posted May 4th, 2024 - The NSL News aftermath of the Shamrock Showdown 2024 cannot be complete without the final coverage of the popular Skins Game. One of the previous updates on March 18th had explained how Skydive DeLand's $2,400 cash prizes were shared between the teams.

The last $200 skin for Round 10 was taken by Chicken Bolts who visited Skydive DeLand from New England for a winter break in Florida. Team captain Ben Liston and his team mate Doug Hendrix had launched Chicken Bolts at the team's first competition, which happened to be the Shamrock Showdown 2021 at Skydive City.

Ben Liston and Doug Hendrix were in the Rhythm 8/Prison 9 lineup of 2021 who attended the 8-way competition of the Shamrock Showdown, together with two other 8-way teams live at Skydive City, including the ASXP8 world champions of 2021. Ben Liston and Doug Hendrix, under the team name CPI Legacy at the Shamrock Showdown, had Andrew Yin and Ethan Beatie from New England in their lineup, with Rhianna Sullivan on camera.

Andrew Yin joined Sandbaggers for the 8-way competition, while Ethan Beatie competed only in 4-way. The weather did not allow more than four rounds, and the Skins Game could not be applied for the event at the end of March 2021. The Chicken Bolts with a different lineup then followed up with a 5th place in 4-way AAA/Advanced at the USPA Nationals 2021.

Shamrock Showdown 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		G,5,19		7,12,15		18,21,Q		17,16,A		E,L,22,11		2,10,M		F,6,N,9		J,13,O,8		C,K,H,P,B		D,20,4		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	27		22		23		27	-2	25		23		34		25		53	-5	23		282	28.2
2	France Aethers	FR	21	-1	18		22		24	-1	21		20	-1	29		22		42	-1	20		239	23.9
3	Golden Knights	US	23	-1	17	-2	18	-3	24	-1	21		21		27	-4	19	-2	40	-2	19		229	22.9
4	SDC Rhythm XP	US	19		16		18		22		19		17	-1	27	-1	22		39	-1	17	-1	216	21.6
5	Nephtys	FR	14		16		17		18		17		17		20	-3	20		31	-2	17		187	18.7
6	Chicken Bolts	US	17		14		12	-2	15	-3	13	-1	16		21	-1	16		29	-4	16		169	16.9
7	Thyra	NO	10	-2	9	-1	10	-1	12	-2	14		15		19	-1	16		23		10		138	13.8
8	Teiwaz	US	8	-1	11		11		13		11		11		15		8		14	-1	10		112	11.2

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Chicken Bolts at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship - Shamrock Showdown

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Skins Game scores at the Shamrock Showdown 2024

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Ben Liston was familiar with the Skins Game after his first visit at Skydive DeLand for the Shamrock Showdown 2010. He had reactivated the complete original Mass Defiance lineup (Ben Liston, Jim Rees, John Silva, Brian Stephens, Steve Feldman on camera), USPA Advanced Class champions of 2005, to compete at the international 4-way competition with a world class field.

Mass Defiance did not win any of the Skins Game cash prizes in 2010, and none of the various later Defiance reunion lineups traveled again to Florida until 2018. That's when original team mates Ben Liston and Jim Rees recruited a lineup only for the Shamrock Showdown 2018. The FL Defiance lineup included Ian Pedowitz in the point slot and tail Jimmy Xu. Ben Liston (Inside Center) and Jim Rees (Outside Center) were in their original center slots.

The Skins Game format fit very well for a pickup team with an experienced and talented lineup. FL Defiance could use the first five rounds to become familiar with each other and apply the first experiences for the five rounds of the Skins Game after half-time. FL Defiance won two rounds after handicap for a total of $400 cash. Ben Liston did not copy the successful strategy of 2021 when he visited Skydive DeLand this year for the Shamrock Showdown 2024. The Chicken Bolts of 2024 had already competed with exactly the same lineup (Jennifer Cook, Doug Hendrix, Ben Liston, Greg Oldendick) in 4-way Open at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2024.

Shamrock Showdown 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		B,J,17,20		M,10,O,3		Q,22,2		A,D,P,F,16		N,12,14		15,9,C		K,4,G,E		21,1,13		7,6,11		H,5,19		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	28	-1	26		24		34	-1	21		29	-2	31		20	-1	23		28		264	26.4
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	27		23		23		33	-1	18		27		29		20		23		25		248	24.8
3	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	27		24	-1	21	-1	28	-4	17		28		31	-1	19		23		27		245	24.5
4	Aerodyne Weembi Girls	FR	26	-1	23		21	-1	33	-1	15	-2	26		27		19		22		23	-1	235	23.5
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	25		23		22		29	-2	17		25		26	-2	18		21		23		229	22.9
6	FL Defiance	US	16		14	-1	8	-4	15	-3	12		16		16	-1	13		15	-1	15		140	14.0
7	SCZ ZEUS	US	12		12	-2	12		12	-1	9	-1	12		13		11		11		10	-1	114	11.4
8	Adventure Flyers	PY	11		11		9		14		9		11		10	-1	6	-1	9		10		100	10.0

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FL Defiance at the Shamrock Showdown 2018

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Skins Game scores at the Shamrock Showdown 2018

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Jennifer Cook, Doug Hendrix and Ben Liston also knew each other from indoor training and competed together with Monique Lai at the SkyVenture New Hampshire Tunnel Fest 2024. Monique Lai, Doug Hendrix, Ben Liston and Andrew Yin, with David Gerstein on camera, had also won AAA/Advanced Class bronze medals with Chicken Bolts at the USPA Nationals 2023.

Former Skydive Midwest NEXT member Greg Oldendick then joined Chicken Bolts before the national indoor championship at Paraclete XP and made the team even stronger and more experienced for their first competition in the 4-way AAA/Open Class.

Next step for the same Chicken Bolts lineup was the Shamrock Showdown a month later, and David Gerstein was back with the team on camera. This time, Chicken Bolts competed as a trained team from the beginning of the 10-round competition, and the assigned Skins Game handicap after Round 5 was not supportive enough to win the same $200 cash prizes easily. Thyra, SDC Rhythm XP and Arizona Airspeed took the first four Skins Game prizes for Rounds 6 to 9, and Chicken Bolts had to wait patiently until their 16-pointer in Round 10 was the highest score after handicap. The 16.9 average was a promising start into the 2024 season, and it could develop into a position in medal contention of this year's USPA Advanced Class competition or a placement behind the best U.S. 4-way teams in the 4-way Open Class.