posted Nov 12th, 2021 - The combined leaderboards of the NSL News have always featured the teams who are using the same competition draw. The USPA Nationals offer a special look at teams of three different categories who perform the same ten sequences.

The 4-way Women teams are a part of the 4-way Open Class leaderboard, while the 4-way Advanced Class teams have their own event, and their own set of USPA medals, as well.

The combined USPA leaderboards offer additional insights that cannot be detected easily while the events are actually happening, with scores posted on the different leaderboards, even though teams often look across to compared their performances with more other teams.

The number of U.S. teams on the combined AAA Class leaderboards after the USPA Nationals 2021 is exactly the same as it was at Paraclete XP two years ago, disregarding any visiting guest teams, and despite the cancellation of the USPA Nationals 2020.

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USPA Nationals 2021			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open/Women/Advanced		13,5,D	Q,9,4	F,14,C,10	H,L,20,N	18,22,19	11,J,E,8	6,7,K	G,15,12	M,2,21	16,A,P,O	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	Open	22	28	24	30	18	25	26	20	24	35	252	25.2
2	SDC Rhythm XP	Open	26	24	21	27	19	23	26	21	24	29	240	24.0
3	Golden Knights Gold	Open	21	26	20	25	16	23	21	17	16	25	210	21.0
4	The Jets	Open	16	20	18	22	14	17	21	16	19	24	187	18.7
5	Skydive Midwest NEXT	Open	18	21	18	20	14	18	20	14	18	21	182	18.2
6	XPG4	Women	16	19	15	22	13	19	18	14	18	21	175	17.5
7	Elsinore Bullet	Open	16	18	17	20	12	18	18	14	18	22	173	17.3
8	Lightspeed XP	Advanced	17	19	16	20	14	16	16	13	17	19	167	16.7
9	SDC RhEvolution XP	Advanced	15	17	14	14	10	12	16	13	17	17	145	14.5
10	NE Chicken Bolts	Advanced	10	19	16	18	11	14	15	7	16	16	142	14.2
13	Aviatrixx	Women	11	16	14	12	10	13	13	10	14	16	131	13.1
12	Vega XP	Advanced	12	15	14	11	11	16	13	11	12	14	129	12.9
13	AZ Defiance	Advanced	13	14	12	14	10	12	13	11	14	15	128	12.8
14	Golden Knights Black	Open	12	12	14	13	11	13	12	10	13	16	126	12.6
15	Elsinore Main Street	Advanced	10	14	13	13	10	11	14	10	14	15	124	12.4
16	Kombucha Punch	Advanced	10	15	10	13	8	11	13	9	14	13	116	11.6
17	Air Force 9 Ball	Advanced	8	14	6	13	9	7	13	7	13	14	104	10.4
18	Megalodon Juan	Advanced	9	12	10	13	8	10	11	6	13	10	102	10.2
19	Platinum XP	Advanced	9	13	9	13	8	8	11	7	12	11	101	10.1
20	SDC Rheology	Advanced	7	11	6	10	8	11	10	7	11	11	92	9.2
21	Frikken Slot Lizards	Advanced	8	10	9	9	7	8	9	6	9	10	85	8.5
22	Tequila	Advanced	6	9	7	9	7	10	9	5	11	11	84	8.4
23	Paragon	Advanced	5	10	8	10	8	6	10	6	10	9	82	8.2
24	Perris WildKatz	Women	7	9	6	6	6	6	7	5	12	7	71	7.1
25	Four-Inners	Advanced	7	10	8	7	7	6	3	5	10	5	68	6.8
26	Richo's Tummy Butts	Advanced	3	7	3	7	3	2	3	4	7	5	44	4.4

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Golden Knights Gold - Golden Knights Black at the USPA Nationals 2021 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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26 U.S. 4-way teams posted their AAA Class scores in 2019, the same number as last month in Eloy, and after a year without national championships. By the pure numbers, the pandemic did not seem to have an impact on the passion for 4-way Formation Skydiving training and competition in the United States, at least not in the AAA Class.

Even the breakdown in the three categories is almost identical. Three all-female lineups competed in 2019 and 2021, and the relationship between 4-way Open (7 - 6) and 4-way Advanced (16 - 17) has changed by only one team.

The relationship between the same two categories is also in almost perfect order. The 4-way Open Class teams take the positions on the top of the combined leaderboards, and the 4-way Advanced Class teams follow accordingly. Only two 4-way Open Class teams finished out of order, No Name in 2019 and Golden Knights Black this year.

The U.S. Army's 4-way teams were back in action last month. The Golden Knights had competed only in 8-way at the USP Nationals 2019, even though they usually win USPA bronze medals with the Gold lineup in 4-way Open. That's what Jennifer Davidson, David Flynn, Jeshua Stahler and Drew Starr did again this year, with Reese Pendleton on camera.

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USPA Nationals 2019			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open/Women/Advanced		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	Total	Avg
1	SDC Rhythm XP	Open	41	22	21	33	21	23	27	25	24	25	262	26.2
2	Arizona Airspeed	Open	40	24	22	32	19	24	29	25	21	26	262	26.2
3	Defiance	Open	30	21	15	28	16	19	22	21	18	18	208	20.8
4	Ranch 2nd Generation	Open	26	19	19	24	16	17	24	18	19	19	201	20.1
5	Lite XP	Open	24	17	17	22	15	17	20	16	14	17	179	17.9
6	Redline XP	Advanced	19	17	16	21	14	16	21	17	17	17	175	17.5
7	Elsinore Elevate	Advanced	23	14	14	22	15	17	19	14	14	16	168	16.8
8	No Name	Open	22	17	14	19	12	13	14	15	14	16	156	15.6
9	SNE CenterCell XP	Advanced	23	14	14	18	14	11	18	15	14	15	156	15.6
10	Air Force Shadow	Advanced	20	15	13	21	10	13	18	15	15	13	153	15.3
11	Vega XP	Advanced	21	14	14	21	14	13	15	16	11	12	151	15.1
12	Aviatrixx	Women	21	14	13	18	12	15	17	14	12	14	150	15.0
13	AZ Crime	Advanced	19	13	14	17	11	12	18	15	13	11	143	14.3
13	Air Force Boomers	Advanced	20	14	12	15	13	10	16	15	14	14	143	14.3
15	Perris Force	Women	20	13	14	18	11	11	18	13	12	12	142	14.2
15	Arizona Alpha	Advanced	21	14	14	17	14	11	14	14	9	14	142	14.2
17	SDC Rhevolution XP	Advanced	17	14	12	16	12	13	14	14	13	13	138	13.8
18	Space Force BTR	Advanced	18	14	13	18	11	11	18	14	10	10	137	13.7
19	SNE Fly Girls	Women	18	12	13	14	11	13	14	13	12	8	128	12.8
20	Chill: Bu	Advanced	18	13	11	17	9	11	14	13	11	10	127	12.7
21	Perris Goldilocks and 4 Bears	Advanced	16	11	10	15	10	10	12	10	12	10	116	11.6
22	TSC Cadence	Advanced	14	9	12	14	10	11	12	12	12	9	115	11.5
23	Fast Break	Advanced	15	10	10	12	10	12	14	8	10	11	112	11.2
24	Paragon	Advanced	13	7	11	12	9	8	12	10	7	9	98	9.8
25	AZ Shift	Advanced	9	9	9	13	9	9	10	11	8	8	95	9.5
26	Perris Section 4	Advanced	15	8	9	11	8	6	10	10	9	8	94	9.4

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Redline XP in 2019 - Lightspeed XP in 2021 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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There was still one significant difference between the combined AAA Class leaderboards in 2019 and 2021. The three 4-way Women teams of 2019 had finished in the middle of the 4-way Advanced Class field. XPG4 and Aviatrixx both placed much higher last month in Eloy than two years ago.

XPG4 was not on the 2019 leaderboard, where Jeana Billings and Michelle Karamon finished in 4th place with Ranch 2nd Generation. Their current XPG4 lineup, with Morgan Womble and Brenn Richards, Andres Mesa on camera, outscored two 4-way Open Class teams and finished in 6th place and ahead of all 4-way Advanced Class teams.

In fact, Jeana Billings and Michelle Karamon with XPG4 finished higher on the combined AAA leaderboard than their Airspeed XP8 world champion team mate Kirk Verner, who won the 4-way Advanced Class gold medals with Lightspeed XP.

The 4-way Advanced Class winner of 2019, Redline XP, had placed 6th on the combined leaderboard with a new record average (17.5) in this category. Lightspeed XP had to settle in 8th place with the 16.7 average.