posted Feb 8th, 2022 - The USPA Nationals 2021 have been in the books for more than three months, and the NSL News still has several topics on the list for the aftermath. There are also other related topics, where the coverage has not been completed yet.

One of them is the history of the USPA Advanced Class competition. The series of NSL News stories came to a hold after the USPA Nationals 2011, and it will soon be resumed. However, the Advanced Class champions of the last two stories, Carolina Turbo XP in 2010 and Perris Air Rush in 2011, connected directly with last year's national championships.

In fact, both stories became a part of the preview of the Advanced Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2021. Doug Barron and Andrew Happick, both Carolina Turbo XP members of 2010, competed at last year's USPA Nationals with SDC Rhythm XP. Andre Van Heerden, guest competitor in the Advanced Class competition of 2011 with Perris Air Rush, was back in the same category with Vega XP.

The NSL News has not followed up yet on the teams behind the Advanced Class winner of 2021, Lightspeed XP, and the guest teams from Qatar, Cheetahs and Lions, on the top of the leaderboard, even though the previews pointed in this direction.

---

USPA Nationals 2021			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way 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	Lightspeed XP	US	17	19	16	20	14	16	16	13	17	19	167	16.7
G	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	14	22	17	18	13	13	15	13	17	20	162	16.2
G	Qatar Lions	QA	10	17	14	19	12	16	17	12	17	20	154	15.4
2	SDC RhEvolution XP	US	15	17	14	14	10	12	16	13	17	17	145	14.5
3	NE Chicken Bolts	US	10	19	16	18	11	14	15	7	16	16	142	14.2

---

SDC RhEvolution XP - NE Chicken Bolts at the USPA Nationals 2021 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

---

Two months before the USPA Nationals 2021, the first Advanced Class preview on 23 August 2021 pointed out that SDC RhEvolution XP, Lightspeed and Vega XP would be top contenders in this category. It turned out that Lightspeed won the gold medals, and SDC RhEvolution XP battled with NE Chicken Bolts for the USPA silver medals.

Vega XP could not keep up with the other two expected top contenders and ended up right behind the medal positions, where they had their own battle with AZ Defiance and Elsinore Main Street for the 4th place. It was a new lineup from New England that Ben Liston brought to the USPA Nationals, after competing with two of the team members (Douglas Hendrix, Andrew Yin) at the Shamrock Showdown 2021, who took the USPA bronze medals.

Lightspeed XP was out of reach for all other Advanced Class teams. Only the Qatar Cheetahs were able to challenge the U.S. team with player-coach Kirk Verner. However, SDC RhEvolution XP were probably surprised by the unexpected top contenders from New England, and the ten Advanced Class rounds became an exciting battle for the USPA silver medals.

It was a duel that featured two very different days. Ben Liston's team had a bad start and still caught up quickly for a clear lead at the end of the first day. Video trouble for NE Chicken Bolts in Round 8 and a solid second day for SDC RhEvolution XP turned the table eventually.

---

USPA Nationals 2021			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way 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
4	Vega XP	US	12	15	14	11	11	16	13	11	12	14	129	12.9
5	AZ Defiance	US	13	14	12	14	10	12	13	11	14	15	128	12.8
6	Elsinore Main Street	US	10	14	13	13	10	11	14	10	14	15	124	12.4
7	Kombucha Punch	US	10	15	10	13	8	11	13	9	14	13	116	11.6
8	Air Force 9 Ball	US	8	14	6	13	9	7	13	7	13	14	104	10.4
9	Megalodon Juan	US	9	12	10	13	8	10	11	6	13	10	102	10.2
10	Platinum XP	US	9	13	9	13	8	8	11	7	12	11	101	10.1
11	SDC Rheology	US	7	11	6	10	8	11	10	7	11	11	92	9.2
12	Frikken Slot Lizards	US	8	10	9	9	7	8	9	6	9	10	85	8.5
13	Tequila	US	6	9	7	9	7	10	9	5	11	11	84	8.4
14	Paragon	US	5	10	8	10	8	6	10	6	10	9	82	8.2
15	Perris WildKatz	US	7	9	6	6	6	6	7	5	12	7	71	7.1
17	Four-Inners	US	7	10	8	7	7	6	3	5	10	5	68	6.8
18	Richo's Tummy Butts	US	3	7	3	7	3	2	3	4	7	5	44	4.4

---

Vega XP - AZ Defiance - Elsinore Main Street at the USPA Nationals 2021 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

---

Vega XP had posted a 14.6 average at a test meet in July, as the NSL News reported on 23 July 2021. It was a virtual AAA Class competition with the British team Chimera, connected with the July meet of the Arizona Skydiving League.

The 14.6 average of July would have been enough to compete with SDC RhEvolution XP and NE Chicken Bolts for the USPA silver medals in October. However, Vega XP performed below expectations at the USPA Nationals and had to fend off AZ Defiance and Elsinore Main Street instead.

AZ Defiance had attended six meets of the Arizona Skydiving League before the national championships on their home turf in Eloy, the last one in September with former Airspeed world champion Mark Kirkby filling a slot. The complete lineup then competed at the USPA Nationals and finished with their highest team average, one single point behind Vega XP.

Elsinore Main Street came with a different lineup to Eloy, after competing under Main Street Jambalaya at the Southern California Skydiving League in 2020 and 2021. Elsinore Main Street Jambalaya and AZ Defiance tied their total for the last four rounds on the second meet day and even outscored Vega XP. AZ Defiance won this duel with the cleanest 10-round performance of all Advanced Class teams and only one point deduction.