	12	21	8	11	10	134	13.4
9	DeOrbit Burn	12	16	11	13	16	11	20	8	10	10	127	12.7
10	Perris Event Horizon	11	15	11	13	17	12	20	10	10	6	125	12.5
11	Fabio's Angels	11	16	10	12	16	12	15	7	10	10	119	11.9
12	Surge	11	15	9	10	16	10	17	8	9	9	114	11.4
13	Southern Mix XP	11	16	8	10	15	12	16	7	9	9	113	11.3
14	Synthesis	11	12	8	12	15	10	17	7	7	10	109	10.9
15	Perris Quattro	12	9	10	7	17	9	19	7	9	9	108	10.8
16	Perris Flight SP	10	13	9	10	11	12	18	9	8	7	107	10.7
17	Quatre Francais Invite	10	14	9	8	13	9	17	8	9	9	106	10.6
18	Perris Dauntless Five	10	14	9	11	16	9	11	8	8	8	104	10.4
19	Nimbus	11	14	8	10	15	9	14	8	4	6	99	9.9
20	Dallas Momentum	6	13	9	10	14	10	16	7	7	5	97	9.7
21	Dallas Disturbio	10	10	9	7	14	9	14	8	6	9	96	9.6
22	SDC Jetstream Tango	7	14	9	6	10	10	12	8	9	9	94	9.4
23	Elsinore Vortex	10	12	8	10	11	8	13	6	6	6	90	9.0
24	Dallas Disturbed	8	13	9	7	11	7	11	7	8	6	87	8.7
25	Deland Momentum	9	11	7	6	13	7	7	7	6	5	78	7.8

Paraclete XP8 at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019

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Southern Mix was also the team where Jeana Billings met her current 8-way team mate John D'Annunzio, who was the team's player-coach at the USPA Nationals 2015. John D'Annunzio was still the Southern Mix player-coach a year later at the USPA Nationals 2016 where Ranch 2nd Generation and Southern Mix both competed in the Advanced Class.

Michelle Karamon had replaced Dean Van Tassell for Ranch 2nd Generation and finished in 2nd place, R2G far ahead of Southern Mix this time. Jeana Billings then took a step back first before joining the Paraclete XP8 team in 2018 and then Ranch 2nd Generation in 2019. Southern Mix turned into an all-female team in 2017 and competed in the AA/Intermediate Class.

However, her talent was well known after the time with player-coach John D'Annunzio, and she was selected for Paraclete XP8 at the beginning of the 2018 season. This step meant that Jeana Billings moved from the 8th place on the Intermediate Class leaderboard at the USPA Nationals 2017 to the 1st place in the 8-way Open Class competition of 2018. Half a year later, Paraclete XP8 won the gold medals at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019, with Jeana Billings in the lineup.

She had already joined Ranch 2nd Generation by then, and her new 4-way team mate Michelle Karamon was also in the XP8 lineup. Jeana Billings and Michelle Karamon will now pursue FAI 8-way outdoor gold medals together in Tanay 2020, while Chris Kuhlmann and Joey Marshall have to win the USPA Nationals in 2021 to get their turn with Arizona Airspeed in 4-way...