posted Oct 16th, 2023 - The NSL News pointed out with previous update of the 4-way Beginner Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2023 that only seven of all 56 teams at the USPA Nationals finished with lower numbers of penalties than the winner in this category, the CitiZens from Skydive City.

One of those 56 teams was Pour Decisions on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard. In fact, Pour Decisions finished with the cleanest score sheet of all teams in this category. The 5th place was a well earned reward for the 19-average performance.

Of course, Pour Decisions had two of the most experienced Formation Skydiving competitors in U.S. history in their lineup as player-coaches, with Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard in the two center slots, and former Airspeed videographer Taylor Buffington knows how to keep everything in frame for the judges.

However, Jill Stephenson in the tail slot and point Jonathan Perl still had to deliver their part of the performance that earned the 5th place with the impressive 19.0 average. Their highest previous outdoor scoring level before the USPA Nationals was the 15.8 at the Shamrock Showdown 2023 with the same lineup, plus Airspeed member Chris Kuhlmann in the last four rounds.

USPA Nationals 2023		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA/4-way Open	O,E,C,Q,H		20,M,J,1		10,12,B		4,18,L		11,17,5		8,9,22		A,19,K,13		G,3,2		21,14,15		D,F,7,N		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	43	-8	29		22		23	-1	28		21		26		23		20		33	-2	268	26.8
2	XPG4	46	-2	21		17		17		20		17	-1	23		18		17		29	-1	225	22.5
3	SDC Rhythm XP	48	-4	19		17		16		20		17		22		17	-1	16		25	-1	217	21.7
4	Golden Knights	39	-3	23		18		17	-1	21		17	-1	24		15	-2	14		28		216	21.6
5	Pour Decisions	35	-1	18		15		16		18		16		20		15		14		23	-1	190	19.0
6	RhEvolution XP	27	-4	19		13		15		16		15		16	-1	16		13		23		173	17.3
7	Skydive Midwest NEXT	26	-4	18	-1	12	-2	15		17		14		17		15		13		23		170	17.0
8	Spaceland Apex	22	-5	11	-1	11	-2	14		15		13	-2	19		14		13		22		154	15.4
9	Alti-2 Technologies	24	-1	12	-1	10		13		13		11	-1	14		11		11		18	-1	137	13.7
10	Rhetirement Party	21		12	-2	11		10	-1	8		12		13		12		10		17		126	12.6
11	Rippin Flatties	10	-4	4		3	-3	5		4	-3	4	-1	6		3		5		10	-3	54	5.4

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Pour Decisions at the USPA Nationals 2023, video footage courtesy of USPA/InTime

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The NSL News reported on March 23rd that the 15.8 average at the Shamrock Showdown was a great starting point for Pour Decisions' upcoming 2023 season. The same update mentioned that the positions behind the USPA Open Class medal rankings could be in reach for the new team.

Perris Jets, also with player-coaches Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard in the lineup, had finished in 4th place with an 18.7 average at the USPA Nationals 2021, XPG4 with 18.9 in 5th place at the last year's national championship. However, it was still a long way from 15.8 in March to 19.0 in October.

The road to the 19.0 average and the 5th place in the 4-way Open Class of the USPA Nationals began for Pour Decisions member Jonathan Perl in the tail slot for Mr. Pink, one of the first teams in the Georgia Skydiving League, which was launched in 1996 by Mr. Pink member Glen Hauenstein. Georgia, Texas and Florida merged in 1997, and their league champions (Mr. Pink - GSL, Convergence - TSL, Genesis - FSL) competed together for the first NSL Championship title in 1998. Mr. Pink with Jonathan Perl finished in 3rd place with a 6.8 average. The original Mr. Pink lineup (Jonathan Perl, Glen Hauenstein, Robert Anderson, Mark Thompson) had their beginnings even a few years earlier and attended their first USPA Nationals in 1998.

Shamrock Showdown 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		14,O,7		C,9,11		4,2,F		Q,13,21		B,6,L,19		1,22,G		K,18,8		M,3,17		H,15,12		D,20,10		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	26		28		25	-1	24		27	-1	21		22		27		22	-1	22		244	24.4
2	France 4-way Open	FR	26		25	-1	23		24		25	-1	19		19		26		19		18		224	22.4
3	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	21	-1	23	-2	24	-1	19	-1	26		19	-1	18	-1	26	-1	21		20	-1	217	21.7
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	21		22		17	-1	21		23		18		17		22		17	-1	19		197	19.7
5	SDC Rhythm XP	US	20	-1	20		20		19	-1	21		14	-2	15	-2	22		15	-2	14	-1	180	18.0
6	Pour Decisions	US	18		19		16		17		19		13	-1	12	-2	18		12	-1	14		158	15.8

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Pour Decisions at the Shamrock Showdown 2023

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Jonathan Perl's Pour Decisions' team mates and player-coaches Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard did not know each other in the early Mr. Pink years. Eliana Rodriguez had just started her job as an instructor at the original SkyVenture Orlando windtunnel and joined her first team in Florida when Jonathan Perl competed with Mr. Pink at the USPA Nationals 1998. Ten years later, she became the first and only female 4-way competitor in history who has won world championship gold medals in three different events (4-way Women in 2001, 8-way Open in 2004, 4-way Open in 2008).

Craig Girard had already won three 8-way gold medals with the Golden Knights in 1989, 1991 and 1993, long before he met Eliana Rodriguez, and before Jonathan Perl started with Mr. Pink. Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard eventually won FAI 4-way and 8-way gold medals together in 2004 and 2008, after Mr. Pink had discontinued their 4-way career at the end of 2003, with a few reunion meets in later years.

Jonathan Perl entertained himself with other skydiving events and irregular 4-way engagements after the Mr. Pink years, even though he never lost the passion for his favorite event. Finally he joined forces with like-minded Jill Stephenson, former member of the U.S. national team in 4-way Women, Aviatrix, and they decided to spend the 2023 season with the two Formation Skydiving celebrities. Result was the 5th place in 4-way Open with the 19.0 average at Skydive Paraclete XP in September this year.

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