posted Jul 21st, 2023 - The combined leaderboard of the Paraclete XP Summer Classic and the Pre-Nationals at Skydive Spaceland Houston was not very large. However, it was very powerful in all three categories. In fact, there is a very good chance that it featured at least poterntial USPA medal winners in all four USPA categories at this year's national championships.

XPG4 will compete in 4-way Open at the USPA Nationals, after winning FAI medals in 4-way Women at the FAI Outdoor World Cup. They will not be able to challenge Arizona Airspeed for the 4-way Open Class title back in the United States. However, they will be eager to win the team's first USPA outdoor medals behind the world's strongest 4-way team.

XPG4 had missed the USPA bronze medals by seven points behind SDC Rhythm XP at the USPA Nationals 2022. XPG4, SDC Rhythm XP and Skydive Midwest NEXT will first perform the same ten sequences at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2023 and then follow up at the national championships, probably with a similar battle as the expected one in Voss, Norway.

The Summer Classic/Pre-Nationals combination featured only three of the four USPA leaderboards, while both AAA Class categories (Open - Advanced) were still represented last weekend. XPG4 and GK4 will both compete in 4-way Open, Spaceland Saboteurs and Accidentally Competent in 4-way Advanced.

Pre-Nationals/Summer Classic 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		5,2,J		20,15,F		H,21,3		Q,1,10		11,K,6		9,P,B,G		16,N,14		19,12,O		M,18,C,7		22,D,13		Total	Avg
1	XPG4	CASL	18	-3	17	-3	19	-2	18	-1	19		28	-1	18	-1	18		21		17		193	19.3
2	GK4	CASL	19		15	-1	19		10		16		23	-3	14	-2	13		19		15		163	16.3
3	Spaceland Saboteurs	TSL	11	-2	15		16		14	-1	14	-1	21		13		13		17		12		146	14.6
4	Accidentally Competent	TSL	10		11		8	-2	11		11		14	-1	9	-1	9		13		6	-1	102	10.2
Rank	AA Class		2,J,F		20,15		H,21,G		Q,1,7		11,K,6		9,P,B		N,14,E		19,8		M,18,C		22,D,13		Total	Avg
1	Mile-Hi SpeedRun	CASL	13		8	-1	12		10		9		16		9		-		-		-		77	11.0
2	Spaceland Toxic	TSL	13		6	-2	13	-1	12		8	-1	13	-1	11		7		11		9		103	10.3
3	Spaceland Disturbance Delicious	TSL	12		8		10	-2	10	-1	9	-1	13	-1	9		3	-1	10		7	-3	91	9.1
4	XP Falcons	CASL	7	-1	4	-1	1	-2	5		6		8		3		-		-		-		34	4.9
Rank	A Class		2,J		F,G,B		H,21		Q,7		K,6		9,P		N,E,A		19,O		M,8		D,C,4		Total	Avg
1	CitiZens	CASL	8		14		7	-2	8		8		-		-		-		-		-		45	9.0
2	XP Born	CASL	4	-1	8		6	-2	3		4		4		-		-		-		-		29	4.8

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Spaceland Saboteurs - Mile-Hi SpeedRun - CitiZens at the Pre-Nationals/Summer Classic 2023

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The AAA Class update on July 18th mentioned that the lineup of the Spaceland Saboteurs includes highly experienced 4-way competitors Amanda Lampton and Lucas King. They trained and competed together for Dallas 350 in 2016, with Texas Skydiving League Director Scott Latinis in their lineup.

Lucas King was one of the original Dallas 350 members in 2013, and he has already won his 4-way Advanced Class gold medal with Dallas 350 at the USPA Nationals 2014. The USPA rules for the different categories allow one team member who has previously won a championship title, and his Dallas 350 team mate of 2016, Amanda Lampton, was not in the 2014 lineup.

Amanda Lampton has competed for the U.S. delegation at the FAI Outdoor World Championship in Australia 2018, where her team Phoenix XP placed 4th, two points behind the bronze medals. The Amanda Lampton/Lucas King combination turns the Spaceland Saboteurs basically into a 2-2 player-coaching format, with Cat Isgrigg and Patrick Lehner as the 4-way juniors in the team, Chad Hall on camera. The player-coaching format has become very popular in the past years, and several highly experienced 4-way competitors have won USPA medals in the AAA/Advanced Class.

USPA Nationals 2022		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Advanced	G,9,M,8		P,3,O,E		7,13,18		B,21,Q,14		20,L,2		D,1,A,19		5,11,15		10,17,N		F,C,K,H,22		12,J,16		Total	Avg
1	RhEvolution XP	19		19		15		16	-1	11	-2	13	-2	12		13		19		14		151	15.1
2	AZ Alpha	20	-1	18	-1	14		15	-1	12		14	-2	13		11	-2	16	-2	14		147	14.7
3	SDC Rhuthless	18		15	-2	14		15		11	-1	15		12		12		18		13		143	14.3

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AZ Alpha - Rhuthless at the USPA Nationals 2022 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/InTime

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The medal positions in 4-way Advanced at USPA's last two national championships are showing three teams with former 4-way world and national champions in the lineups. Lightspeed XP won Advanced Class gold in 2021 with former Airspeed 4-way world champion Kirk Verner. The lineup of last year's silver medalist AZ Alpha included Kirk Verner's Airspeed team mate Mark Kirkby, 4-way world champion of 1995, 1997, 1999, 2008 and 2012.

Former SDC Rhythm XP member Steve Lefkowitz, national 4-way champion of 2019 and silver medalist at the FAI Tanay Mondial in 2021, player-coached SDC Rhuthless to the Advanced Class bronze medals at the same event last year where Mark Kirkby placed 2nd. Last weekend's 14.6 average of the Spaceland Saboteurs would have won USPA Advanced Class medals in 2021 and in 2022, and there is still plenty of time to lift the scoring average even higher and to the winning level.

The NSL News mentioned earlier that AA/Intermediate Class team Mile-Hi SpeedRun have taken the position of a top contender after the performance at Skydive Paraclete XP, and the same counts for Skydive City's 4-way CitiZens in the A/Beginner Class. The milestones were set on the Summer Classic/Pre-Nationals weekend, and the very powerful leaderboard offers a preview of the national outdoor championships in September at Skydive Paraclete XP.

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

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Lightspeed XP at the USPA Nationals 2021 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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