posted Oct 22nd, 2009 - The NSL News mentioned earlier that the "NSL Reality TV" camera followed the Golden Knights around the dropzone in the middle of the 8-way competition at the 2009 USPA National Skydiving Championships. The video has now been uploaded and can be reviewed. Along with this clip come the first five rounds of the US Army team's competition jumps.

It was a tight competition in 8-way at this point in time. All three top contenders lived up to the great expectations and were involved in a serious battle for the top spot. Arizona Airspeed was already in 1st place after five rounds, four points over the Golden Knights and six points over Paraclete XP. Airspeed never gave up the top of the leaderboard throughout the 10-round meet, however, the race for the second place was just as important.

The NSL News mentioned in the story of the 8-way award ceremony that Meet Director Scott Smith announced Airspeed's decision to forward the 8-way slot for the US 2010 delegation to Russia to the Golden Knights.

There was no indication for such upcoming decision when the teams were in the middle of the 8-way battle. Each of the three top teams was focused to win the 8-way competition, and everything was still open. Airspeed had a very strong start despite the lack of any training jumps at all. The Arizona 8-way lineup of 2009 had increased the lead by four points over both 8-way rivals in the fast Round 4.

The Golden Knights responded instantly in Round 5, won back two points and also broke the tie with Paraclete XP. The US Army team was now one point ahead of Paraclete XP and maintained this lead until the end. The 2-point advantage after ten rounds won the 8-way slot to Russia.

The NSL News had already invited the Golden Knights for a live NSL Talk before the 8-way competition began, and the video was uploaded with the story on 14 October 2009. The new clip shows the Golden Knights between two competition jumps in the middle of the 8-way battle.

Team captain Brian "BK" Krause did not know by then whether his new lineup would be able to win the competition or not. He knew the performance and scoring level of his young team only from training jumps. However, the first five rounds indicated at least that the second place was surely in reach. The slot to Russia was still only guaranteed with the first place last week.

The 1-point lead over Paraclete XP after five rounds was probably encouraging, as was the 2-point win over Airspeed in Round 5. The Golden Knights still had to aim only at the very spot to win the 8-way competition and compete at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving next year. The second place was not really an option at that point in time.

Arizona Airspeed's 8-way lineup had never discussed the option of competing in both events or only in 4-way if they won both events. This discussion came up after Round 10. It was still a must-win situation for the Golden Knights and Paraclete XP. The 8-way story will soon continue with more 8-way videos.