posted May 28th, 2021 - Teiwaz became the second USPA Advanced Class champion with the current format, after Frost in 1999. The original Teiwaz lineup (Mary Inhoffer, Pamela Geoffrey, Mark Stose, Kurt Gaebel, Joshua Filho on camera) began with training and competition in 1999 and attended their first USPA Nationals when Frost won the Advanced Class title.

The Teiwaz situation at the USPA Nationals 2000 was exactly the same as it was for Frost a year earlier. The two teams on the top of the Advanced Class leaderboard (Barry Jive's Uptown 5 and Optic Nerve) had signed up for the Advanced Class competition without eligibility for USPA medals.

Both teams had previous members of the South African FAI world meet bronze medalists of 1997, Equanimity, in their lineups (Gary Smith, Solly Williams, Robbie Spencer) who were not naturalized timely for the USPA Nationals 2000. Teiwaz finished in 3rd place on the open leaderboard and won the USPA Advanced Class gold medals.

Frost had Optic Nerve and Elsinore Alpha in the two top spots of the Advanced Class leaderboard a year earlier, who both were not eligible for USPA medals. Frost and Teiwaz were regulars at the Florida Skydiving League meets and won their gold medals with similar averages (13.6 - 13.2) at the USPA Nationals.

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USPA Nationals 2000		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Advanced	E,5,19	P,21,15	7,24,13	F,23,J,17	1,22,12	D,G,M,11	20,B,4	8,H,18	16,14,A	K,L,C,Q,O	Total	Avg
-	Barry Jive's Uptown 5	14	14	14	14	12	17	11	11	13	20	140	14.0
-	Optic Nerve	14	12	13	14	14	15	16	12	9	19	138	13.8
1	Teiwaz	12	13	13	15	12	15	14	11	11	16	132	13.2
2	Nemesis	12	12	11	15	11	14	11	10	11	14	121	12.1
3	DeLand PD Gold	10	12	11	9	10	14	12	11	11	18	118	11.8
4	Impulse Rhode Island	11	11	11	11	9	16	12	11	10	15	117	11.7
5	San Marcos Fast4ward	12	13	11	11	9	13	12	10	9	15	115	11.5
6	Sebastian Tonic	11	10	11	12	11	13	8	11	6	19	112	11.2
7	DeLand Chain Gang	10	10	11	12	8	14	11	8	6	17	107	10.7
7	Cave Girls	3	10	12	13	10	14	9	9	11	16	107	10.7
9	Arizona Inertia	10	12	10	12	10	13	11	5	10	13	106	10.6
10	RX Raeford Xpress	13	9	11	6	10	14	11	10	10	10	104	10.4
10	Ranch Equinox	9	11	8	13	10	12	9	9	8	15	104	10.4
10	Perris High Pressure	12	12	11	11	11	13	10	9	8	7	104	10.4
10	Mach 5	10	7	12	14	11	11	8	2	11	18	104	10.4
14	RPM	9	10	9	13	10	12	5	9	8	9	94	9.4
15	Ranch Team One	10	11	9	9	8	9	8	9	8	11	92	9.2
16	Z Girls	11	10	9	6	8	8	7	9	9	14	91	9.1
16	Fusion 4	10	6	9	10	9	8	11	9	6	13	91	9.1
16	Elsinore Stratos 4	9	10	9	9	7	9	10	7	9	12	91	9.1
19	Quantum Leap	7	9	7	11	9	10	11	7	8	11	90	9.0
20	Ekat	6	5	9	10	9	12	7	7	7	15	87	8.7
21	Mr. Pink	9	9	9	10	9	9	10	4	7	9	85	8.5
21	Jetstream	8	7	11	9	5	10	8	7	8	12	85	8.5
23	Maximum Yield	8	8	9	10	7	7	9	8	7	9	82	8.2
23	Funcused	7	10	9	7	6	11	7	6	8	11	82	8.2
25	Skydive Chicago STL-4	7	8	9	11	8	10	10	8	0	8	79	7.9
25	Elsinore 4-Cast	3	9	9	10	9	9	10	4	7	9	79	7.9
27	Perris Express	8	9	9	8	8	3	7	7	7	11	77	7.7
28	Team Willy	9	8	7	6	9	6	8	8	4	11	76	7.6
29	Environmental Impact	9	4	9	8	7	9	7	8	6	7	74	7.4
39	White Ravens	7	4	6	5	8	8	9	5	8	8	68	6.8
31	Lodi 499	8	7	7	5	8	6	6	4	5	6	62	6.2
32	Air Force Falcons	6	7	0	5	6	2	6	4	0	3	39	3.9

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The Teiwaz story actually began in 1997, when Mary Inhoffer and Pamela Geoffrey started training and competition with the all-female Sebastian 4NB lineup.

Lilac Hayes, who would eventually win the first FAI 4-way Women gold medals with Synchronicity in 2001, and Valerie Walton were their original 4NB teammates. Future Teiwaz member Kurt Gaebel was coaching the team.

The leaderboard of the USPA Intermediate Class competition in 1997 is showing that it was extremely tight and exciting, even beyond the medal rankings. Three teams were only one point behind the winner and had to perform an extra round for their final medal positions. Sebastian 4NB won the jump-off and the silver medals.

Mary Inhoffer and Pamela Geoffrey continued with Lilac Hayes for a year, and Kim Griffin replaced Valerie Walton in the tail slot. 4NB were still eligible to win USPA Intermediate Class medals, however, the team decided to sign up for the Open Class at the USPA Nationals 1998.

There they battled with Frost and Tetrad in the middle of the field. Frost became the first USPA Advanced Class champion in the current format a year later, and future Teiwaz member Mark Stose was in the opposing Tetrad lineup.

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USPA Nationals 1997		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Intermediate Top 10	12,24	9,P,14	11,1	23,C	15,H	N,10		Total	Avg
1	Moving Pictures	9	15	11	10	10	10	-	65	10.8
2	Sebastian 4NB	9	15	10	9	11	10	10	64	10.7
3	Mass Transit	10	14	11	7	11	11	9	64	10.7
4	Perris High Maintenance	11	16	11	8	7	11	8	64	10.7
5	Warp Factor	9	15	11	8	9	9	-	61	10.2
6	Mr. Burble	9	13	10	10	9	9	-	60	10.0
7	Vertical Circus	11	12	9	10	8	8	-	58	9.7
8	Quadrasonic	8	13	9	10	9	7	-	56	9.3
8	Perris Commitments	9	13	9	7	10	8	-	56	9.3
8	Elsinore E-Ticket	12	13	11	8	7	5	-	56	9.3

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Sebastian 4NB were done as a team at the end of the 1998 season, while Mary Inhoffer and Pamela Geoffrey were eager to continue with more AAA Class training and competition. Former Tetrad member Mark Stose joined the new team happily as Mary Inhoffer's future husband, and together they were looking for one more teammate. Eventually they invited coach Kurt Gaebel to fill the open slot, and Josh Filho from Brazil became the first Teiwaz videographer.

The original Teiwaz lineup attended several meets of the Florida Skydiving League in 1999 and competed in the Advanced Class at the USPA Nationals 1999, where Frost won the gold medals. Teiwaz did not have the complete lineup available, as Kurt Gaebel was the official alternate for bronze medalist ZSpot. South African Robbie Spencer filled the slot, and Teiwaz was a guest team in 1999. The same 1999 lineup then continued in 2000 and won the USPA Advanced Class gold medals.

As Frost after winning the USPA Advanced Class gold medals in 1999, the original Teiwaz lineup did not feel like competing in the 4-way Open Class at the national championships, as they were still recreational competitors with an exhausted budget after training a lot in 1999/2000. The complete original lineup never came back for a competition, while Teiwaz continued with an ever-growing team roster. It took three years until a totally different Teiwaz lineup (Robert Chromy, Scott Franklin, Robert Healy, Kurt Gaebel, Nat Hill on camera) competed for the first time in the 4-way Open Class of the USPA Nationals 2003.

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USPA Nationals 1998		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	5,10,11	12,C,6	N,19,4	F,22,20	J,17,G,A	23,13,21	E,7,B,P	1,14,3	15,2,8	L,M,O,K,Q	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	16	19	20	17	28	17	32	19	16	29	213	21.3
2	Space Center FX	14	13	17	17	24	17	31	15	17	27	192	19.2
3	DeLand Genesis	9	15	17	14	19	15	24	15	11	23	162	16.2
4	Elsinore Storm	11	16	14	12	18	13	24	15	13	21	157	15.7
5	Arizona Edge	9	12	16	14	18	13	22	14	12	20	150	15.0
6	Ranch Air Traffic	12	11	16	12	18	11	23	12	12	21	148	14.8
7	Golden Knights IV	11	12	14	12	15	11	22	14	11	20	142	14.2
8	Perris Cruis-O-Matic	10	11	15	13	17	11	17	11	11	18	134	13.4
9	Entity	6	12	11	11	13	11	22	13	11	19	129	12.9
10	Space Center FX 2	10	9	10	12	13	12	20	8	12	20	126	12.6
10	Frost	11	11	14	12	15	9	19	11	9	15	126	12.6
12	TETRAD	9	9	12	12	13	8	17	12	11	17	120	12.0
13	Sebastian 4NB	10	9	12	12	12	10	16	11	7	16	115	11.5
14	Terminal Ecstacy	10	11	6	11	13	8	16	11	10	16	112	11.2
15	Ranch Equinox	9	10	10	9	15	8	17	9	9	14	110	11.0
16	Optik Nerve	9	11	9	9	14	9	17	11	9	11	109	10.9
17	Lebanon Mass Transit	2	11	10	9	10	10	15	9	9	13	98	9.8
18	Houston Pyro4ic	4	10	9	9	11	11	14	9	5	13	95	9.5
18	Elsinore High Pressure	9	8	10	9	8	7	15	9	8	12	95	9.5
20	Perris Valley Eclipse	7	9	9	9	9	8	14	9	7	11	92	9.2
21	Incognito	10	9	13	11	13	6	17	7	-	-	86	10.8
22	Mr. Pink	7	8	8	5	10	7	13	7	7	10	82	8.2
23	Flat Feet Team	9	9	7	7	8	6	15	9	3	8	81	8.1
24	Moe-Bo-Jay Airspeed	6	9	9	3	6	5	11	7	7	4	67	6.7
25	Sublime	3	8	9	5	11	5	15	8	-	-	64	8.0

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