posted Sep 17th, 2024 - The story of the USPA Advanced Class championship was not over after Ben Liston reported the violation of the USPA rules to his former Mass Defiance team mate Jim Rees, who was in the jury for the event. The award ceremony was already completed, scoresheets signed and approved, medals handed out, and the first 8-way day had gone by when Ben Liston was informed of the rules situation by a fellow competitor.

Chicken Bolts were retroactively moved from 1st place on the Advanced Class leaderboard to the bottom as a guest team, and Air Raid XP became the new USPA Advanced Class champion of 2024.

There were still other adjustments that had to be made to determine the final medal winners in this USPA category. The NSL News reported in the first update of the 4-way competition that no extra rounds were needed this year to break any potential ties on the four 4-way leaderboards.

However, two teams were actually tied in 3rd place on the same troubled leaderboard after Chicken Bolts were moved from the top to the bottom. The 4-way competition was already over, and participants had switched to 8-way competition when the rule violation was reported. The two tied Air Force teams in 3rd place, Halo and 9-Ball, both one point behind their fellow cadets of Gambit, could not add a jump-off round any longer, and the tie after Round 10 had to be broken by the USPA rules. It was eventually Halo's 18-pointer in Round 1 that won the bronze medals for the 4-way Women lineup.

USPA Nationals 2024		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	Advanced Class	K,P,H,19	C,F,20,N	M,O,L,12	G,6,3	17,7,10	A,21,14	18,9,4	22,15,1	11,13,E	2,16,B	Total	Avg
1	Air Raid XP	16	18	17	14	15	14	16	11	16	15	152	15.2
2	Air Force Gambit	19	16	15	13	12	13	12	11	13	13	137	13.7
3	Air Force Halo	18	17	17	12	12	13	13	9	13	12	136	13.6
4	Air Force 9 Ball	17	15	16	13	14	13	12	10	13	13	136	13.6
5	Powered by MoonJuice	15	17	18	13	12	11	11	10	11	12	130	13.0
6	SDC Rhuthless	14	15	13	12	12	13	13	10	13	10	125	12.5
7	Mach Jesus Bumper Cars	14	13	14	12	12	12	11	10	12	10	120	12.0
8	Post Brainlock Speed	16	14	13	11	10	14	5	9	13	12	117	11.7
8	Platinum XP	16	14	14	11	8	11	12	9	11	11	117	11.7
10	Saucy Noods	11	13	13	9	11	12	11	10	10	11	111	11.1
11	Tequila Brothers	13	8	14	10	8	10	9	9	11	10	102	10.2
12	SDC Rhesistance	11	11	8	9	11	6	7	8	11	9	91	9.1
13	4 RHeal!	8	8	11	6	8	9	7	6	9	8	80	8.0
14	Perris Pick Up Sticks	8	9	10	8	9	4	5	7	8	7	75	7.5

---

Air Raid XP at the USPA Nationals 2024, Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/InTime

---

Air Raid XP are the new USPA Advanced Class champions and have to join Chicken Bolts in USPA's Open Class next year. Chicken Bolts would have ended up in 7th place in 4-way Open, as the combined AAA Class leaderboard is showing. The team's 2024 lineup, with Jennifer Cook, Doug Hendrix and Ben Liston, started with Monique Lai at the SkyVenture New Hampshire Tunnel Fest 2024. Greg Oldendick then stepped in for Monique Lai and competed with the same 3-way at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2024 and the Shamrock Showdown 2024.

Greg Oldendick was recruited by SDC Rhythm XP for the USPA Nationals when Keith Conner did not continue, and Chicken Bolts had to change plans and lineup twice. Doug Hendrix could not make it timely to the national outdoor championship, and Monique Lai took back her slot that she had at the USPA Nationals 2023 where Chicken Bolts finished in 3rd place.

The trouble of the current situation began when Ben Liston had to look for two team mates without Doug Hendrix and Greg Oldendick. Brandon Kashani was available and happily accepted the Chicken Bolts invitation. The team knew that he had won Advanced Class gold with Lightspeed XP at the USPA Nationals 2021, while they did not consider Ben Liston's 3rd place in 4-way Open at the USPA Nationals 2019 with Defiance. Result was the retroactive disqualification and the position on the bottom of the Advanced Class leaderboard as a guest team.

USPA Nationals 2024		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA/Open/Advanced	K,P,H,19	C,F,20,N	M,O,L,12	G,6,3	17,7,10	A,21,14	18,9,4	22,15,1	11,13,E	2,16,B	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	35	33	30	24	23	23	23	19	24	24	258	25.8
2	XPG4	31	30	28	20	18	20	22	17	18	21	225	22.5
3	Golden Knights	29	30	29	20	21	18	20	13	18	21	219	21.9
4	SDC Rhythm XP	25	22	25	19	20	18	17	16	17	20	199	19.9
5	RhEvolution XP	19	21	18	16	17	15	17	13	16	15	167	16.7
6	Rough Landing Strips	19	22	19	14	16	16	17	13	15	13	164	16.4
7	Chicken Bolts	21	21	16	15	15	15	15	12	15	15	160	16.0
8	Air Raid XP	16	18	17	14	15	14	16	11	16	15	152	15.2
9	Don't Run Into Anything	19	18	16	13	14	14	13	10	14	16	147	14.7
10	Air Force Gambit	19	16	15	13	12	13	12	11	13	13	137	13.7
11	Air Force Halo	18	17	17	12	12	13	13	9	13	12	136	13.6
12	Air Force 9 Ball	17	15	16	13	14	13	12	10	13	13	136	13.6
13	SDC Rhetirement Rhedux	18	14	17	11	11	13	12	10	11	13	130	13.0
13	Powered by MoonJuice	15	17	18	13	12	11	11	10	11	12	130	13.0
15	SDC Rhuthless	14	15	13	12	12	13	13	10	13	10	125	12.5
16	Mach Jesus Bumper Cars	14	13	14	12	12	12	11	10	12	10	120	12.0
17	Post Brainlock Speed	16	14	13	11	10	14	5	9	13	12	117	11.7
17	Platinum XP	16	14	14	11	8	11	12	9	11	11	117	11.7
19	Saucy Noods	11	13	13	9	11	12	11	10	10	11	111	11.1
20	Tequila Brothers	13	8	14	10	8	10	9	9	11	10	102	10.2
21	SDC Rhesistance	11	11	8	9	11	6	7	8	11	9	91	9.1
22	XP Furies	10	11	11	8	9	8	7	6	7	10	87	8.7
23	Perris 4ever	9	9	9	7	7	9	6	8	8	8	80	8.0
23	4 RHeal!	8	8	11	6	8	9	7	6	9	8	80	8.0
25	Perris Pick Up Sticks	8	9	10	8	9	4	5	7	8	7	75	7.5

New USPA Advanced Class champion Air Raid XP finished right behind Chicken Bolts on the previous Advanced Class leaderboard and on the combined AAA Class leaderboard, as well. Michelle Nguyen is the only original team member who started with the team in the AA/Intermediate Class of 2022 and a 10th place at the USPA Nationals 2021.

Michelle Nguyen stepped up to AAA Class competition in 2022, first with her original team mate Nichole Settles, plus Keith Fay and Samuel Lecrone at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2023, then with Samuel Lecrone, Jeremy Brown and John Green for the USPA Nationals 2023. This lineup won the USPA Intermediate Class gold medals at Skydive Paraclete XP.

Michelle Nguyen and Samuel Lecrone continued together and recruited Sean Moorhead for the new 2024 lineup. The 3-way hired player-coach Kirk Verner and placed 8th at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2024. They switched to outdoor training and competition and then left all teams behind last week who had competed at the indoor championship, as well. Chicken Bolts had competed in the Open Class at the indoor event, with Greg Oldendick and Doug Hendrix in the lineup. Then they switched to Advanced Class competition without Greg Oldendick.

Air Raid XP and Ben Liston now have the Advanced Class championship title in common, Ben Liston with USPA gold in 2005, Air Raid XP in 2024. Michelle Nguyen and Samuel Lecrone join the exclusive club of gold medalist at consecutive USPA Nationals in two different categories, Kirk Verner added the 4th Advanced Class gold medal to his special collection before competing with GKXP8 at the upcoming FAI Outdoor World Championships 2024.

USPA Nationals 2023		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Intermediate Top 10	7,G,15	4,F,19	M,14,D	22,J,8	N,C,L,1	11,20	13,6	H,E,Q,9	A,21,2	P,O,B,18	Total	Avg
1	Air Raid XP	11	14	14	10	14	9	11	18	12	12	125	12.5
2	Spaceland Toxic	12	11	12	8	12	9	11	16	10	13	114	11.4
3	Mile-Hi SpeedRun	8	8	7	7	11	7	9	15	12	11	95	9.5
4	CSC Constellation	10	11	6	8	10	8	10	10	11	8	92	9.2
4	SDD Brane Damage	9	10	9	9	10	5	8	15	9	8	92	9.2
6	Air Force Halo	7	9	9	9	10	7	9	11	7	13	91	9.1
7	SDMW Uprising	6	9	10	9	8	7	8	10	9	13	89	8.9
8	Spaceland Disturbance Delicious	9	9	10	7	12	7	9	9	7	8	87	8.7
8	Air Force Freak Show	6	9	8	7	9	7	9	14	8	10	87	8.7
10	Joanne and the Creepers	8	10	7	8	11	6	8	7	8	11	84	8.4

---

Air Raid XP at the USPA Nationals 2023, Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/InTime

---