posted Dec 8th, 2024 - The 8-way Open Class competition at the USPA National Championship 2024 did not feature much excitement on the very top of the leaderboard. The event was more or less a warm-up situation for GKXP8, even though they would not have much opposition at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships, as well.

Prison 9 had the opportunity to move up from 3rd places in 2022 and 2023 to the silver medal position this year, as neither Arizona Airspeed nor Golden Knights fielded 8-way lineups. It was the first time in the NSL News records that both U.S. 8-way institutions missed the national outdoor championship at the same time. SDC Rhythm XP's Doug Barron's efforts to create continuity and consistency in 8-way presence was rewarded with USPA silver medals this year.

However, despite the secure positions for GKXP8 and Prison 9 on the top of the leaderboard, there was still unusual competition for the 3rd place at this year's USPA Nationals. There was a serious battle for the additional spot on the 8-way podium between Bra Nok XP and Mandatory Fun! Only three points separated the two 8-way teams (122 - 119) at the end of the 10-round competition. Bra Nok actually dominated this duel until they gave away Round 5 by four points, which eliminated the 4-point lead after the first four rounds. Craig Girard's and Chris Kuhlmann's Mandatory Fun! lineup kept up for two more rounds before the much better trained Bra Nok 8-way team took back the control and won by three points.

USPA Nationals 2024		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open	19,3,N		6,K,18		B,G,22,P		J,E,8,16		F,10,H,O		21,2,5		Q,1,9		D,12,14		C,15,17		20,13,11		Total	Avg
1	GKXP8	22	-2	23		26	-1	25		22		17		23	-1	20		24		19		221	22.1
2	Prison 9	16		13	-2	16	-1	11	-1	13	-1	11		17		9		15		15		136	13.6
3	Bra Nok XP	14	-1	14		14	-1	14		9	-2	10	-1	13	-2	8		13		13		122	12.2
4	Mandatory Fun!	14		13		13	-1	12		13		10		13	-1	7	-2	13	-1	11		119	11.9
5	Elsinore No Guts, No Gloryhole	12		12	-1	10	-1	11	-1	11		9		11	-1	10		12		10		108	10.8
6	The Gr8 Rhevival	10	-1	9	-1	11		10		9	-1	8		11		4	-1	7	-2	8		87	8.7

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Bra Nok XP - Mandatory Fun! at the USPA Nationals 2024, Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/InTime

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The 3-point difference for the USPA bronze medals indicates a serious 8-way battle, as it was the case at Skydive Chicago. The last relatively close bronze medal battle in 8-way Open was the 6-point difference (122 - 116) between Amphibious Attack Tigers and the Rhythm 8-way team at the USPA Nationals 2016.

Prison 9 members Doug Barron and Brian Ball (Rhythm 8) were opposing their 2024 team mate Ben Liston (Amphibious Attack Tigers) in 2016, who won by six points. Now they won their USPA 8-way silver medals and had distanced themselves together from the two challengers for the bronze medals.

This year's 3-point battle for the USPA bronze medals featured the trained Bra Nok lineup and Craig Girard's and Chris Kuhlmann's team for the meet, Mandatory Fun! The previous 8-way training was also rewarding Bra Nok with the bronze medals, even though the lineup was not exactly the same as last year. Founding members Anna Brunner, Kim Hollander, Carl Kallgren, Brandon Kashani and Chris Normandeau launched the Bra Nok 8-way project with a 5th place at the USPA Nationals 2022. They did not plan for more than participation at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2023 in Voss, Norway.

USPA Nationals 2016		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open	D,21,C,22	2,4,A	16,5,E	F,7,M,13	11,P,18	3,1,L	H,Q,O,17	6,8,14	10,12,15	N,20,G,9	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	19	21	23	18	21	30	20	16	20	22	210	21.0
2	Arizona Airspeed	14	17	21	17	18	23	18	15	17	16	176	17.6
3	Amphibious Attack Tigers	10	11	12	14	11	14	11	12	13	14	122	12.2
4	Rhythm 8	9	13	14	13	7	17	10	10	11	12	116	11.6
5	XP8	10	10	13	11	10	17	12	9	8	10	110	11.0
6	Motiv8XF	1	3	8	6	6	4	6	5	5	3	47	4.7

The original Bra Nok members enjoyed the team work and decided to continue, even after the USPA Nationals 2023, where they climbed up to 4th place, again with original members Brenn Richards and James Hall in the lineup, Christine Bruchac completing the lineup and Joss Martin on camera.

The same Bra Nok lineup competed at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2024, and Lucas King replaced Brenn Richards at the USPA Nationals 2024, who focused only on the 4-way competition with XPG4.

The only 8-way competition at USPA Nationals that was closer in the run for bronze medals than this year's was the one between Perris Alpha and Paraclete Directe XP at the USPA Nationals 2008. It concluded with a 2-point advantage for the west coast team. Golden Knights, Arizona Airspeed and Paraclete XP 8-way teams have won all USPA medals in this event most of the time in the past decades. Bra Nok's original desire to compete at the FAI World Cup in Norway 2023 was eventually rewarded with a USPA medal on top of the original goal.

USPA Nationals 2008			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		3,A,Q,6	19,17,B	7,E,L,15	8,O,P,K	M,13,16	18,10,11	H,J,14,4	D,G,1,N	C,21,12	20,5,9	Total	Avg
G	France 8-way	FR	27	17	21	20	23	19	26	30	21	18	222	22.2
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	23	16	19	14	20	17	19	22	17	16	183	18.3
2	USA 8	US	20	15	18	15	16	15	16	22	15	15	167	16.7
3	Perris Alpha	US	14	9	11	11	12	8	13	14	11	11	114	11.4
4	Paraclete Directe XP	US	15	12	9	9	14	10	11	11	11	10	112	11.2
5	Perris Moxie	US	12	10	10	10	12	9	13	11	9	8	104	10.4
6	PD Tempest 1X2	US	10	9	9	7	11	9	11	10	9	9	94	9.4
7	Wicked Pishah	US	11	10	8	6	12	10	10	10	6	9	92	9.2
8	SPX 8	US	6	7	8	8	9	6	9	8	9	6	76	7.6
9	Blind Squirrels	US	9	6	8	5	8	7	6	7	4	6	66	6.6
10	Perris OGR	US	8	7	7	6	8	4	8	6	6	4	64	6.4
11	Perris Pulse-8	US	7	6	5	4	7	6	6	4	6	4	55	5.5