posted Aug 25th, 2021 - The next part of the NSL News series that has been covering the USPA Advanced Class champions since the introduction of this category is connecting once again the past with the presence. The last story went back to the USPA Nationals 2008 when SDC Rhythm XP won with a new 16.9 record average.

The story pointed out that Rhythm's current outside center, Steve Lefkowitz, competed for the U.S. delegation at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020 earlier this month. His wife and team mate since 2007, JaNette Lefkowitz, would have competed in Russia, as well, and she only had to withdraw due to recent health issues.

The next USPA Advanced Class champions of 2009, SDC Furies, could not match the new scoring and performance standards that Rhythm had set in 2008. However, there is still a very similar story that connects the past and the presence just as much.

This time it is Aviatrixx member Rhonda Wilcox who won the Advanced Class title in 2009, continued with 4-way training and competition ever since and then traveled to Tanay this month.

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USPA Nationals 2009		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Advanced	13,20,18	D,10,3	16,15,K	G,Q,L,8	B,17,21	A,N,H,P,O	1,14,M	19,12,J	5,11,C	22,9,E	Total	Avg
1	SDC Furies XP	11	11	9	11	14	23	14	12	12	14	131	13.1
2	Ranch Fallout	9	12	11	14	14	21	11	10	12	15	129	12.9
3	Spaceland Havoc	10	12	11	13	13	18	10	11	10	13	121	12.1
4	Cross Keys Aerodyne	10	11	9	10	14	17	13	10	12	14	120	12.0
5	DiZturbia	8	9	9	11	11	18	11	9	12	13	111	11.1
6	Spaceland Edge	8	9	10	8	12	14	10	8	8	9	96	9.6
7	Spaceland SPX Lite	3	6	9	8	10	13	11	9	11	11	91	9.1
8	4 Schzl	9	9	11	7	10	15	8	6	7	7	89	8.9

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SDC Furies in 2009

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The SDC Furies were the first USPA Advanced Class champions with a complete female lineup, which has not been matched ever since.

There was no need for the Furies to compete in the 4-way Open Class at the national championships, which is the qualification requirement if a team plans to represent the United States at the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving.

It seemed like Spaceland Blue were too far ahead and committed to compete at the next world meet in 4-way Women. Spaceland Blue eventually won bronze medals for the U.S. delegation in Menzelinsk 2010 with an 18.8 average.

The Furies started much earlier with their all-female lineup. It was the Rookie Class of the Midwest Skydiving League in 2003 when the first lineup (Goscia Cienkosz, Renee Kostreva, Sarah Lawrence, Nicole Sass, Leo Grinya on camera) posted a 3.8 average in June. They followed up in the A Class of 2004 when they attended all five MWSL meets.

They were in competition with another all-female team in the Midwest Skydiving League, the Sirens, who JaNette Lefkowitz joined in 2006.

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Midwest Skydiving League May 2004		1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	P,15,13	C,1,8	L,14,18	7,B,9	11,Q,J	N,22,19	Total	Avg
1	Just 4 Fun	6	6	6	8	5	6	37	6.2
2	Good Vibrations	5	5	5	7	2	5	29	4.8
Rank	A Class	P,9	C,8	L,A,G	7,B	Q,J,M	N,19	Total	Avg
1	Furies	3	1	2	4	1	2	13	2.2
2	Always Broke	1	1	0	2	0	1	5	0.8
Rank	Rookie	O,P,C	E,L,Q	B,J,N	O,M,K	E,G,D	B,F,A	Total	Avg
1	Nite Hooker and the Pimps	1	2	2	2	-	-	7	1.8
2	Sirens	1	1	2	2	-	-	6	1.5

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CSC Sirens with JaNette Lefkowitz in 2006

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Two Sirens members eventually joined the Furies, Shannon Sweet in 2005, Karyn Rees in 2007. Original Furies Goscia Cienkosz and Sarah Lawrence, now with Shannon Sweet, Karyn Rees and videographer Charles Lane in the lineup, were already on the same Advanced Class leaderboard when SDC Rhythm XP won their USPA title in 2008.

Shannon Sweet, Karyn Rees and videographer Charles Lane then came back the next year with Anabel Durham and Rhonda Wilcox, who had trained and competed with Carolina Ice XP in the Carolina Skydiving League before. The new Furies lineup attended two MWSL meets before winning the USPA Advanced Class gold medals in 2009.

The Furies also continued for several more years. Rhonda Wilcox took a break in 2010, and original member Goscia Cienkosz was back in her Furies slot for the team's first year on the USPA Open Class leaderboard. The other original Furies member, Sarah Lawrence, did not return in 2011, and Rhonda Wilcox came back to her inside center slot and for two more years with the Furies.

Three Furies (Shannon Sweet, Karyn Rees, Rhonda Wilcox) and videographer Charles Lane then finished the team career with player-coach Chad Smith in the lineup and with a 17.2 average at the USPA Nationals 2012, together with four other previous Advanced Class champions on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard (SDC Rhythm XP, Mass Defiance, Carolina Turbo XP, Spaceland Lite). The 17.2 average of the Furies in 2012 is still the highest outdoor average for all team members, including Aviatrixx member Rhonda Wilcox.

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USPA Nationals 2012			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		3,B,K,H	F,7,22	O,4,D,13	A,M,11,8	N,P,G,19	L,20,1	5,16,J	6,21,12	18,17,10	E,C,Q,15	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	30	28	24	23	34	22	28	19	20	37	265	26.5
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	30	24	23	24	25	21	25	17	19	30	238	23.8
3	Evolution	CA	24	20	22	21	22	19	26	16	18	33	221	22.1
4	Golden Knights	US	23	22	20	22	24	17	21	16	17	26	208	20.8
5	DNR	US	26	22	19	22	22	17	23	15	17	24	207	20.7
6	Paraclete XP4	US	22	19	17	20	23	17	19	15	15	23	190	19.0
7	Carolina Turbo XP	US	22	18	16	19	21	15	20	15	14	19	179	17.9
7	AZ Plosion	US	21	17	17	19	21	17	17	15	13	22	179	17.9
9	SDC Furies XP	US	21	19	17	18	19	15	20	14	12	17	172	17.2
10	Perris Wicked	US	18	15	14	16	20	11	16	12	9	17	148	14.8
11	Spaceland Lite	US	16	16	14	15	15	9	15	10	12	17	139	13.9
12	Fastrax J3	US	1	17	14	15	19	15	17	13	12	12	135	13.5
13	Crimson Fox	CA	11	11	12	11	13	8	9	8	8	13	104	10.4

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